The Agatha Award Winners

The Agatha Award Winners were announced at Malice Domestic on Saturday 28 April 2023. 

Best Contemporary Novel

A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny (Minotaur)

Best Historical Novel

Because I Could Not Stop for Death by Amanda Flower (Berkley)

Best First Novel

Cheddar Off Dead by Korina Moss (St. Martin’s)

Best Short Story

"Beauty and the Beyotch," by Barb Goffman (Sherlock Holmes Magazine, Feb. 2022)

Best Non-Fiction 

Promophobia: Taking the Mystery Out of Promoting Crime Fiction by Diane Vallere Ed. (Sisters in Crime)

Best Children's/YA Mystery

Enola Holmes and the Elegant Escapade by Nancy Springer (Wednesday Books)

Congratulations to all winners and nominated authors.

Edgar Award Winners Announced

Mystery Writers of America have announced the winners for the 2023 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, honoring the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction and television published or produced in 2022. The 77th Annual Edgar® Awards were celebrated on April 27, 2023, at the New York Marriott Marquis Times Square and livestreamed on YouTube.

BEST NOVEL

Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka (HarperCollins – William Morrow)

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR

Don’t Know Tough by Eli Cranor (Soho Press – Soho Crime)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

Or Else by Joe Hart (Amazon Publishing – Thomas & Mercer)
 
BEST FACT CRIME

Tell Me Everything: The Story of a Private Investigation by Erika Krouse (Flatiron Books)

BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL

The Life of Crime: Detecting the History of Mysteries and Their Creators by Martin Edwards (HarperCollins – Collins Crime Club)
 
BEST SHORT STORY

"Red Flag," Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine by Gregory Fallis (Dell Magazines)

BEST JUVENILE

Aggie Morton Mystery Queen: The Seaside Corpse by Marthe Jocelyn (Penguin Random House Canada - Tundra Books)

BEST YOUNG ADULT

The Red Palace by June Hur (Macmillan Children’s Books – Feiwel & Friends)

BEST TELEVISION EPISODE TELEPLAY

“Episode 1” – Magpie Murders, Written by Anthony Horowitz (Masterpiece/PBS)

 ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD

"Dogs in the Canyon," Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine by Mark Harrison (Dell Magazines)
 
THE SIMON & SCHUSTER MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD

A Dreadful Splendor by B.R. Myers (HarperCollins – William Morrow)

THE G.P. PUTNAM’S SONS SUE GRAFTON MEMORIAL AWARD
Hideout by Louisa Luna (Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group – Doubleday)

THE LILIAN JACKSON BRAUN MEMORIAL AWARD

Buried in a Good Book by Tamara Berry (Sourcebooks – Poisoned Pen Press)

SPECIAL AWARDS

GRAND MASTER

Michael Connelly

Joanne Fluke
 
RAVEN AWARD
Crime Writers of Color
Eddie Muller for Noir Alley and The Noir Foundation
 
ELLERY QUEEN AWARD
 The Strand Magazine

Families and secrets by Louise Jensen

 

Newly published, ‘The Fall’ is my 8th Psychological thriller, my 11th published book. It’s a story about the unravelling of a seemingly tight-knit family and the shocking, dark secrets they are keeping from each other.

The book opens with Kate Granger feeling like the luckiest woman alive at her surprise birthday party that she is sharing with her twin sister, Beth. Just hours later her teenage daughter, Caily, is found unconscious under a bridge, miles away from where she should have been at school. 

The police, who don’t believe it was an accident, question Caily’s family and it soon becomes apparent that not everyone in the family was where they claimed to be at the time of her fall, nor who they claimed to be with. While the investigation takes place Caily should be safe in hospital but not everyone wants her to wake up. Someone is desperate to protect the truth and it isn’t just Caily’s life that is in danger.

From the moment I thought of the concept I knew that Caily and her cousin Tegan would be central to the plot. The relationship between cousins is one I’ve wanted to write about for a long time. 

Growing up, my cousins were an integral part of my childhood. They, along with my sister, feature in many of my happiest childhood memories. Then, life seemed less complicated for us growing up, than it is today for young people now. In a time before the internet, smartphones and social media, our world may have seemed a lot smaller but was, perhaps, in a way, larger as we had more freedom to play outside. Everywhere was deemed safter than it is today, perhaps because it was, perhaps because we didn’t have the constant stream of bad news that we do now giving rise to that low-level fear many of us carry without being entirely sure why.

I wanted to give Caily and Tegan the same sense of freedom that I had and this was made possible by the farm they live on. Although during the book it has, in parts, a claustrophobic, chilling feel, they were free to roam and play in the vast open space. Not knowing of course, then, that, for years, there had been somebody watching them all along…

The relationship between cousins is, I think, unique. Both family and friends the bond is a strong one. They are confidants, keepers of secrets. Someone who understands because their family history is entwined with yours. It’s been really interesting to unpick the Granger family dynamics, not only between Tegan and Caily but also their parents and Grandparents.

To explore how far Caily and Tegan would go to protect one another.

I don’t see my cousins nearly as much as I’d like to anymore but if any one of them needed me I’d be there in a heartbeat. But that would be another story…

The Fall by Louise Jensen (Harper Collins) Out Now 

She promised not to tell. They made sure she couldn't... At her surprise 40th birthday party, Kate Granger feels like the luckiest woman in the world but just hours later her fifteen-year-old daughter, Caily, is found unconscious underneath a bridge when she should have been at school. Now, Caily lies comatose in her hospital bed, and the police don't believe it was an accident. As the investigation progresses, it soon becomes clear that not everyone in the family was where they claimed to be at the time of her fall. Caily should be safe in hospital but not everyone wants her to wake up. Someone is desperate to protect the truth and it isn't just Caily's life that is in danger. Because some secrets are worth killing for...

More information about Louise Jensen and her books can be found on her website. You can also find her on Twitter @Fab_fiction, on Instagram @fabricating_fiction and on Facebook.

Longlist announced for Theakston's Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year 2023

 LONGLIST REVEALED FOR UK’S MOST PRESTIGIOUS CRIME WRITING AWARD:

THEAKSTON OLD PECULIER CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR 2023

The unique handcrafted oak barrels for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award being built under the watchful eye of one of England’s last coopers; Euan Findlay, with T&R Theakston and the Programming Chair for the 2023 Festival Vaseem Khan. Past recipients of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Awards include Lee Child, Val McDermid and Mark Billingham. (Credit: Charlotte Graham, 2023)

MARK BILLINGHAM | M. W. CRAVEN | FIONA CUMMINS | LUCY FOLEY | ELLY GRIFFITHS | JANICE HALLETT MICK HERRON | LISA JEWELL | DOUG JOHNSTONE | VASEEM KHAN | CLARE MACKINTOSH | IMRAN MAHMOOD GILLIAN MCALLISTER | VAL MCDERMID | LIAM MCILVANNEY | LEONORA NATTRASS | ALAN PARKS |VICTORIA SELMAN | SARAH VAUGHAN | RUTH WARE

The longlist for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2023 has been announced today by Harrogate International Festivals. The search for the best crime novel of the past year gets underway as the public are now invited to vote for their favourites to reach the next stage.

The winner of the prestigious Award will be announced at the opening night of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival (20 July), which this year celebrates its 20th anniversary. To mark the momentous occasion, for the first time the longlist includes twenty outstanding authors, rather than the traditional eighteen, competing for the UK and Ireland’s most coveted crime fiction writing Award.

With thrilling stories that transport readers from a burnt-out Glasgow under threat, to the hidden backstreets of Paris, from the bustle of 1950s Bombay and a mail ship bound for Philadelphia, the longlist celebrates the very best of the crime genre. 

A number of returning champions are hoping to take home the Award once again - Mick Herron defends his 2022 title with the latest Slough House instalment, Bad Actors, alongside Clare Mackintosh’s gripping New Year’s Day murder mystery The Last Party, two-time winner Mark Billingham’s electrifying thriller The Murder Book, and the scintillating 1989, the second in the new Allie Burns series from the doyenne of crime writing Val McDermid. 

Several of the crime world’s favourite crime solving protagonists are also in the running for the coveted trophy – Elly Griffith’s penultimate mystery featuring Dr Ruth Galloway, The Locked Room, is in contention, alongside M.W. Craven’s latest Detective Sergeant Washington Poe thriller The Botanist, and Black Hearts, the explosive thriller featuring Doug Johnstone’s Skelf women. 

They are joined by fellow Theakston nominees, including Sarah Vaughan with her masterful psychological page-turner Reputation, the unputdownable The It Girl from Ruth Ware, Lucy Foley’s deeply unsettling, locked room mystery The Paris Apartment as well as All I Said Was True, the ticking clock thriller from barrister-turned-authorImran Mahmood. Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival 2023 Programming Chair Vaseem Khan is vying to win with The Lost Man of Bombay, as is Blue Water – Leonora Nattrass’ atmospheric tale aboard an eighteenth-century ship on route to Philadelphia. Joining them are Liam McIlvanney’s highly anticipated The Heretic, which sees D.I. Duncan McCormack tackling brutal gang warfare on the streets of Glasgow, and the eerily unnerving new thriller Into The Dark from Val McDermid’s 2017 New Blood selection, Fiona Cummins.

A plethora of established voices join the Theakston ranks for the first time this year. The tantalisingly tense Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister and Lisa Jewell’s chilling new domestic noir The Family Remains are longlisted along with Victoria Selman’s nerve-jangling Truly Darkly Deeply, the deftly suspenseful The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett, while chilling police procedural May God Forgive gives star of ‘Tartan Noir’ Alan Parks his first longlisting. 

The full Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2023 longlist is:

The Murder Book by Mark Billingham (Little, Brown Book Group; Little Brown)

The Botanist by M.W. Craven (Little, Brown Book Group; Constable)

Into The Dark by Fiona Cummins (Pan Macmillan; Macmillan/Pan)

The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley (HarperCollins; HarperFiction)

The Locked Room by Elly Griffiths (Quercus)

The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett (Profile Books; Viper)

Bad Actors by Mick Herron (John Murray Press; Baskerville)

The Family Remains by Lisa Jewell (Cornerstone; Century Fiction)

Black Hearts by Doug Johnstone (Orenda Books)

The Lost Man of Bombay by Vaseem Khan (Hodder & Stoughton)

The Last Party by Clare Mackintosh (Little, Brown Book Group; Sphere)

All I Said Was True by Imran Mahmood (Bloomsbury Publishing; Raven Books)

Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister (Penguin Random House; Michael Joseph)

1989 by Val McDermid (Little, Brown Book Group; Little Brown)

The Heretic by Liam McIlvanney (HarperCollins; HarperFiction)

Blue Water by Leonora Nattrass (Profile Books; Viper)

May God Forgive by Alan Parks (Canongate Books)

Truly Darkly Deeply by Victoria Selman (Quercus)

Reputation by Sarah Vaughan (Simon & Schuster)

The It Girl by Ruth Ware (Simon & Schuster)

Simon Theakston, Executive Director of Theakston, added: “Each year I eagerly await the long list announcement for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year and every year I’m reminded of the phenomenal talent in the crime fiction writing world, whether a returning icon or a rising star. I’m looking forward to a celebratory toast of Old Peculier in July, but for now, we raise a glass to all the exceptional nominees as the shortlist vote is taken to the public.”

Chief Executive of Harrogate International Festivals, Sharon Canavar, commented: “We are delighted to announce the 2023 longlist for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, with an exceptional collection of the UK and Ireland’s best crime fiction novels from the past year. The Award is an integral part of the Festival and with a gripping mix of subgenres nominated, from psychological thrillers to murder mysteries, we can’t wait to see how the public vote this year.”

The longlist was selected by an academy of crime writing authors, agents, editors, reviewers, members of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival Programming Committee, along with representatives from the media partner, Daily Express. The award is run by Harrogate International Festivals sponsored by T&R Theakston Ltd, in partnership with Waterstones and Daily Express, and is open to full-length crime novels published in paperback between 1 May 2022 to 30 April 2023 by UK and Irish authors.

The public are now invited to vote to create a shortlist of six titles from 10am on Thursday 27 April atwww.harrogatetheakstoncrimeaward.com. Voting closes on Thursday 18 May, with the shortlist announced and winner voting opening on Thursday 15 June. The winner will be revealed on the opening night of Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, Thursday 20 July, receiving £3,000 and a handmade, engraved beer barrel provided by T&R Theakston Ltd.

harrogatetheakstoncrimeaward.com | @HarrogateFest | #TheakstonAward 

Penguin Modern Crime Announcement

 Penguin Modern Classics

CRIME & ESPIONAGE

Published by Penguin Modern Classics | 13 July 2023 | Paperback £9.99

First published 75 years ago, the iconic green Penguin Crime paperbacks have long held a special space in every crime lovers heart and bookshelf, as CrimeTime puts it: “If the Golden Age of Crime has a colour, it’s bottle green. And, if it has a smell, it’s the caramel of old paper. Nothing sums up crime fiction between the ages of flappers and flares quite so well as the classic Penguin Crime editions.” As one of our most popular imprints, the Penguin Crime series encompassed stories from Agatha Christie to Dashiell Hammett, and everything in between, expanding the horizons of crime readers with thrilling new discoveries in a familiar, trusted, and instantly recognisable green jacket. 

This summer, Penguin Modern Classics are thrilled to be reviving this beloved collection with our new Crime and Espionage series, celebrating the endless variety and enduring appeal of one of fiction’s great genres. Combining a careful selection of the very best from Penguin Classics’ extensive archives, including John le Carre, Josephine Tey, and Chester Himes, with exciting forgotten treasures which are well overdue a rediscovery, such as Edogawa Rampo and Davis Grubb, the first tranche of ten titles takes us from a sunshine soaked, yet bullet ridden California to a macabre Tokyo flat, through English country estates to the streets of Harlem. Transporting the reader through time and space, these novels can be outrageously entertaining but also chilling, filled with the darkest politics, vices, and betrayals.

The series, which will be released in ten-book tranches and continue to grow, is carefully curated by author and Penguin Press publishing director Simon Winder,  A long-time editor at Penguin and reader of crime, the revival of Penguin Crime and Espionage has seen Simon dig deep into the archives, reading hundreds of books to determine which of our existing titles should make the list, and which titles, previously not published by Penguin, should have been included years ago:

“Penguin Modern Classics is one of the great publishers of crime and suspense fiction.  I thought it would be enjoyable to pick out some highlights, add some new titles and revive the wonderful green livery Penguin used to use for all its crime fiction. 

These books are united by atmosphere, anxiety, a strong sense of time and place, and an often appalling ingenuity, both on behalf of the authors and their characters.  They have also all aged very well, gaining an additional pleasure from shifts in manners, clothes, wisecracks, politics, murder weapons and potential alibis.

The novels were designed to be entertainments, albeit sometimes of a very dark kind, and they all plumb extremes.  Fear of fascism or communism; fear of the anonymous city or of a fetid swamp; fear of vast global conspiracies or of just one rather odd family member with a glint in his eye….”

For lifelong crime lovers, who will no doubt be as excited as we are for the return of the bottle-green jackets as well as the previously unpublished titles, to new readers unsure where to start with the formidable back catalogues of Georges Simenon, Eric Ambler, or Len Deighton, the Penguin Crime and Espionage series is a collection of gems showcasing the best of the Golden Age of Crime.

Procedural or whodunnit?

 

This is a question I’ve been asking myself about recently as I finished writing The Monk the latest in my series of DS Cross novels. I had read a review on Amazon where a reader said he’d guessed correctly the killer in one of my books before the actual reveal and that it wasn’t the first time in one of my books. This was obviously a deficiency for him in the book. But it isn’t for me. As a writer I obviously want to hold onto the identity of my killer for as long as possible, but this is by no means the be-all and end-all for me. It’s simply not the most important thing to achieve or aim for when writing. It doesn’t bother me if the clues my investigator uncovers along the way allow certain readers to guess the identity of the culprit before it is confirmed. (As long as they continue to read till the end of the book obviously!) For me it’s actually a sign of successful and credible plotting if they are able to do so. I myself am not a fan of crime novels where the killer suddenly comes out of nowhere in a surprising fashion. This is a bit of a cop out to me. A con. Anyone can do that bring in a character at the last minute who the reader hasn’t had a chance to know and assess.

I would also hope the reader who is able to divine the identity of a killer early might be imbued with a self-congratulatory sense of satisfaction rather than disappointment. For me describing the path to finding the killer is one of the most enjoyable parts of writing a crime novel. The unique and often left field process by which my literal and idiosyncratic hero George Cross investigates his cases and comes to his conclusions is what I hope my readers respond to. For the case to be plausible the pool of suspects has to be readily available to the reader. This means the reader has every chance to come to their own conclusions, even if a little early, because of the evidence afforded them. My hero George Cross however would never be in such a rush to decide who the guilty party is. He has to be sure to the very last detail, constantly questioning what is in front of him, forever considering other possibilities and not charging a suspect until he is absolutely convinced. Confident that the evidence is solid enough to persuade a judge and jury to convict.

But it’s an interesting question and I think readers are interested in the process as opposed to just the procedure. This explains the current popularity of true crime alongside crime fiction. The fact that more often than not the viewer or reader will know who the killer is and doesn’t impede their interest or enjoyment is testament to this. They are more intrigued by the when and how rather than just the who. Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood is of course the classic example of this, where the reader knows before they open the first page who the killers are. It is the examination of the circumstances, the characters and the timeline that draws the reader in and holds their attention.

 In a sense the idea that crime fiction is some kind of game between the writer and reader to keep the identity of the killer secret right until the end is quite old fashioned. It harks back to the closed room plots of the Golden Age nowadays reflected in the popular TV series Death in Paradise. The entire object of this kind of murder mystery is solely to guess the killer and the job of the writer to mislead the reader with red herrings and tangents.

I myself don’t write this way. I am more interested in the character and the method. To an extent the crimes in the Cross series are unsensational because I believe that is closer to the truth of murder in this country. The minor details that can so often be overlooked, that seem trivial, but often lead to a life taken, are what grip me. That’s why George Cross is obsessed with people’s routines and the patterns of their lives. When he sees these routines broken, patterns changed is often when he cracks a case.

 For me crime fiction is more than just a literary version of Where’s Wally or Spot the Ball. In The Monk the first question everyone asks is “Who would do this to a monk?” For Cross this is the wrong question. For him the most important first question is “Why?” and I think this must in some way be a reflection on my priorities when it comes to writing crime. It’s about the why, which in the end leads to the who.

The Monk by Tim Sullivan (Head of Zeus) Out Now

The Detective DS George Cross has always wondered why his mother left him when he was a child. Now she is back in his life, he suddenly has answers. But this unexpected reunion is not anything he's used to dealing with. When a disturbing case lands on his desk, he is almost thankful for the return to normality. The Question - The body of a monk is found savagely beaten to death in a woodland near Bristol. Nothing is known about Brother Dominic's past, which makes investigating difficult. How can Cross unpick a crime when they don't know anything about the victim? And why would someone want to harm a monk? The Past - Discovering who Brother Dominic once was only makes the picture more puzzling. He was a much-loved and respected friend, brother, son - he had no enemies. Or, at least, none that are obvious. But looking into his past reveals that he was a very wealthy man, that he sacrificed it all for his faith. For a man who has nothing, it seems strange that greed could be the motive for his murder. But greed is a sin after all... 

Capital Crime Announces Exciting New Central London Venue, After Sell Out Festival in 2022

 

Capital Crime 2023 to be held at the Leonardo Royal Hotel in shadow of St Paul’s Cathedral from 31st August - 2nd September 2023 

Dorothy Koomson & Kate Mosse (Capital Crime Festival 2022

Led by Goldsboro Books’ co-founder and managing director, David Headley, celebrated crime and thriller festival, Capital Crime, has announced it will take place this autumn at the Leonardo Royal Hotel in St Paul’s, providing a fitting backdrop for this year’s stellar line-up. 

Authors confirmed so far include Kate Atkinson, Happy Valley creator Sally Wainwright, Richard Osman, Dorothy Koomson, Chris Carter, Peter James, Liz Nugent, Imran Mahmood, Kat Diamond, Joanne Harris, Nicola Williams, Richard Armitage, Yomi Adegoke, Adele Parks and Lisa Jewell, with the full line-up of over 140 authors and field specialists to be announced later in the year. Standard Weekend and Day Tickets for Capital Crime 2023 are on sale now at www.capitalcrime.org. 

Richard Osman Capital Crime Festival 2022

Headley and his team at Goldsboro Books have helped launch the careers of so many authors since it opened almost 25 years ago, by uniting incredible writing with their loyal, ever-growing community of passionate readers. Committed to connecting readers to the books they’ll love, the capital’s first crime writing festival is a brilliant extension of this vision with an outstanding programme of over 40 entertaining, accessible events that explore all corners of the genre, and the opportunity to meet your literary heroes. The previous festivals have seen a wide range of authors, from household names to exciting debuts paired with actors, broadcasters and experts across the field. The 2022 line-up included Rev. Richard Coles, Kate Mosse, Robert Harris, S.A. Cosby, Bella Mackie, Abir Mukherjee and Paula Hawkins. 

Alongside the festival, Capital Crime will continue to create a year-round home for crime and thriller readers and authors with their book club and awards, and nurture under-represented authors with their social outreach initiative which was established in 2019. In June 2023, the festival will take its first trip out of the city with “Capital Crime goes on Holiday”, which will bring together crime-writing legends including Peter James, Dorothy Koomson, and John Sutherland for a very special series of events at Brighton Friends Meeting House, with book signings run by Goldsboro’s recently opened, Brighton store. 

Capital Crime co-founder and Goldsboro Books managing director David Headley said: 

“I’m incredibly proud of everything we are achieving at Capital Crime, we’re unlike any other festival. We’re a year round home for crime and thriller readers and fans. Alongside our weekend festival we run our Fingerprint Awards, where winners are voted for by readers, our Social Outreach initiative, which encourages literacy and aims to demystify the publishing industry, and we’ll also be running an exciting satellite event in Brighton with Goldsboro Books. We were so honoured to be joined by so many wonderful authors at last year’s festival and I can’t wait to reveal everything we have in store for this year!” 

Capital Crime Festival Director, Lizzie Curle, said: 

“I am absolutely delighted that we’ll be welcoming authors and field specialists from across the globe to the UK’s capital city once again this year. Our new indoor venue in the shadow of St Paul’s cathedral, complete with rooftop bar and club, will be the perfect place to celebrate the best genre in the world with the authors, readers and fans who make Capital Crime possible.” 

Standard Weekend and Day Tickets for Capital Crime 2023 are on sale now at www.capitalcrime.org 

Bella Mackie, Ragnar Jonasson & Amanda Redman at Fingerprint Awards, Leonardo Hotel

Longlist for the Margery Allingham Short Mystery Competition

The Margery Allingham

Short Mystery Competition

Congratulations to all the nominated authors.

2023 CWA Dagger Longlists

 

The Gold Dagger

Oxblood by Tom Benn

Shoot the Moonlight Out by William Boyle

The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith

The Kingdoms of the Savannah by George Dawes Green

The Lost Man of Bombay by Vaseem Khan

The Bookseller of Inverness by SG Maclean

A Killing in November by Simon Mason

The Clockwork Girl by Anna Mazzola 

The Winter Guest by William Ryan 

A Killing Rain by Faye Snowdon

The Bone Road by NE Solomons 

The Silent Brother by Simon Van der Velde

The Ian Fleming Steel Dagger

Opera by Julie Anderson

A Kiss After Dying by Ashok Banker

Take Your Breath Away by Linwood Barclay

Seventeen by John Brownlow

The Match by Harlan Coben

The Botanist by MW Craven

Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney

The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith

Alias Emma by Ava Glass

A Loyal Traitor by Tim Glister

Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka

May God Forgive by Alan Parks

The ILP John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger

A Good Day to Die by Amen Alonge

Better the Blood by Michael Bennett

Breaking by Amanda Cassidy 

Don't Know Tough by Eli Cranor

The Local by Joey Hartstone

The Truth Will Out by Rosemary Hennigan 

London in Black by Jack Lutz 

Dirt Town by Hayley Scrivenor

No Country for Girls by Emma Styles

Nobody But Us by Laure Van Rensburg

Outback by Patricia Wolf

The Partisan by Patrick Worrall

The Historical Dagger

The Darkest Sin by DV Bishop

Blackstone Fell by Martin Edwards

Two Storm Wood by Philip Gray

The Lost Diary of Samuel Pepys by Jack Jewers

The Bookseller of Inverness by SG MacLean

The Clockwork Girl by Anna Mazzola

Death at the Dolphin by Gretta Mulrooney

The Homes by JB Mylet

The Bangalore Detectives Club by Harini Nagendra

Blue Water by Leonora Nattrass

Hear No Evil by Sarah Smith

The Mushroom Tree Mystery by Ovidia Yu

The ALCS Dagger for Non Fiction

The Poisonous Solicitor by Stephen Bates

Dead in the Water by Matthew Campbell & Kit Chellel

What We Fear Most by Ben Cave

Scandal at Dolphin Square by Simon Danczuk & Daniel Smith

The Life of Crime by Martin Edwards

Unlawful Killings by Wendy Joseph

Tremors In The Blood by Amit Katwala

To Hunt a Killer by Julie Mackay & Robert Murphy

The Real Special Relationship by Michael Smith

The Life Inside by Andy West

About A Son by David Whitehouse

Stitched Up by Shahed Yousaf

The Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger

Good Reasons to Die, by Morgan Audic (tr Sam Taylor)

The Red Notebook, by Michel Bussi (tr Vineet Lal)

Even the Darkest Night by Javier Cercas (tr Anne Mclean)

Bad Kids by Zijin Chen, (tr Michelle Deeter)

Impossible, by Erri De Luca (tr NS Thompson) 

Femicide by Pascal Engman (tr Michael Gallagher)

The Bleeding by Johana Gustawsson (tr David Warriner) 

The Corpse Flower by Anne Mette Hancock (tr Tara Chace) 

The Anomaly by Hervé Le Tellier (tr Adriana Hunter) 

The Dark Flood by Deon Meyer (tr KL Seggers) 

The Tattoo Murder by Akimitsu Takagi (tr Deborah Boehm)

Lady Joker by Kaoru Takamura (tr Allison Markin Powell & Marie Iida)

The Short Story Dagger

The Disappearance by Leigh Bardugo - In ‘Marple’ 

The Tears of Venus by Victoria and Delilah Dowd - In ‘Unlocked’ 

Strawberry Moon by John Grisham – In ‘Sparring Partners’

Clout Chaser by Rachel Howzell Hall

The Beautiful Game by Sanjida Kay 

Paradise Lost by Abir Mukherjee

Death In Darjeeling by Vaseem Khan – In ‘The Perfect Crime’ 

Just One More by Laura Lippman – In ‘Seasonal Work & Other Killer Stories’

Auld Bride by Judith O'Reilly – In ‘Gone’ 

The Lake House by Ferdinand von Schirach - In ‘Punishment’ (tr: Katharina Hall) 

Runaway Blues by C J Tudor – In ‘A Sliver of Darkness’ 

Cast A Long Shadow by Hazell Ward – In ‘Cast A Long Shadow’

Dagger for the Best Mystery and Crime Publisher

Bitter Lemon Press 

Bookouture 

Canelo 

Harper Fiction 

Hodder & Stoughton 

Mantle 

Michael Joseph 

Raven 

Pushkin Vertigo 

Quercus 

Simon & Schuster 

Viper

Dagger in The Library

Ben Aaronovitch    

Sophie Hannah 

Mick Herron  

Erin Kelly  

Angela Marsons  

Brian McGilloway 

Tim Weaver

Congratulations to all the nominated authors.  The Shortlists will be announced on Friday 12 May at the  Crime Writer's Association Dagger Reception announcement which is due to take place at CrimeFest.

The Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence 2023 Shortlists

 

Best Crime Novel (Sponsored by Rakuten Kobo, with a $1000 prize)

Take Your Breath Away by Linwood Barclay (William Morrow)

Going to Beautiful by Anthony Bidulka (Stonehouse Publishing)

An Unthinkable Thing by Nicole Lundrigan (Viking Canada)

Please Join Us by Catherine McKenzie Simon & Schuster Canada)

Daughters of the Occupation by Shelly Sanders (HarperCollins Canada)

Best Crime First Novel (Sponsored by Melodie Campbell, with a $1000 prize)

The Pale Horse by T. Lawrence Davis (Friesen Press)

Killer Time by Bill Edwards (Friesen Press)

The Damned Lovely by Adam Frost (Down and Out Books)

Citizens of Light by Sam Shelstad (TouchWood Editions)

The Man from Mittelwerk by M.Z. Urlocker (Inkshares, Inc)

 

The Howard Engel Award for Best Crime Novel Set in Canada (Sponsored by Charlotte Engel and CWC, with a $500 prize)

Five Moves of Doom by A. J. Devlin (NeWest Press)

Blood Atonement by S. M. Freedman (Dundurn Press)

A Snake in the Raspberry Patch by Joanne Jackson (Stonehouse Publishing)

Cold Snap by Maureen Jennings (Cormorant Books)

The Foulest Things by Amy Tector (Keylight Books)

 

The Whodunit Award for Best Traditional Mystery (Sponsored by Jane Doe, with a $500 prize)

Knight in the Museum by Alice Bienia (Cairn Press)

Fenian Street by Anne Emery (ECW Press)

Deep House by Thomas King (HarperCollins Canada)

Death Plans a Perfect Trip by Mary Jane Maffini (Beyond the Page)

Framed in Fire by Iona Whishaw (Touchwood Editions)

 

Best Crime Novella (Sponsored by Mystery Magazine, with a $200 prize) 

Amdur's Ghost by M.H. Callway (In the Spirit of 13,Carrick Publishing)

Dangerous to Know by Hilary Davidson - In A Grifter's Song Vol. 8, (Down & Out Books)

Dead End Track by Julie Hiner (Julie Hiner)

The Emir's Falcon by Matt Hughes (Shadowpaw Press Premiere)

The Man Who Went Down Under by Alexis Stefanovich-Thomson (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazines)

 

Best Crime Short Story (Sponsored by Mystery Magazine, with a $300 prize) 

The Girl Who Was Only Three Quarters Dead by Craig H. Bowlsby (Mystery Magazine)

Must Love Dogs - or You're Gone by M.H. Callway (Red Dog Press)

To Catch a Kumiho by Blair Keetch (In the Spirit of 13, Carrick Publishing)

The Natural Order of Things by Sylvia Maultash Warsh (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine)

Swan Song by Donalee Moulton – In Cold Canadian Crime, (Crime Writers of Canada)

 

Best French Crime Book (Fiction and Nonfiction)

Le Mouroir des Anges by Geneviève Blouin (Éditions Alire)

Chaîne de Glace by Isabelle Lafortune (Éditions XYZ)

Le Dernier Manège by Guillaume Morrissette (Saint-Jean éditeur)

Modus operandi by Suzan Payne (Éditions Perce-Neige)

Monsieur Hämmerli by Richard Ste-Marie (Éditions Alire)

 

Best Juvenile or YA Crime Book (Fiction and Nonfiction) (Sponsored by Shaftesbury, with a $500 prize)

Lark Steals the Show by Natasha Deen (Orca Book Publisher)

Aggie Morton Mystery Queen: The Seaside Corpse by Marthe Jocelyn (Tundra Books)

Wrong Side of the Court by H.N. Khan (Penguin Teen)

Butt Sandwich & Tree by Wesley King (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)

Heartbreak Homes by Jo Treggiari (Nimbus Publishing Limited)

 

The Brass Knuckles Award for Best Nonfiction Crime Book (Sponsored by David Reid Simpson Law Firm, Hamilton, with a $300 prize)

How to Solve a Cold Case: And Everything Else You Wanted to Know About Catching Killers by Michael Arntfield (HarperCollins Canada)

The Castleton Massacre by Sharon Anne Cook and Margaret Carson (Dundurn Press Ltd)

Lost in the Valley of Death by Harley Rustad (Knopf Canada - Penguin Random House Canada)

The Betrayal of Anne Frank: A Cold Case Investigation by Rosemary Sullivan (HarperCollins Canada)

Scoundrel by Sarah Weinman (Knopf Canada - Penguin Random House Canada)

 

The Award for Best Unpublished Manuscript (Sponsored by ECW Press, with a $500 prize)

No Safe House by Jan Garnett

Snowed by Mary Keenan

Two Knots by Joanne Kormylo

The Broken Detective by Joel Nedecky

The Peaks by Michael Pennock, 

The Winners will be announced Thursday, 25 May 2023.

More information about the shortlist and the Crime Writers of Canada can be found here.