Most of the nominated books are already on my to read list...
So, Here my three cents:
A is for Alibi, by Sue Grafton
http://inkmesh.com/search/?qs=%22A%2...nE=Find+Ebooks
Description: "Kinsey Millhone is a female Sam Spade; a thorough professional, a loner, clear-headed and unsentimental."--Lucille Kallen "Kinsey Millhone is an entirely fresh and original character, and I feel sure that the series will go all through the alphabet."--Patricia Moyes When Laurence Fife was murdered, few mourned his passing. A prominent divorce attorney with a reputation for single-minded … more »ruthlessness on behalf of his clients, Fife was also rumored to be a dedicated philanderer. Plenty of people in the picturesque southern California town of Santa Teresa had a reason to want him dead. Including, thought the cops, his young and beautiful wife, Nikki. With motive, access, and opportunity, Nikki was their number-one suspect. The jury thought so, too. Eight years later and out on parole, Niki Fife hires Kinsey Millhone to find out who really killed her late husband. A trail that is eight years cold. A trail that reaches out to enfold a bitter, wealthy, and foul-mouthed old woman and a young boy, born deaf, whose memory cannot be trusted. A trail that leads to a lawyer defensively loyal to a dead partner--and disarmingly attractive to Millhone; to an ex-wife, brave, lucid, lovely--and still angry over Fife's betrayal of her; to a not-so-young secretary with too high a salary for too few skills--and too many debts left owing: The trail twists to include them all, with Millhone following every turn until it finally twists back on itself and she finds herself face-to-face with a killer cunning enough to get away with murder. (from Amazon.com)
Track of the Cat, by Nevada Barr
http://inkmesh.com/ebooks/track-of-c...qs=nevada+barr
Description: From the vivid opening vista, high in craggy mountains, to the final haunting glimpse of a moonlit canyon, Nevada Barr's first mystery, Track of the Cat, instantly caught the attention of readers and reviewers. Its popularity gained it both an Agatha and an Anthony Award. The young naturalist, Anna Pigeon, has moved to the Southwest wilderness to be a park ranger. There, her days are filled … more »with the physical demands of working in the Guadalupe Mountains and the satisfaction of living in this splendid land. Her peace is shattered one morning, though, when she discovers the body of another ranger deep in Dog Canyon. How did the usually cautious woman die? Although at first the evidence indicates an attack by a mountain lion, Anna soon suspects that there are craftier predators afoot in the wild grasses. Fast-paced suspense and sharply defined characters will immediately sweep you up in the force of this compelling mystery. By the end, you'll be nodding in satisfaction at the... (from Barnes & Noble)
And a third nomination for Rex Stout's
Fer de Lance