The winner of the 2012 Friends of Mystery Spotted Owl award is Bill Cameron for County Line.
Other finalists are:
- Heather Sharfeddin for Damaged Goods
- Urban Waite for The Terror of Living
- Chelsea Cain for The Night Season
- Robert Dugoni for Murder One
- Dana Stabenow for Though Not Dead
- Aaron Elkins for The Worst Thing
- Mike Lawson for House Divided
- Kate Wilhelm for Heaven is High
- Gary McKinney for Darkness Bids the Dead Goodbye
The committee also selected Dove Season by Johnny Shaw to receive a special Stan Johnson Outstanding Debut Mystery award.