On September 10, 2010, Chuck was honored at the SouthWest Writers annual awards banquet with (1) first place in the Best Mystery, Suspense, Thriller or Adventure Novel category for Hush Money, (2) first place in the Best Historical Novel category for Hard Twisted, and (3) SWW’s grand-prize Storyteller Award, for which Chuck bested over 680 contestants from 30 states and several foreign countries.
- Finalist, 2013 Rocky (Lefty) Award, Left Coast Crime (for Hush Money)
- Finalist, 2013 Shamus Award, Private Eye Writers of America (for Hush Money)
- Finalist, 2013 Audie Award, Mystery (for Hush Money)
- Finalist, 2012 RT Book Reviews Reviewers’ Choice Award (Best First Mystery, for Hush Money)
- Finalist, 2013 Oklahoma Book Award for Fiction (for Hard Twisted)
- Finalist, 2012 New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards (Best Mystery/Suspense), New Mexico Book Co-op (for Hush Money)
- Finalist, 2015 Colorado Book Award (Best Mystery), Colorado Humanities/Center for the Book (for The Last Heir)
- Wall Street Journal “Best Books of 2015” (for Tom & Lucky)
- Finalist, 2016 Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction (for Tom & Lucky)
- Finalist, 2016 Macavity Award (Best Historical Mystery), Mystery Readers International (for Tom & Lucky)
- Semi-Finalist, 2017 Faulkner-Wisdom Prize in Fiction (for Church of the Graveyard Saints)
- Finalist, 2020 Colorado Authors’ League Award in Fiction (for Church of the Graveyard Saints)
- Finalist, 2023 Colorado Book Award (Best Mystery), Colorado Humanities/Center for the Book (for The Chimera Club)
- Winner, 2023 Colorado Authors’ League Award in Mystery (for The Chimera Club)