"Sense of Grace," a mystery novel by Richard F. McGonegal, is among 20 finalists for the Killer Nashville Claymore Award.
McGonegal, of Jefferson City, was a journalist at the Jefferson City News Tribune for 41 years before his retirement in 2017.
The Claymore Award is for unpublished novels and is judged on submission of the first 50 pages of the manuscript.
The top three finalists, including the winner, will be announced Aug. 24 at an award banquet, part of a three-day writers' conference in Nashville, Tennessee.
"Sense of Grace" is now under contract to be published by Cave Hollow Press of Warrensburg.
The book will be available in print and digital formats.
This will be McGonegal's first published novel. Twenty-four of his short stories have been published in magazines, including Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine.