The Ned Kelly Awards Shortlist

 

The Australian Crime Writers Association announced all the categories for the Ned Kelly Award Shortlists. 

2024 Ned Kelly Awards Shortlist for Best International Crime Fiction:

Birnam Wood By Eleanor Catton

Dice by Claire Baylis

Resurrection Walk by Michael Connelly

The Only Suspect by Louise Candlish

The Search Party by Hannah Richell

Zero Days by Ruth Ware

2024 Ned Kelly Awards Shortlist for Best True Crime:

Crossing the Line by Nick McKenzie

Killing for Country by David Marr

The Murder Squad by Michael Adams

Reckless by Marele Day

The Teacher’s Pet by Hedley Thomas

2024 Ned Kelly Awards Shortlist for Best Crime Fiction:

Killer Traitor Spy by Tim Ayliffe

Dark Corners by Megan Goldin

Dark Mode by Ashley Kalagian Blunt

Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth

The Seven by Chris Hammer

Ripper by Shelley Burr

The Tea Ladies by Amanda Hampson

Everyone on this train is a suspect by Benjamin Stevenson

2024 Ned Kelly Awards Shortlist for Best Debut Crime Fiction:

Four Dogs Missing by Rhys Gard

Gus and the Missing Boy by Troy Hunter

Lowbridge by Lucy Campbell

Murder in the Pacific: Ifira Point by Matt Francis

The Fall Between by Darcy Tindale

The Beacon by P.A. Thomas

Violet Kelly and the Jade Owl by Fiona Britton

Congratulations to All! 

CWA Dagger Awards Longlists Announced

 

The 2024 longlists for the prestigious Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) Dagger awards, which honour the very best in the crime-writing genre, have been announced [8pm, April 20 at the CWA annual conference, Brighton].

Created in 1955, the world-famous CWA Daggers are the oldest awards in the genre and have been synonymous with quality crime writing for over half a century.

Past winners of the prestigious Gold Dagger, which is awarded for the best crime novel of the year, include Ian Rankin, John le Carré, Reginald Hill, and Ruth Rendell.

Authors in contention for the Gold Dagger this year include the debut novel Black River from Nilanjana Roy. She is up against stalwarts of the genre Mick Herron, Chris Hammer, and Dennis Lehane.

Also in the category are historical crime writer Alis Hawkins, the journalist turned international bestseller, Julia Haeberlin, and the bestselling children’s author Maz Evans with her first adult debut novel, Over My Dead Body. 

The Ian Fleming Steel Dagger, sponsored by Ian Fleming Publications Ltd, showcases the thriller of the year.

The longlist for 2024 includes James Wolff, who was a British intelligence officer for over ten years before leaving to write espionage novels, with The Man in the Corduroy Suit.

He’s joined by giants of the genre Linwood Barclay, David Baldacci, and Karin Slaughter alongside relative newcomers such as Jordan Harper, whose second thriller, Everybody Knows, makes the longlist. 

Also in contention are TJ Newman, the former flight attendant who became a Hollywood sensation with her latest thriller, Drowning, and Japanese author Isaka Kotaro for The Mantis; Kotaro is best-known for Bullet Train, which was adapted into a Brad Pitt movie.

Vaseem Khan, Chair of the Crime Writers’ Association, said: "As ever, the announcement of the CWA Daggers longlist is greeted with immense excitement in the crime and thriller writing world. Once again, our independent panels of expert judges have mulled, cogitated, debated, and, when all else has failed, challenged each other to duels, in their sterling efforts to pick longlists from the incredible array of books submitted to each Dagger. The Daggers are the gold standard of awards in the genre, and Dagger recognition has often served as a stepping stone for careers. More importantly, a Dagger longlisting means that genre readers can be assured of quality. Buy these books. You will not be disappointed."

The much-anticipated John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger highlights the best debut novels.

Among the rising stars of 2024 is Jo Callaghan with her BBC Between the Covers Book Club pick, The Blink of an Eye; the sensational fiery debut featuring a crime-solving queer punk nun, Scorched Grace by Margot Douaihy, and the Victorian gothic, The Tumbling Girl from Bridget Walsh.

Booker Prize winner John Banville is a heavyweight contender on the Historical Dagger longlist. The prizewinning novelist and literary polymath is in the running foriThe Lock-Up. Banville is up against established names including Ambrose Parry, S.G. MacLean, Alis Hawkins, and James Lee Burke with Flags on the Bayou.

The Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger includes international hits such as The Prey from the Icelandic author Yrsa Sigurðardóttir’s, translated by Victoria Cribb.

Maud Ventura’s My Husband, translated by Emma Ramadan, which was a sensation in France, likened to Patricia Highsmith and Gone Girl. And the Spanish writer Javier Castillo behind the international phenomenon, The Snow Girl, which was adapted to screen by Netflix, translated by Isabelle Kaufeler.

The ALCS Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction includes Nicholas Shakespeare’s Ian Fleming: The Complete Man, The Art Thief by Michael Finkel, the true story of the world’s most prolific art thief who accumulated a collection worth over $1.4 billion, and No Comment by Jess McDonald, who quit her job as a Met detective to tell all about her work on rape and domestic violence cases that left her with PTSD and a determination to speak out.

The CWA Daggers are one of the few high-profile awards that honour the short story.

This year sees the bestselling juggernaut Lee Child with his story Safe Enough. He’s up against Robert Scragg with Revenge is Best Served Hot, Sanjida Kay’s The Divide, and Rachel Amphlett with Three Ways to Die.

The Dagger in the Library nominees are voted by librarians and library users, chosen for the author’s body of work and support of libraries. This year sees firm favourites from the genre including MW Craven, Anthony Horowitz, Vaseem Khan, and LJ Ross.

The Best Crime and Mystery Publisher of the Year Dagger, which celebrates publishers and imprints demonstrating excellence and diversity in crime writing, pits big publishing houses including Harper Fiction Headline and Simon & Schuster against independent publishers Joffe Books, Bitter Lemon Press and Canelo. 

The Debut Dagger, which has been going for over 20 years, celebrates aspiring crime novelists.

The competition is open to unpublished authors, and is judged on the best opening for an unpublished crime novel. The winner will gain the attention of leading agents and top editors; over two dozen past winners and shortlisted Debut Dagger authors have signed publishing deals to date.

The CWA Diamond Dagger, awarded to an author whose crime-writing career has been marked by sustained excellence, is announced in early spring and in 2024 it was jointly awarded to Lynda La Plante and James Lee Burke.

The CWA Dagger shortlists will be announced on 10 May at the UK’s largest crime fiction convention, CrimeFest, hosted in Bristol.

The winners will be announced at the award ceremony at the CWA gala dinner on 4 July 2024 

The Longlists in Full:

GOLD DAGGER

Over My Dead Body by Maz Evans, (Headline)

Dead Man’s Creek by Chris Hammer, (Wildfire Books)

A Bitter Remedy by Alis Hawkins, (Canelo)

Night Will Find You by Julia Haeberlin, (Penguin, Michael Joseph)

The Secret Hours, by Mick Herron (Baskerville, John Murray)

The White Lie by J G Kelly (Hodder & Stoughton)

 Death of a Lesser God, by Vaseem Khan (Hodder & Stoughton

Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane (Abacus, Little Brown)

Tell me What I Am, by Una Mannion (Faber & Faber)

 Homecoming by Kate Morton, (Mantle, Pan Macmillan)

Black River, by Nilanjana Roy (Pushkin Vertigo)

Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers, by Jesse Sutanto (HQ ,Harper Collins)

IAN FLEMING STEEL DAGGER

 Simply Lies, by David Baldacci (Macmillan Pan Macmillan)

 The Lie Maker, by Linwood Barclay (HQ HarperCollins)

All the Sinners Bleed, by S A Cosby (Headline, Hachette)

Ozark Dogs, by Eli Cranor  (Headline Hachette)

The House Hunt by C M Ewan  (Macmillan, Pan Macmillan)

Everybody Knows, by Jordan Harper (Faber & Faber)

The Mantis by Kotaro Isaka, (Harvill Secker, Penguin Random House) 

Gaslight by Femi Kayode (Raven Books, Bloomsbury)

 77 North by D L Marshall, (Canelo)

Drowning, by T J Newman (Simon & Schuster)

After that Night, by Karin Slaughter (HarperCollins)

The Man in the Corduroy Suit, by James Wolff (Bitter Lemon Press

ILP JOHN CREASEY (NEW BLOOD) DAGGER

A Most Unusual Demise by Kathryn Black  (Bloodhound Books)

In The Blink of An Eye, by Jo Callaghan  (Simon & Schuster UK)

The Golden Gate by Amy Chua, (Corvus, Atlantic Books)

Scorched Grace, by Margot Douaihy (Pushkin Vertigo)

Murder By Natural Causes, by Helen Erichsen (Muswell Press)

The Maiden, by Kate Foster (Mantle Pan Macmillan)

The Golden Spoon, by Jessa Maxwell (Penguin)

West Heart Kill, by Dann McDorman (Raven Books)

Obsessed, by Liza North (Constable)

Go Seek by Michelle Teahan (Headline)

The Other Half, by Charlotte Vassell (Faber & Faber)

The Tumbling Girl by Bridget Walsh, (Gallic Books)

HISTORICAL DAGGER

Clara & Olivia, by Lucy Ashe (Magpie, Oneworld Publications)

The Lock-Up by John Banville  Faber & Faber

Flags on the Bayou, by James Lee Burke  Orion Fiction (Hachette)

Murder in the Bookshop by Anita Davison (Boldwood Books)

Harlem After Midnight by Louise Hare  (HQ, HarperCollins)

A Bitter Remedy by Alis Hawkins (Canelo)

Viper's Dream by Jake Lamar (No Exit Press)

The Winter List by S.G. MacLean (Quercus Fiction, Quercus)

The Murder Wheel by Tom Mead (Aries Head of Zeus)

Scarlet Town by Leonora Nattrass (Viper, Profile Books)

Voices of the Dead by Ambrose Parry (Canongate Books)

Lady MacBethad by Isabelle Schuler (Raven Books, Bloomsbury)

CRIME FICTION IN TRANSLATION DAGGER

The Snow Girl by Javier Castillo (translated by Isabelle Kaufeler), Penguin Books

Red Queen by Juan Gómez-Jurado, (translated by Nick Caistor,) Macmillan

The Girl By The Bridge by Arnaldur Indridason (translated by Philip Roughton,) Vintage

The Mantis by Kotaro Isaka, (translated by Sam Malissa,) Vintage

The Sins Of Our Fathers by translated by Frank Perry), Maclehose Press

Thirty Days Of Darkness, by Jenny Lund Madsen (translated by Megan E.Turney), Orenda Books

Nothing Is Lost, by Cloé Mehdi (translated by Howard Curtis), Europa Editions UK

He Murder Of Anton Livius, by Schneider Hansjörg (translated by Astrid Freuler), Bitter Lemon Press

The Consultant, by Im Seong-sun (translated by An Seong Jae,) Raven Books

Not Russian by Mikhail Shevelev (translated by Brian James Baer & Ellen Vayner), Europa Editions UK

The Prey by Yrsa Sigurdardottir (translated by Victoria Cribb), Hodder & Stoughton

My Husband by Maud Ventura (translated by Emma Ramadan,) Hutchinson Heinemann

ALCS GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION 

The Art Thief, by Michael Finkel (Simon & Schuster)

G-Man, by Beverly Gage (Simon & Schuster)

The Many Lives of Mama Love, by Lara Love Hardin (Endeavour)

No Ordinary Day by Matt Johnson with John Murray  (Ad Lib Publishers)

Chasing Shadows by Miles Johnson, (The Bridge Street Press)

The Snakehead by Patrick Radden Keefe (Picador)

Devil’s Coin by Jennifer McAdam with Douglas Thompson  (Ad Lib Publishers Ltd)

No Comment by Jess McDonald (Raven Books)

Seventy Times Seven by Alex Mar (Bedford Square Publishers)

How Many More Women? By Jennifer Robinson & Keina Yoshida  (Endeavour)

Ian Fleming: The Complete Man by Nicholas Shakespeare, (Vintage)

Murder at Home, by David Wilson (Sphere)

SHORT STORY DAGGER

Three Ways to Die by Rachel Amphlett from No W.W.M.  - Thrill Ride #3, edited by M. L. "Matt" Buchman, (Buchman Bookworks, Inc)

Safe Enough by Lee Child from An Unnecessary Assassin, edited by Lorraine Stevens, (Rivertree)

The Last Best Thing by Mia Dalia from Bang!:An Anthology of Modern Noir Fiction, edited by Andrew Hook, (Head Shot Press)

Slap Happy by Andrew Humphrey from Bang!:An Anthology of Modern Noir Fiction edited by Andrew Hook, (Head Shot Press)

The Also-Rans by Benedict J Jones from Bang!:An Anthology of Modern Noir Fiction edited by Andrew Hook, (Head Shot Press)

The Divide by Sanjida Kay from The Book of Bristol edited by Joe Melia and Heather Marks, (Comma Press)

The Spendthrift and the Swallow, by Ambrose Parry (Canongate Books)

 Drive Bye by DG Penny from An Unnecessary Assassin edited by Lorraine Stevens, (Rivertree)

Best Served Cold by FD Quinn from An Unnecessary Assassin edited by Lorraine Stevens, (Rivertree)

Revenge is Best Served Hot  by Robert Scragg from An Unnecessary Assassin edited by Lorraine Stevens, (Rivertree)

DAGGER IN THE LIBRARY

Louise Candlish 

MW Craven

Lucy Foley

Cara Hunter

Anthony Horowitz

Vaseem Khan

Angela Marsons

Kate Rhodes

LJ Ross 

Diane Saxon

PUBLISHERS’ DAGGER

Bitter Lemon Press

Canelo

Harper Fiction (HarperCollins)

Harvill Secker (PenguinRandomHouse)

Headline (Hachette)

Joffe Books

Michael Joseph (PenguinRandomHouse)

Pushkin Press

Raven (Bloomsbury)

Simon & Schuster

DEBUT DAGGER (Sponsored by ProWritingAid)

Burnt Ranch by Katherine Ahlert,

Unnatural Predators by Caroline Arnoul

Vilomah by Matt Coot

Good Criminals by Judy Hock

Vigilante Love Song by JR Holland

Bluebirds by Alan Jackson

Makoto Murders by Richard Jerram

Long Way Home by Lynn McCall, 

Not a Good Mother by Karabi Mitra

The Last Days of Forever by Jeremy Tinker

A Politician’s Guide to Murder by James Tobin 

The Blond by Megan Toogood

The Australian Crime Writers Association announced the 2023 Ned Kelly Awards Shortlists

 

BEST CRIME FICTION 

Soulmate by Sally Hepworth 

When The Carnival is Over by Greg Woodland 

Exiles by Jane Harper 

When We Fall by Aoife Clifford 

The Tilt by Chris Hammer 

Those Who Perish by Emma Viskic 

Seven Sisters by Katherine Kovacic

Lying Beside You by Michael Robotham

BEST INTERNATIONAL CRIME FICTION 

(Published in Australia) 

The Lemon Man by Keith Bruton 

Paper Cage by Tom Baragwanath 

The Favour by Nicci French 

The Hitchhiker by Gerwin van der Werf 

BEST DEBUT CRIME FICTION 

Wake by Shelley Burr 

No Country for Girls by Emma Styles 

Dirt Town by Hayley Scrivenor 

Black River by Matthew Spencer 

How to Kill a Client by Joanna Jenkins 

The House of Now and Then by Jo Dixon 

Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder by Kerryn Mayne 

Denizen by James McKenzie Watson 

BEST TRUE CRIME 

Tiger! Tiger! Tiger! by Officer 

A Death Row at Truro by Geoff Plunkett 

Rattled by Ellis Gunn 

Betrayed by Sandi Logan 

Out of the Ashes by Megan Norris 

Books to Look Forward to From Headline

 January 2022

Opals… In the desolate outback town of Finnigans gap, police struggle to maintain law and order. Thieves pillage opal mines, religious fanatics recruit vulnerable youngsters and billionaires do as they please. Bodies… Then an opal miner is found crucified and left to rot down his mine. Nothing about the miner’s death is straight-forward, not even who found the body. Homicide detective Ivan Lucic is sent to investigate, assisted by inexperienced young investigator Nell Buchanan. But Finnigans Gap has already ended one police career and damaged others, and soon both officers face damning allegations and internal investigations. Have Ivan and Nell been set up, and if so, by whom? Secrets… As time runs out, their only chance at redemption is to find the killer. But the more they uncover, the more harrowing the mystery becomes, and a past long forgotten is thrown into scorching sunlight. Because in Finnigans Gap, nothing stays buried for ever. Opal County is by Chris Hammer.

Real Easy is by Marie Rutkoski. It’s 1999, and Samantha has danced for years at the Lovely Lady strip club. She’s not used to taking anyone under her wing – after all, between her disapproving boyfriend and his daughter, who may as well be her own child, she has enough to worry about. But when Samantha overrides her better judgment to drive a new dancer home, they are run off the road. The police arrive at the scene of the accident – but find only one body. Georgia, another dancer, is drawn into the investigation as she tries to assist Holly, a detective with a complicated story of her own. As the point of view shifts from police officers and detectives to club patrons, the women circle around a list of suspects, all the while grappling with their own understanding of loss and love. As they get closer to the truth they must each confront a fundamental question: How do women live their lives knowing that men can hurt them?

February 2022

All That Lives is by James Oswald. An archaeological dig at the old South Leith parish kirkyard has turned up a mysterious body dating from around 700 years ago. The experts wonder if she wasn’t murdered and dumped, but some suspect that this gruesome discovery is a sacrifice, placed there for a specific purpose. Then a second body is unearthed. This victim went missing only thirty years ago – but the similarities between her death and the ancient body’s suggest something even more disturbing. Drawn into the investigation, McLean finds himself torn between a worrying trend of violent drug-related deaths and uncovering what truly connects these bodies. When a third body is discovered, and too close for comfort, he begins to suspect dark purpose at play – and that whoever put them there is far from finished.

March 2022

Winter, 1607. A man is struck down in the grounds of Battle Abbey, Sussex. Before dawn breaks, he is dead. Home to the Montagues, Battle has caught the paranoid eye of King James. The Catholic household is rumoured to shelter those loyal to the Pope, disguising them as servants within the abbey walls. And the last man sent to expose them was silenced before his report could reach London. Daniel Pursglove is summoned to infiltrate Battle and find proof of treachery. He soon discovers that nearly everyone at the abbey has something to hide – for deeds far more dangerous than religious dissent. But one lone figure he senses only in the shadows, carefully concealed from the world. Could the notorious traitor Spero Pettingar finally be close at hand? As more bodies are unearthed, Daniel determines to catch the culprit. But how do you unmask a killer when nobody is who they seem? Traitor in the Ice is by K J Maitland.

April 2022

It Starts at Midnight is by Harriet Tyce. New Year’s Eve, when the clock strikes twelve. A lavish party in one of Edinburgh’s best postcodes is sent spiralling into chaos when two guests fall tragically from the roof, impaled on the cast iron railings below. For Tess, it was about more than reuniting with long lost friends. Recently diagnosed with an illness that could be terminal, it was her last chance to make things right. Having grown apart from her husband Marcus, she knew this would be the perfect opportunity to renew their vows, surrounded by everyone they love. Their time is running out. Tess’ closest companion Sylvie knows this better than anyone. She’s trying desperately to offer her friend some closure from the guilt that has plagued them both for decades. But as midnight approaches and the countdown begins, it becomes clear that someone doesn’t want a resolution. They want revenge.

From the detective who helped catch the Golden State Killer, a memoir about investigating America's toughest cold cases, and the rewards - and toll - of a life spent solving crime. For a decade, from 1973, The Golden State Killer stalked and murdered Californians in the dead of night, leaving entire communities afraid to turn off the lights. Then he vanished, and the case remained unsolved. In 1994, when cold-case investigator Paul Holes came across the old file, he swore he would unmask GSK and finally give these families closure. Twenty-four years later, Holes fulfilled that promise, identifying 73-year-old Joseph J. DeAngelo. Headlines blasted around the world: one of America's most prolific serial killers had been caught. That case launched Paul's career into the stratosphere, turning him into an icon in the true-crime world. But while many know the story of the capture of GSK, until now, no one has truly known the man behind it all. In Unmasked: Crime Scenes, Cold Cases & My Hunt for the Golden State Killer Paul Holes takes us through his memories of a storied career and provides an insider account of some of the most notorious cases in contemporary American history, including Laci Peterson's murder and Jaycee Dugard's kidnapping. But this is also a revelatory profile of a complex man and what makes him tick: the drive to find closure for victims and their loved ones; the inability to walk away from a challenge - even at the expense of his own happiness. This is a story about the gritty truth of crime solving when there are no 'case closed' headlines. It is the story of a man and his commitment to his cases, and to the people who might have otherwise been forgotten.

June 2022

The Gatekeeper is by James Byrne. Dez’ Limerick is a “retired” British mercenary, checking out sunny Southern California when he finds himself in the wrong place at the right time, interrupting the kidnapping attempt of a military equipment corporation CEO’s daughter. Helping her to uncover a deadly plot buried within her own company, Dez exposes a sinister conspiracy that turns out to be bigger, more dangerous, and more personal at every explosive turn. 

The tide’s coming in. Every wave seems to lap a little higher. Erasing, bit by bit, the traces of what I did. Kenna arrives in Sydney to surprise her best friend. But Mikki and her fiancé Jack are about to head away on a trip, so Kenna finds herself tagging along for the ride. Sorrow Bay is beautiful, wild and dangerous. A remote surfing spot with waves to die for, cut off from the rest of the world. Here Kenna meets the people who will do anything to keep their paradise a secret. Sky, Ryan, Clemente and Victor have come to ride the waves and to disappear from life. But what did they leave behind? And how will they feel about Kenna turning up unannounced? As Kenna gets drawn into their world, she sees that everyone has their own fears to overcome and secrets to hide. What has her best friend got involved in and can she protect her? Because there’s one thing that each member of the tribe keeps telling her: nobody ever leaves. A word of warning. This place isn’t perfect, nor are the people here. There’s a darkness inside all of us and The Bay has a way of bringing it out. Everyone here has their secrets but we don’t go looking for them, because sometimes it’s better not to know. The Bay is by Allie Reynolds.

Books to Look Forward to From Headline Publishers

January 2021

On a bright sunny day in Port Silver, ex-journalist Martin Scarsden misses a call from his girlfriend Mandy. Checking his voicemail later, all he hears is her terrified scream before the phone cuts off. Back at the house, he finds a policeman unconscious on the floor, and Mandy gone. So starts a twisting tale of intrigue and danger, as Martin probes the past of the woman he loves, a woman who has buried her former life deep. And for the first time, Mandy finds denial impossible, now the body of a man has been discovered - a man to whom she was engaged to marry. It's time to face her demons once and for all; it's time she learned how to trust. Trust is by Chris Hammer.

Run For Cover is by Michael Ledwidge. On the run from a shadowy cabal of the world's most powerful men, ex-Navy Seal Michael Gannon heads to the safest place he can think of: his war buddy's ranch in the wilds of Utah. But when his friend's brother is found dead in the rocky mountains, Gannon realizes he can't stay off grid. Is the death connected to a string of grisly murders occurring in national parks...or something even more sinister? Flushed from cover, Gannon finds himself sucked into a lethal conspiracy that has infiltrated the highest levels of the US government.

February 2021

Shiver is by Allie Reynolds. When Milla is invited to a reunion in the French Alps resort that saw the peak of her snowboarding career, she drops everything to go. While she would rather forget the events of that winter, the invitation comes from Curtis, the one person she can't seem to let go. The five friends haven't seen each other for ten years, since the disappearance of the beautiful and enigmatic Saskia. But when an icebreaker game turns menacing, they realise they don't know who has really gathered them there and how far they will go to find the truth. In a deserted lodge high up a mountain, the secrets of the past are about to come to light.

The charred remains of an elderly woman are discovered in a burned-out game-keepers cottage, hidden away in woodland to the west of Edinburgh. Clearly no accidental fire, Detective Inspector Tony McLean suspects that neither is this simply a grim arson attack. There is far more to the victim than her humble surroundings might suggest, and something ritualistic to her horrific murder. Nor will it be the only case of death by fire that Tony and his team will be faced with. This is only the beginning, and with such evil clouding the air, Tony begins to wonder what else will burn . . . What Will Burn is by James Oswald.

Finlay Donovan is Killing It is by Elle Cosimano. Finlay Donovan, single mum and floundering crime writer, is having a hard time. Her ex-husband went behind her back to fire the nanny, and this morning she sent her four-year-old to school with hair duct-taped to her head after an unfortunate incident with scissors. Making it to lunch with her literary agent is a minor victory but, as she's discussing the plot of her latest crime novel, the conversation is misinterpreted by a woman sitting nearby as that of a hit-woman offering her services to dispose of a 'problem' husband. And when the woman slips Finlay a name and a promise of a large sum of cash, Finlay finds herself plotting something much bigger than her novel. And, after all, they do always say: write what you know. . .

March 2021

Blackout is by Simon Scarrow. Berlin, December 1939As Germany goes to war, the Nazis tighten their terrifying grip. Paranoia in the capital is intensified by a rigidly enforced blackout that plunges the city into oppressive darkness every night, as the bleak winter sun set.When a young woman is found brutally murdered, Criminal Inspector Horst Schenke is under immense pressure to solve the case, swiftly. Treated with suspicion by his superiors for his failure to join the Nazi Party, Schenke walks a perilous line - for disloyalty is a death sentence.The discovery of a second victim confirms Schenke's worst fears. He must uncover the truth before evil strikes again.As the investigation takes him closer to the sinister heart of the regime, Schenke realises there is danger everywhere - and the warring factions of the Reich can be as deadly as a killer stalking the streets . ..

What if today was your last day... A bomb has exploded during a fashion show, killing a beautiful model on the catwalk. The murderer is still at large... and he may strike again. Yet this is the least of Police Commissioner Christian Verger's worries. His fiancee Viola has left him. He has to keep his tumultuous past a secret. To make things worse, his voice assistant Alexa is 99.74% sure he will die tomorrow. Moving from snowy 1980s Montana to chic 1990s Manhattan to a drone-filled 2030s Britain, Future Perfect is by Felicia Yap and is an electrifying race to solve a murder before it's too late. Yet it is also a love story, a riveting portrait of a couple torn apart by secrets, grief and guilt. A twisted tale of how the past can haunt a person's future and be used to predict if he will die... or kill.

Breakout is by Paul Herron. A lethal storm. The most deadly prison. Who will survive the night? Jack Constantine - a former cop who killed one of his wife's murderers in an act of vengeance - is serving his time in Ravenhill penitentiary, a notorious 'supermax' home to the most dangerous convicts in the country. When an apocalyptic superstorm wreaks havoc across the USA, the correctional officers flee the prison...but not before opening every cell door. The inmates must fend for themselves as lethal floodwaters rise and violent anarchy is unleashed. Teaming up with Kiera Sawyer, a Correctional Officer left behind on her first day of work, Constantine has one chance of survival - he must break out of a maximum security prison. But with the building on the verge of collapse, and deadly chaos around him, time is running out...

April 2021

1606. A year to the day that men were executed for conspiring to blow up Parliament, a towering wave devastates the Bristol Channel. Some proclaim God's vengeance. Others seek to take advantage.In London, Daniel Pursglove lies in prison waiting to die. But Charles FitzAlan, close adviser to King James I, has a job in mind that will free a man of Daniel's skill from the horrors of Newgate. If he succeeds.For Bristol is a hotbed of Catholic spies, and where better for the lone conspirator who evaded arrest, one Spero Pettingar, to gather allies than in the chaos of a drowned city? Daniel journeys there to investigate FitzAlan's lead, but soon finds himself at the heart of a dark Jesuit conspiracy - and in pursuit of a killer. The Drowned City is by K J Maitland.

A Darker Reality is by Anne Perry. The threat of a second world war means no one is safe... Elena Standish, a young English photographer working for MI5, is on holiday in America, attending her grandparents’ golden wedding anniversary party in Washington DC, when one of the guests is murdered. It is a hit and run by a car that belongs to Elena’s grandfather and he is immediately arrested. With connections to many political circles, including a close link to the President, Elena’s grandfather is convinced that his enemies are trying to frame him. And with the help of handsome British spy James Allenby, Elena must uncover the truth before it is too late... 

Forfeit is by Barbara Nadel. Double murder. Dark secrets Bitter betrayal It is the early hours of the morning when Turkish TV star Erol Gencer and Syrian refugee Wael Al Hussain are found dead at a house on the outskirts of Istanbul, but it is unclear whether Erol killed Wael before committing suicide or if it was a double murder. Inspector Mehmet Suleyman is on leave, as his teenage son is visiting from Ireland, but when Detective Kemil Gursel’s transsexual ex-lover, Pembe, is also murdered shortly after confessing that Wael had been one of her clients, Suleyman knows he must step in to help Kemil solve this complex case. Meanwhile, retired inspector Cetin Ikmen is pursuing the truth behind Wael’s wife’s story that she and Erol’s wife, Betul, had met over a year ago and plotted to kill each other’s husbands. From different directions, Ikmen and Suleyman close in on a killer whose double life has lead to greed, betrayal and murder... 

Inspector Lu Fei is a weary cop in a remote, northern Chinese town where the theft of a few chickens counts as a major crime. But when a young woman is brutally murdered - with her heart, lungs and liver removed - he suddenly finds himself under intense scrutiny from the ruling party in Beijing. Determined to find her killer, Lu Fei must navigate a society where politics can be deadly, corruption is rife, and the powerful are protected. As evidence connects the case a string of unsolved murders, Lu must decide what he is prepared to risk in search of justice. City of Ice is by Brian Klingborg.

2020 Strand Critics Award

The Strand Magazine announces nominations for the 2020 Strand Critics Awards:

Authors Attica Locke, Alex Michaelides, Don Winslow, Angie Kim, and Laura Lippman headline this year’s nominees for the Strand Critics Awards.

Walter Mosley and Tess Gerritsen will receive Lifetime Achievement Awards.

Bronwen Hruska of Soho Press will receive the Publisher of the Year Award.

Recognizing excellence in the field of mystery fiction and publishing, the annual Strand Critics Awards are judged by a select group of book critics and journalists. This year’s judges include talent from NPR, USA Today, LA Times, and The Washington Post.

And the nominees are . . .

Best Mystery Novel (2019)

Big Sky by Kate Atkinson (Little, Brown and Co.)

The Lost Man by Jane Harper (Flatiron Books)

The Sentence is Death by Anthony Horowitz (Harper)

Lady in the Lake by Laura Lippman (William Morrow)

Heaven, My Home by Attica Locke (Mulholland Books)

The Border by Don Winslow (William Morrow)

Best Debut Novel (2019)

Scrublands by Chris Hammer (Atria Books)

Miracle Creek by Angie Kim (Sarah Crichton Books, FSG)

One Night Gone by Tara Laskowski (Graydon House)

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides (Celadon Books)

Three-Fifths by John Vercher (Agora Books)

“This year’s panel chose a great lineup of nominees,” said Andrew F. Gulli, managing editor of The Strand Magazine. “It’s great to see a variety of books within the genre get represented. We have everything from traditional puzzle mystery and PI novel to noir and literary suspense, even a hospital mystery.”

Past recipients of Critics Awards include Michael Connelly, Laura Lippman, Richard Price, Megan Abbott, George Pelecanos, Joseph Finder, Lauren Beukes, and William Landay.

The Strand Magazine’s Publisher of the Year Award recognizes excellence in publishing…

This year’s recipient is Bronwen Hruska, publisher of Soho Press. An accomplished journalist and screenwriter, Hruska took the helm at Soho in 2010 and for the past ten years has overseen record growth, with scores of novels receiving critical and commercial acclaim.

“The characteristic of a great publisher is one who takes risks, who is never satisfied with the status quo, and most importantly someone who is dedicated to releasing works from a diverse set of authors,” said Managing Editor Gulli. “For over a decade, Hruska has done just that. She has been a fearless and tireless advocate for her authors, and they all love her.”

“Publishing is a labor of love, full stop. At Soho, we believe in every book we publish, every author. But to be recognized for that work—and by Strand Magazine, a leader in the crime fiction community—is truly an honor,” said Hruska. “Thank you Strand, and thank you to our wonderful authors who make our work not only meaningful, but quite joyful as well.”

The Strand Magazine’s Lifetime Achievement Awards go to Tess Gerritsen and Walter Mosley.

In a writing career spanning several decades and multiple genres, Tess Gerritsen has stood

out as one of the most inventive practitioners of the medical thriller. Her series featuring Boston police detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles has been a staple of best-seller lists (also inspiring a hit TV show), and her books have sold over 30 million copies worldwide.

“When I was a child, my very practical father told me I’d never be able to support myself as a writer,” said Gerritsen. “But we storytellers are a stubborn bunch, and three decades into a writing career, here I am. Still writing. I’m thrilled by this honor, which proves that, yes, tenacity has its rewards.”

In 1990, the release of Devil in a Blue Dress marked the debut of Easy Rawlins, a clever, noble, and thoughtful private investigator in post-World War II Los Angeles. Author Walter Mosley earned plaudits for the novel, and for the past thirty years he has been compared to noir luminaries Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, and James M. Cain. Mosley is the author of more than 40 books and his work has been translated into 23 languages.

“I want to thank Andrew Gulli and the critics that elected to give me this honor, adding my name to a list of names I greatly admire,” said Mosley. “The Strand itself deserves honors too for staying true to its mission in an age of media attrition, showcasing, engaging and amplifying the voices of writers who write in all the many forms this genre takes on.”

The Strand Critics Awards will be held virtually on September 4.

Thanks to Strand Magazine for the information.