Shortlist Announced for Final 2025 CrimeFest Awards

 

CrimeFest, one of Europe’s leading crime writing conventions, has announced the shortlists for its final annual awards.

The awards began 17 years ago when CrimeFest launched in 2008; they honour the best crime fiction and non-fiction books released in the UK in the last year.

2025 will be the final awards as organisers announced this year CrimeFest will come to an end.

The awards feature the hotly-contended Specsavers Debut Crime Novel Award, which offers a £1,000 cash prize. 

Authors in contention for the £1k prize are Tom Baragwanath for his New Zealand small-town mystery Paper Cage, Cosmo’s Thriller of the Year Love Letters to a Serial Killer by Tasha Coryell, and the cosy crime caper The Antique Hunter’s Guide to Murder, by C.L. Miller.

Also making the Specsavers shortlist are Akira Otani with the gripping Japanese cult thriller The Night of Baba Yaga, Tracey Sierra’s Richard and Judy Book Club pick, Nightwatching, and Scotland’s Claire Wilson with her debut, Five by Five. 

Adrian Muller, Co-host of CrimeFest, said: “The Specsavers Debut Novel Award has become one of the most highly anticipated awards of the genre over the years, and we’d like to thank Specsavers for their on-going support in celebrating new talent.”

The shortlist for the CrimeFest H.R.F. Keating Award for the best biographical or critical book features icon of the genre Lynda La Plante with her memoir, Getting Away with Murder. 

The category also includes an exploration of Agatha Christie, with Mark Aldridge’s Agatha Christie’s Marple: Expert on Wickedness, Female Detectives in Early Crime Fiction 1841-1920 by Ashley Bowden, and Sara Lodge’s The Mysterious Case of the Victorian Detective. Jem Bloomfield is also in contention for Allusion in Detective Fiction, as are Dan Coxon and Richard V Hirst for Writing the Murder: Essays on Crafting Crime Fiction.

CrimeFest’s Last Laugh Award for best humorous crime novel sees returning favourites authors Mike Ripley, Orlando Murrin, and Antti Tuomainen. It also welcomes Cathy Ace with The Case of the Secretive Secretary, Bella Mackie for What a Way to Go, and DG Coutinho for The Light and Shade of Ellen Swithin.

DG Coutinho received the 2025 bursary for a crime fiction writer of colour to attend and feature on a panel at the final CrimeFest for their first novel, a darkly comic thriller set in a toxic office culture.

Bella Mackie is also nominated for the best crime fiction e-book published in 2024; What a Way to Go is shortlisted for the E-Dunnit Award. She’s up against stalwart of the genre Martin Edwards with Hemlock Bay, Laurie R. King for The Lantern's Dance, the American novelist and playwright Jean Hanff Korelitz with The Sequel, Liz Moore’s The God of the Woods and Peter Swanson’s A Talent for Murder.

The nominees for the CrimeFest Best Crime Novel for Children (aged 8 - 12) include Sufiya Ahmed for her World War Two adventure set in Cairo, Rosie Raja: Undercover Codebreaker, M. G. Leonard for Feather (The Twitchers) from the bestselling birdwatching detective series, and the magical murder mystery, The Floating Witch Mystery by Nicki Thornton. They’re joined by fellow children’s authors Natasha Farrant, A.M. Howell, and Beth Lincoln.

Adrian Muller said: “We are proud to be one of the few genre awards that recognise and celebrate children, and young adult crime fiction. This category has really boomed in recent years. It’s a fitting legacy that over the years we’ve gifted thousands of free children’s and young adult books to inner city schools in Bristol as part of our outreach and charitable work. The genre is a fantastic gateway into reading, so the hope these books have inspired new generations of readers and writers.”

Leading British crime fiction reviewers and reviewers of fiction for children and young adults, alongside the members of the School Library Association (SLA), form the CrimeFest judging panels.

The Best Crime Fiction for Young Adults (aged 12-16) features H.F Askwith’s A Cruel Twist of Fate, Denise Brown’s It All Started with A Lie, and A.J Clack’s dark reality-TV based Young Adult thriller, Lie or Die.

Also in contention are the razor-sharp romantasy All The Hidden Monsters by Annie Jordan, the sequel to the Waterstone’s prize winning Thieves’ Gambit, Heist Royale by Kayvion Lewis and Such Charming Liars by Karen M. McManus. 

This year also features the Thalia Proctor Memorial Award for Best Adapted TV Crime Drama, which celebrate dramas based on a book screened in 2024. 

Eligible titles were collated from the Radio Times and CrimeFest readers established the shortlist and the winning title. The award is named in honour of Thalia, who worked with many crime writers in publishing and was a much-loved and valued member of the CrimeFest team.

Shortlisted shows include Apple TV’s Bad Monkey, based on the book by Carl Hiaasen, P.D. James Dalgliesh (Channel 5, series 3), Laura Lippman’s Lady in the Lake adapted by Apple TV, Moonflower Murders on the BBC based on the books by Anthony Horowitz, Apple TV’s Slow Horses (series 4) from Mick Herron’s Slough House books and the BBC’s The Turkish Detective based on the Inspector Ikmen books by Barbara Nadel.

The winners of the 2025 CrimeFest Awards will be announced at a gala dinner hosted during CrimeFest on Saturday 17 May at the Mercure Bristol Grand Hotel, compered by the Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) chair and author, Vaseem Khan.

Hosted in Bristol, CrimeFest is the biggest crime fiction convention in the UK, and one of the most popular dates in the international crime fiction calendar, with circa 60 panel events and 150 authors attending over four days, from 15-18 May. 

2025’s CrimeFest promises to be bigger than ever as long-standing friends of the event gather for a celebratory finale, including blockbuster author, Lee Child who will be attending with his brother and co-Reacher author, Andrew Child.

CrimeFest was created following the hugely successful one-off visit to Bristol in 2006 of the American Left Coast Crime convention. Established in 2008, it follows the egalitarian format of most US conventions, making it open to all commercially published authors and readers alike.

All category winners will receive a Bristol Blue Glass commemorative award. Eligible titles were submitted by publishers, and a team of British crime fiction reviewers voted to establish the shortlist and the winning title.

The 2025 CrimeFest Award Shortlists in full:

SPECSAVERS DEBUT CRIME NOVEL AWARD

Tom Baragwanath for Paper Cage (Baskerville)

Tasha Coryell for Love Letters to a Serial Killer (Orion Fiction)

C. L. Miller for The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder (Pan Macmillan)

Akira Otani (and translator Sam Bett) for The Night of Baba Yaga (Faber & Faber)

Tracy Sierra for Nightwatching (Viking)

Claire Wilson for Five by Five (Michael Joseph)

eDUNNIT AWARD 

Martin Edwards for Hemlock Bay (Head of Zeus)

Laurie R. King for The Lantern's Dance (Allison & Busby)

Jean Hanff Korelitz for The Sequel (Faber & Faber)

Bella Mackie for What A Way To Go (The Borough Press)

 Liz Moore for The God of the Woods (The Borough Press)

Peter Swanson for A Talent for Murder (Faber)

H.R.F. KEATING AWARD

Mark Aldridge for Agatha Christie's Marple: Expert on Wickedness (HarperCollins)

Jem Bloomfield for Allusion in Detective Fiction (Palgrave Macmillan)

Ashley Bowden for Female Detectives in Early Crime Fiction 1841-1920 (Fabula Mysterium Press)

Dan Coxon & Richard V. Hirst for Writing the Murder: Essays on Crafting Crime Fiction (Dead Ink)

Sara Lodge for The Mysterious Case of the Victorian Detective (Yale University Press)

Lynda La Plante for Getting Away With Murder: My Unexpected Life on Page, Stage and Screen (Zaffre)

LAST LAUGH AWARD

Cathy Ace for The Case of the Secretive Secretary (Four Tails Publishing Ltd.)

DG Coutinho for The Light and Shade of Ellen Swithin (Harvill Secker)

Bella Mackie for What A Way To Go (The Borough Press)

Orlando Murrin for Knife Skills for Beginners (Transworld)

Mike Ripley for Mr Campion's Christmas (Severn House)

Antti Tuomainen (and translator David Hackston) for The Burning Stones (Orenda Books)

BEST CRIME FICTION AWARD FOR CHILDREN (aged 8-12)

Sufiya Ahmed for Rosie Raja: Undercover Codebreaker (Bloomsbury Education)

Natasha Farrant for The Secret of Golden Island (Faber & Faber)

A.M. Howell for Mysteries at Sea: The Hollywood Kidnap Case (Usborne Publishing)

M. G. Leonard for The Twitchers: Feather (Walker Books)

Beth Lincoln for The Swifts: A Gallery of Rogues (Penguin Random House Children's UK)

Nicki Thornton for The Floating Witch Mystery (Faber & Faber)

BEST CRIME FICTION AWARD FOR YOUNG ADULTS (aged 12-16)

H.F. Askwith for A Cruel Twist of Fate (Penguin Random House Children's UK)

Denise Brown for It All Started With a Lie (Hashtag Press)

A.J. Clack for Lie or Die (Firefly Press)

Amie Jordan for All the Hidden Monsters (Chicken House)

Kayvion Lewis for Heist Royale (Simon & Schuster Children's Books)

Karen M. McManus for Such Charming Liars (Penguin Random House Children's UK)

THALIA PROCTOR MEMORIAL AWARD FOR BEST ADAPTED TV CRIME DRAMA

Bad Monkey, based on the book by Carl Hiaasen (Apple TV+)

Dalgliesh (series 3), based on the Inspector Dalgliesh books by P.D. James (Channel 5)

Lady in the Lake based on the book by Laura Lippman (Apple TV+)

Moonflower Murders based on the book by Anthony Horowitz (BBC)

Slow Horses (series 4), based on the Slough House books by Mick Herron (Apple TV+)

The Turkish Detective, based on the Inspector Ikmen books by Barbara Nadel (BBC)

2020 CrimeFest Awards

Lee Child, Holly Watt, and Laura Shepherd-Robinson have received a 2020 CRIMEFEST Award in a virtual presentation hosted by actor Matt McCooey, who plays Inspector Bill Wong in the hit series Agatha Raisin.

The CRIMEFEST awards, hosted by one of Europe’s leading crime writing conventions, are in their 13th year and celebrate the best crime books released in 2019 in the UK.

Laura Shepherd-Robinson receives £1,000 for the inaugural Specsavers Debut Crime Novel Award for Blood & Sugar in a new category in association with the convention’s headline sponsor, Specsavers.

Laura worked in politics for nearly 20 years before completing an MA in Creative Writing at City University. Her first novel, a vivid evocation of the slave trade in Georgian England, has received widespread critical acclaim. The Financial Times said she has ‘set the bar high for historical crime fiction.’

Laura Shepherd-Robinson said: “I’m so thrilled to have won this prize, I can’t really believe it. Thank you so much to CRIMEFEST and to Specsavers, and also to my amazing editor Maria Rejt and my agent Antony Topping, but most of all thank you to all the people who have read Blood & Sugar.”

Dame Mary Perkins, Specsavers’ founder who was born in Bristol, her ‘favourite city’, congratulated Laura for a ‘very topical book’. She said: “I’m so glad that CRIMEFEST is still happening, albeit online. We’re proud to sponsor the debut crime novel award. Reading and the importance of good vision makes for a very close connection for Specsavers.”

Lee Child and Jeff Harding - the reader on Child’s audio book Blue Moon - also receive £1,000 for winning the Audible Sounds of Crime Award, sponsored by Audible UK.  Lee Child said: “Thank you so much for this, to CRIMEFEST obviously, but also to Jeff Harding most of all, my amazing narrator. He won this for me, thanks Jeff. I hope to see everyone soon in person and at a proper convention.”

All category winners, aside from Audible Sounds of Crime, which is established by Audible UK listeners, were judged by panels of leading British crime fiction reviewers. All the winners receive an engraved, hand-made Bristol Blue Glass Award.

In other categories, Holly Watt received the eDunnit Award for To the Lions, which won the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger in 2019. Featuring a female journalist who stumbles upon a dark conspiracy, it was praised as a ‘first-rate Fleet Street novel’ by the Sunday Times. Watt, an investigative journalist, has worked on MP’s Expenses and the Panama Papers and written for major broadsheets in the UK.

Helen FitzGerald received the Last Laugh Award for Worst Case Scenario, a deliciously dark, unapologetically funny and nail-biting tense psychological thriller from the international bestselling author of The Cry, which was dramatized by BBC TV.

The H.R.F Keating Award for the best biographical or critical book related to crime fiction went to John Curran for The Hooded Gunman, a celebration of the 2000 books published by the iconic imprint Collins’ Crime Club.

Best Crime Novel for Young Adults went to Kathryn Evans for Beauty Sleep. Evans is no stranger to awards as her debut More of Me won the Edinburgh International Book Festival First Book Award – the first Young Adult novel to do so. Her latest, Beauty Sleep, is a dark thriller that plunges a pre-tech girl into a futuristic world.

The winner of the award for Best Crime Fiction Novel for Children was Thomas Taylor for Malamander, a quirky fantasy with a cast of characters in pursuit of a sea monster. An illustrator and writer, Taylor’s first job was the cover for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.

The 2020 CRIMEFEST Awards were due to be presented at a Gala Dinner during the convention at the Mercure Bristol Grand Hotel this June. In light of Covid-19, the winners were announced online at www.crimefest.com and via its social media pages on Tuesday 7 July.

Adrian Muller, Co-host of CRIMEFEST, said: “Nothing can beat authors, readers and the crime writing industry gathering in person to celebrate the best of the genre. However, having appeared with Agatha Raisin co-star Ashley Jensen at last year’s CRIMEFEST, we were delighted that Matt McCooey returned to host our virtual ceremony. I’d like to thank our partners and sponsors, Free@Last TV, the production company behind the hit television series for producing our online awards presentation and congratulate all worthy winners.”

CRIMEFEST was created following the hugely successful one-off visit to Bristol in 2006 of the American Left Coast Crime convention. It was established over ten years ago in 2008. It follows the egalitarian format of most US conventions, making it open to all authors and readers alike.

The convention has grown to become not only one of the biggest crime fiction events in Europe, but also one of the most popular dates in the international crime fiction calendar, with circa 60 panel events and 150 authors over four days.

2020 CRIMEFEST Awards (as a list)

SPECSAVERS DEBUT CRIME NOVEL AWARD:

Laura Shepherd-Robinson for Blood & Sugar (Mantle)

AUDIBLE SOUND OF CRIME AWARD:

Lee Child and Jeff Harding for Blue Moon (Penguin Random House Audio)

eDUNNIT AWARD:

Holly Watt for To the Lions (Raven Books)

LAST LAUGH AWARD:

Helen FitzGerald for Worst Case Scenario (Orenda Books)

H.R.F. KEATING AWARD:

John Curran for The Hooded Gunman (Harper Collins Crime Club)

BEST CRIME NOVEL FOR YOUNG ADULTS:

Kathryn Evans for Beauty Sleep (Usborne Publishing)

BEST CRIME FICTION NOVEL FOR CHILDREN:

Thomas Taylor for Malamander (Walker Books)

CrimeFest Awards 2019

CrimeFest Awards were announced on Saturday 11 May at the CrimeFest banquet.

Audible Sounds of Crime Award:
Lethal White by Robert Galbraith, read by Robert Glenister (Hachette Audio)

eDunnit Award:
Sunburn by Laura Lippman (Faber and Faber)

Last Laugh Award:
A Shot in the Dark by Lynne Truss (Bloomsbury)

H.R.F. Keating Award:
Difficult Lives – Hitching Rides by James Sallis (No Exit Press)

Best Crime Novel for Children:
Kat Wolfe Investigates by Lauren St. John (Macmillan Children’s Books)

Best Crime Novel for Young Adults
Run, Riot by Nikesh Shukla (Hodder Children’s Books)

**
The Petrona Award Winner was also announced:
The Kathrarina Code by Jorn Lier Horst, translated from the Norwegian by Anne Bruce, published by Michael Joseph

Congratulations to all the winners and nominated authors.

Crimefest Awards and Petrona Award

The Crimefest award and the Petrona award were announced on Saturday 20th May 2017 at the Gala Dinner held at Crimefest Bristol.   The shortlist for the Crimefest awards can be found here, whilst the shortlist for the Petrona Award can be found here.

Audible Sounds of Crime Award (for best unabridged crime audiobook): I See You, by Clare Mackintosh; read by Rachel Atkins (Sphere)

eDunnit Award (for the best crime fiction e-book): Wilde Lake, by Laura Lippman (Faber and Faber)

The Last Laugh Award (for the best humorous crime novel): Real Tigers, by Mick Herron (John Murray)

The H.R.F. Keating Award (for the best biographical or critical book related to crime fiction): Brit Noir, by Barry Forshaw (No Exit Press)

Best Crime Novel for Children (8-12): Murder Most Unladylike: Mistletoe and Murder, by Robin Stevens (Puffin)

Best Crime Novel for Young Adults (12-16): Kid Got Shot, by Simon Mason (David Fickling)

Petrona Award for Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year: Where Roses Never Die, by Gunnar Staalesen, translated by Don Bartlett (Orenda Books; Norway)


Congratulations to all the nominated authors and winners.

CrimeFest Awards Short Lists

AUDIBLE SOUNDS OF CRIME AWARD
The Audible Sounds of Crime Award recognises the best crime audiobook published in both print and audio in 2014. Courtesy of sponsor Audible UK, the winning author and audiobook reader share the £1,000 prize equally and each receives a Bristol Blue Glass commemorative award.

The nominees are:
Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch, read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith (Orion Publishing Group)

Personal by Lee Child read by Jeff Harding (Penguin Random House Audio)

The Silkworm by Robert Gailbraith read by Robert Glenister (Little, Brown Book Group)

Moriarty by Anthony Horowitz read by Derek Jacobi & Julian Rhind-Tutt (Orion Publishing Group)

Want You Dead by Peter James read by Daniel Weyman (Macmillan Digital Audio)

Mr Mercedes by Stephen King read by Will Patton (Hodder & Stoughton)

The Son by Jo Nesbø read by Sean Barrett (Penguin Random House Audio)

The Hangman’s Song,by James Oswald read by Ian Hanmore (Penguin Random House Audio)

GOLDSBORO LAST LAUGH AWARD
The Goldsboro Last Laugh Award is for the best humorous crime novel first published in the

British Isles in 2014. The £500 prize is sponsored by Goldsboro Books, the UK’s largest specialist in signed and/or first edition books. The winner also receives a Bristol Blue Glass vase.

The nominees are:
The Burglar Who Counted the Spoons by Lawrence Block (Orion Publishing Group)

 Crime Always Pays by Declan Burke (Severn House Publishers)

 Bryant & May – The Bleeding Heart by Christopher Fowler (Bantam/Transworld)

Kill Your Boss by Shane Kuhn (Little, Brown Book Group)
The Accident by Chris Pavone (Faber & Faber)
Crooked Herring by L C Tyler (Allison & Busby)

Eligible titles were submitted by publishers for the longlist, and a team of British crime fiction reviewers voted to establish the shortlist and the winning title.

eDUNNIT AWARD
The eDunnit Award is for the best crime fiction ebook first published in both hardcopy and in electronic format in the British Isles in 2014. The winning author receives a cash prize as well as a commemorative Bristol Blue Glass vase.
The nominees are:
No Safe House by Linwood Barclay (Orion Publishing Group)

The Burglar Who Counted the Spoons by Lawrence Block (Orion Publishing Group)

A Colder War by Charles Cumming (HarperCollins)

Dark Tides by Chris Ewan (Faber & Faber)

Natchez Burning by Greg Illes (HarperCollins)

Hollow Mountain by Thomas Mogford (Bloomsbury)

Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Thomas Sweterlitsch (Headline)

The Silent Boy by Andrew Taylor (HarperCollins)
Eligible titles were submitted by publishers for the longlist, and a team of British crime fiction reviewers voted to establish the shortlist and the winning title.

H.R.F. KEATING AWARD
The H.R.F. Keating Award is for the best biography or critical book related to crime fiction published between 2013 and 2014. The award is named for Harry Keating, who died in 2011. Harry was one of Britain’s most esteemed crime novelists, a reviewer for The Times, and a writer of books about crime fiction. The winning author receives a commemorative Bristol Blue Glass vase.

The nominees are:
Dime Novels and the Roots of American Detective Fiction by Pamela Bedore (Palgrave 2013)

Late Victorian Crime Fiction in the Shadows of Sherlock by Clare Clarke (Palgrave, 2014)

Nordic Noir by Barry Forshaw (Pocket Essentials, 2013)

Euro Noir by Barry Forshaw (No Exit Press, 2014)

Crime Scene: Britain & Ireland by John Martin (Five Leaves, 2014)

A Very British Murder by Lucy Worsley (BBC Books, 2013)
Eligible titles were collated by author and crime fiction expert Martin Edwards. A team of British crime fiction reviewers voted to establish the shortlist and the winning title.