Old Lyme mystery writer David Handler has been nominated for the prestigious Nero Award for his 2018 Stewart Hoagland novel "The Man Who Couldn't Miss."

The Nero Award is given for excellence in mystery fiction by The Wolfe Pack, an organization dedicated to the legacy of the iconic Nero Wolfe novels written by the late Rex Stout. The trophy is presented each December at the society's Black Orchid Banquet in New York City.

Handler, the author of 26 books including, in additon to the Hoagland series about a celebrity ghostwriter who wittily solves crimes along with his dog Lulu, the Berger & Mitry mysteries and the Benji Gold mysteries. In 1991, Handler won an Edgar Award for his Hoagland novel "The Man Who Would Be F. Scott Fitzgerald."

Previous winners of the Nero include Lee Child, Tess Garritsen, Brad Parks, Walter Mosley, and Louise Penny.