Crime Writers of Canada Announces 2021 Awards of Excellence Shortlists

 

Crime Writers of Canada (CWC) have announced the Shortlists for the 2021 Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence in Canadian Crime Writing. Formerly known as the Arthur Ellis Awards, the Awards started in 1984. The annual Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence recognizes the best in mystery, crime, and suspense fiction, and crime nonfiction by Canadian authors. Congratulations to all! Winners will be announced Thursday 27 May 2021.

Best Crime Novel sponsored by Rakuten Kobo, with a $1000 prize

Marjorie Celona, How a Woman Becomes a Lake, Hamish Hamilton Canada; Penguin Canada

Cecilia Ekbäck, The Historians, HarperCollins Publishers Ltd. 

Will Ferguson, The Finder, Simon & Schuster Canada

Thomas King, Obsidian, HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

Roz Nay, Hurry Home, Simon & Schuster Canada

Best Crime First Novel sponsored by Writers First, with a $500 prize

Raye Anderson, And We Shall Have Snow, Signature Editions

Guglielmo D’Izza, The Transaction, Guernica Editions

Russell Fralich, True Patriots, Dundurn Press

Emily Hepditch, The Woman in the Attic, Flanker Press

Chris Patrick Carolan, The Nightshade Cabal, Parliament House Press

The Howard Engel Award for Best Crime Novel Set in Canada sponsored by The Engel Family with a $500 prize

Randall Denley,Payback, Ottawa Press and Publishing

Helen Humphreys, Rabbit Foot Bill, HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

Ann Lambert,The Dogs of Winter, Second Story Press

Kevin Major,Two for The Tablelands, Breakwater Books

Katrina Onstad, Stay Where I Can See You, HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

Best Crime Novella sponsored by Mystery Weekly with a $200 prize

C.C. Benison, The Unpleasantness at the Battle of Thornford, At Bay Press

Vicki Delany, Coral Reef Views, Orca Book Publishers

Winona Kent, Salty Dog Blues, Sisters in Crime - Canada West

Sam Wiebe, Never Going Back, Orca Book Publishers

Best Crime Short Story sponsored by Mystery Weekly with a $300 prize

Marcelle Dubé, Cold Wave, Sisters in Crime - Canada West

Sylvia Maultash Warsh, Days Without Name, Carrick Publishing

Twist Phelan, Used to Be, Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine

Zandra Renwick, Killer Biznez, Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine

Sarah Weinman, Limited Liability, Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine

Best French Crime Book (Fiction and Nonfiction)

Roxanne Bouchard, La mariée de corail, Libre Expression

Stéphanie Gauthier, Inacceptable, Éditions Québec Amérique

Christian Giguère, Le printemps des traîtres, Héliotrope NOIR

Guy Lalancette,Les cachettes, VLB éditeur

Jean Lemieux, Les Demoiselles du Havre-Aubert, Éditions Québec Amérique

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

Frances Greenslade, Red Fox Road, Puffin Canada, an imprint of Penguin Random House Janet Hill, Lucy Crisp and the Vanishing House, Tundra Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House

Sheena Kamal, Fight Like a Girl, Penguin Teen, an imprint of Penguin Random House

Kelly Powell, Magic Dark and Strange, Margaret K. McElderry Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Inc.

Tom Ryan, Hope You're Listening, Albert Whitman & Co.

The Brass Knuckles Award for Best Nonfiction Crime Book sponsored by Simpson & Wellenreiter LLP, Hamilton, with a $300 prize

Jeff Blackstock, Murder in the Family: How the Search For My Mother's Killer Led to My Father, Viking Press

Norm Boucher, Horseplay: My Time Undercover on the Granville Strip, NeWest Press

Silver Donald Cameron, Blood in the Water: A True Story of Revenge in the Maritimes, Viking Press

Justin Ling, Missing From the Village: The Story of Serial Killer Bruce McArthur, the Search for Justice, and the System That Failed Toronto's Queer Community, McClelland & Stewart

Michael Nest with Deanna Reder and Eric Bell, Cold Case North: The Search for James Brady and Absolom Halkett, University of Regina Press

The Award for Best Unpublished Manuscript with a $500 prize sponsored by ECW Press

The Future by Raymond Bazowski

Predator and Prey by Dianne Scott

Notes on Killing your Wife by Mark Thomas

A Nice Place to Die by Joyce Woollcott

Cat with a Bone by Susan Jane Wright

CWC also announces the 2021 Derrick Murdoch Award recipient Marian Misters.

The Derrick Murdoch Award is a special achievement award for contributions to the Canadian crime writing genre. As co-owner of Toronto’s Sleuth of Baker Street, Marian Misters has been supporting mystery authors since the bookstore opened and CWC from its inception. Through hosting book events, she has helped launch the career of many CWC authors. In addition, Marian served as Jury Chair for the Awards for three years, during which time she streamlined and developed written procedures for the judges. She was also instrumental in guiding CWC to a new, more diverse, Jury Selection Committee format, and has been active on the Awards Committee for five years.

The video of the announcements can be seen below.

Congratulations to all the nominated authors.

Books to Look Forward to from Bonnier Zaffre

January 2020

Hitler’s Secret is by Rory Clements.  The war is going badly for Britain and its allies. If Hitler is to be stopped, a new weapon is desperately needed. In Cambridge, professor Tom Wilde is approached by an American intelligence officer who claims to know of such a weapon - one so secret even Hitler himself isn't aware of its existence. If Wilde can smuggle the package out of Germany, the Third Reich will surely fall. But it is only when he is deep behind enemy lines that Wilde discovers why the Nazis are so desperate to prevent the 'package' falling into Allied hands. And as ruthless killers hunt him through Europe, a treacherous question hangs over the mission: if Hitler's secret will win them the war, why is Wilde convinced it must remain hidden?

Stasi Winter is by David Young.   In 1978 East Germany, nothing is at it seems. The state's power is absolute, history is re-written, and the 'truth' is whatever the Stasi say it is. So when a woman's murder is officially labelled 'accidental death', Major Karin Muller of the People's Police is faced with a dilemma. To solve the crime, she must disregard the official version of events. But defying the Stasi means putting her own life - and the lives of her young family - in danger. As the worst winter in living memory holds Germany in its freeze, Muller must untangle a web of state secrets and make a choice: between truth and lies, justice and injustice, and, ultimately, life and death.

 

February 2020

The Oath is by Klaus-Peter Wolf. If the system can't make them pay, then he will . . . Former chief of police, Ubbo Heide, is enjoying a peaceful seaside retirement - until a gruesome package containing a severed head turns up on his doorstep and catapults him back into a world he left behind. When a torso is found on the local beach, it's assumed it's from the same victim. That is until a second head turns up. As the investigation reaches fever pitch, Chief Inspector Ann Kathrin Klaasen, now assigned to the case, realises that the two victims are connected. Soon it's clear that this quiet coastal community is facing a brutal serial killer. One who is taking justice into his own hands.

March 2020 

You don't know who they are. You don't know why they're hunting her. But you know she's in danger. What do you do? When teacher Jenni Wales sees 15-year-old Destiny's black eye, she's immediately worried. Destiny isn't your average student: she's smart, genius IQ smart, and she's in care. But concern turns to fear when Jenni witnesses an attempt to abduct Jenni from school. Who are these men and what can Destiny know to make them hunt her? With those around her not taking the threat seriously, Jenni does the only thing she can think of to keep Destiny safe: she takes her.  To Keep You Safe is by Kate Bradley.

April 2020

DC Jack Warr and his girlfriend Maggie have just moved to London to start a new life together. Though charming, Jack can't seem to find his place in the world - until he's drawn into an investigation that turns his life upside down. In the aftermath of a fire at an isolated cottage, a badly charred body is discovered, along with the burnt remains of millions of stolen, untraceable bank notes. Jack's search leads him deep into a murky criminal underworld - a world he finds himself surprisingly good at navigating. But as the line of the law becomes blurred, how far will Jack go to find the answers - and what will it cost him!  Buried is by Lynda La Plante.

No Going Back is by Sheena Kamal.  Nora Watts is being hunted . . . When Nora Watts is approached by a man claiming to know her late father, she is thrown into turmoil. Struggling with the imminent death, from cancer, of her friend and mentor Sebastian Crow, she is unprepared for the memories that this encounter brings back. What happened to her father that made him kill himself and abandon Nora and her sister? Heading to Detroit to try and find some answers about his life there, Nora expects to discover a reason behind his suicide. Instead, she finds more questions than answers. But trouble always follows Nora, and it's found her in Detroit, a city that is as broken as she is.

The Call of the Raven  is by Wilbur Smith and Corban Addision.  'The right of the cat over the mouse, of the strong over the weak. The natural law of existence.' Mungo St John, A Falcon Flies The son of a wealthy plantation owner and a doting mother, Mungo St John is accustomed to the wealth and luxuries his privilege has afforded him. That is until he returns from university to discover his family ruined, his inheritance stolen and his childhood sweetheart, Camilla, taken by the conniving Chester Marion. Fuelled by anger, and love, Mungo swears vengeance and devotes his life to saving Camilla - and destroying Chester. Camilla, trapped in New Orleans, powerless to her position as a kept slave and suffering at the hands of Chester's brutish behaviour, must learn to do whatever it takes to survive. As Mungo battles his own fate and misfortune to achieve the revenge that drives him, and regain his power in the world, he must question what it takes for a man to survive when he has nothing, and what he is willing to do in order to get what he wants.

We Begin at the End is by Chris Whitaker and is a powerful novel about absolute love and the lengths we will go to keep our family safe. This is a story about good and evil and how life is lived somewhere in between. 'You can't save someone that doesn't want to be saved . . .' For some people, trouble just finds them. Thirty years ago, Vincent King became a killer. Now, he's been released from prison and is back in his hometown of Cape Haven, California. Not everyone is pleased to see him. Like Star Radley, his ex-girlfriend, and sister of the girl he killed. Duchess Radley, Star's thirteen-year-old daughter, is part-carer, part-protector to her younger brother, Robin - and to her deeply troubled mother. But in trying to protect Star, Duchess inadvertently sets off a chain of events that will have tragic consequences not only for her family, but also the whole town. Murder, revenge, retribution. How far can we run from the past when the past seems doomed to repeat itself?

May 2020

Seven housemates. Seven lies. Would you join . . . The House Share? Immi thought she had found the perfect new home in central London: a shared warehouse with luxury accommodation, a rooftop terrace and daily yoga, all with a surprisingly affordable price tag. The Dye Factory is a 'co-living' community, designed to combat the loneliness of big city life. But soon after she moves into her new haven, Immi realises that it's not quite as idyllic as it appears. No one seems to know who is behind this multi-million pound urban experiment. And her housemates may be hiding a dangerous secret . . . Then, as a series of pranks escalates into something much darker, Immi is left questioning whether, in this group of strangers, she can ever really be safe. And when you're sharing a house, you can't always lock the danger out.   The House Share is by Kate Helm.

June 2020

The Catch is by T M Logan.  He is not what he seems . . . Ed is delighted to meet his twenty-three year old daughter's fiance for the first time. Abbey is head-over-heels in love with her new man. Smart, successful and handsome, Ryan appears to be the perfect future son-in-law. There's just one problem. There's something off about Ryan. Something hidden in the shadows behind his eyes. And it seems that only Ed can see it. Terrified that his daughter is being drawn in by a psychopath, Ed sets out to uncover her fiance's dark past - while keeping his own concealed. But no-one believes him. And the more he digs, the more he alienates her and the rest of the family who are convinced that Ryan is 'the one'. Ed knows different. For reasons of his own, he knows a monster when he sees one...

The Return is by Harry Sidebottom.  He came home a hero. But death isn't finished with him yet . . . 145BC - CALABRIA, ANCIENT ROME. Gaius Furius Paullus has returned home after years of spilling blood for Rome. One of the lucky few to survive a lifetime of brutal battle, he intends to spend his remaining days working quietly on the family farm. But it seems death has stalked Paullus from the battlefield. Just days after his arrival, bodies start appearing - murdered and mutilated. And as the deaths stack up, and panic spreads, the war hero becomes the prime suspect. After all, Paullus has killed countless enemies on the battlefield - could he have brought his habit home with him? With the psychological effects of combat clouding every thought, Paullus must use all his soldier's instincts to hunt the real killer. Because if they are not brought to justice soon, he may become the next victim. 

Rogue is by James Swallow.  All spooks know that, in modern espionage, every action has a reaction. One wrong move could sink an entire region into turmoil - even war. Former MI6 operative Marc Dane understands this better than anyone. Dedicating your life to protecting the country means collecting enemies, and a lot of them. But for those hellbent on bringing the West to its knees, each failed plot has one thing in common: private intelligence agency The Rubicon Group, and Dane's employer. Only if Rubicon crumbles will their path truly be clear. With the clock ticking, Dane must unpick a monstrous and deadly conspiracy that stretches from the corridors of Westminster to the mountains of Mozambique. One that threatens not only Rubicon, but the lives of millions of civilians. And time is fast running out.

Someone Knows the Truth (Shed No Tears) is by Caz Frear. Four victims. Killer caught. Case closed . . . Or is it? Christopher Masters, known as 'The Roommate Killer', strangled three women over a two-week period in a London house in November 2012. Holly Kemp, his fourth victim, was never found. Until now. Her remains have been unearthed in a field in Cambridgeshire and DC Cat Kinsella and the major investigation team are called in, but immediately there are questions surrounding the manner of her death. And with Masters now dead, no one to answer them. DCI Tessa Dyer, the lead on the 2012 case, lends the team a hand, as does DCI Steele's old boss and mentor, the now retired Detective Chief Superintendent Oliver Cairns. With Masters dead, Cat and the team have to investigate every lead again. But if you’d got away with murder, what would you do when the case is re-opened? 

All Falls Down Behind the Book By Sheena Kamal

The places that leave an impression on my imagination are not usually the ones I’d expect. They’re not your average vacation hot spots, all-inclusive resorts with endless buffets or even famed cities steeped in history. They’re not necessarily the places I want to return to (though I’d never turn my nose up at a free trip, either.)

Detroit is one of those cities that caught my attention for no particularly good reason. I know as well as anyone else it’s not a city that you’d expect or desire to be moved by. However, my first time driving through Detroit some years ago, on my way to a concert, there it was. Like a feather passed along my nerve endings, a jolt of awareness. There’s something for me here, I thought. At the time, I didn’t quite know what, but I filed the impression away and knew I’d somehow come back to it. 

It took a few years, though. In the meantime, I’d moved from Toronto to Vancouver to write a suspense novel (Eyes Like Mine) about a damaged but very resilient woman named Nora Watts. When Nora’s story began to take shape as a series, I knew that for the second book I wanted her to hunt down the clues to her past in an American city. That’s when I remembered Detroit. It was perfect. I have strong feelings about it, firstly, and it also has an incredible music scene. Nora has a powerful connection with music, so it seemed like the ideal location. It’s also very different from Vancouver and I thought that juxtaposition would be interesting to examine.

The events of this sequel would take place over a relatively short period of time, and I knew I had to approach it differently from how I write Vancouver. I wanted my Detroit experience to be short and immersive, a shock to my system and Nora’s, so I planned five days there and contacted a private investigator to show me the ropes. 

There was a snag almost immediately. 

The private investigator was so busy he foisted me off on his friend. Given Detroit’s reputation, I was suspicious of this “friend,” but it was coming down to the wire and I needed someone. I said, what the hell, and agreed to let a stranger pick me up from the bus station when I arrived in from Toronto. 

I’m quite impulsive when it comes to travel, but even I had reservations about the wisdom of this plan. 

However, luck was on my side. My private investigator was not a murderous psychopath, as I’d feared. He was an active police investigator named Ira Todd who genuinely enjoyed talking to writers. (I promise I’m not making this up!) 

When he picked me up, he said, “My task force just broke a 2-year old case and I’ve got to get back to headquarters to interview a witness. Want to come along?”

Did I ever! Instead of depositing me at reception, which is what I’d expected, he took me to meet the other members of the homicide task force and allowed me to watch the interview take place on a live feed. It was incredible to see this seasoned interviewer talk to a witness just as a case was breaking. I’d never seen anything like it.  

I spent five days with Ira, riding in his undercover vehicle, getting to know this city he’d lived in his entire life, the streets he’d patrolled and worked his butt off to keep safe. I learned how, when the city crumbled and became the punchline of a nasty joke, the people who could leave did and everyone else was left to pick up the pieces. I talked to everyone I could. Some people loved this broken city and others hated it. No matter what their views were, just about everybody had a strong opinion they were eager to share—and share at length. 

At the end of my brief trip, I said goodbye to my guardian angel Ira, who’d gone out of his way to show me that Detroit isn’t good or bad. Like everywhere else, it’s a bit of both, and everything in between. It’s the perfect city for this part of Nora’s journey because you can’t go there without feeling something. I hope I was able to put some of that feeling into the book. If it didn’t come through, it’s entirely my fault. The city of Detroit, as always, gave me one hell of a ride. 

It All Falls Down by Sheena Kamal (Published by Zaffre Books)

Nora Watts is being hunted . . . When Nora Watts is approached by a man claiming to know her late father, she is thrown into turmoil. Struggling with the imminent death, from cancer, of her friend and mentor Sebastian Crow, she is unprepared for the memories that this encounter brings back. What happened to her father that made him kill himself and abandon Nora and her sister? Heading to Detroit to try and find some answers about his life there, Nora expects to discover a reason behind his suicide. Instead, she finds more questions than answers. But trouble always follows Nora, and it's found her in Detroit, a city that is as broken as she is.

More  information about the author and her books can be found on her website. You can also follow her on Twitter @sheena_kamal.   You can also find her on Facebook.

The Macavity Award Winners 2018

The Macavity Awards are nominated by members of Mystery Readers International, subscribers to Mystery Readers Journal, and friends of MRI. The winners were announced at opening ceremonies on Thursday 6 September at Bouchercon in St Petersburg, FL. Congratulations to all the winners and nominated authors.

Best Mystery Novel
Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz (Harper)

Best First Mystery Novel
The Lost Ones by Sheena Kamal (Wm. Morrow)

Best Mystery-Related Nonfiction
The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books by Martin Edwards (Poisoned Pen/British Library)

Best Mystery Short Story
“Windward,” by Paul D. Marks, in Coast to Coast: Private Eyes from Sea to Shining Sea (Down & Out Books)

Sue Feder Memorial Award: Best Historical Mystery
In Farleigh Field by Rhys Bowen (Lake Union Publishing)

2018 Strand Critic Awards

The Strand Magazine announced the winners for the 2018 Strand Critics Awards. Winners were announced on July 11 during “an invitation-only cocktail party in New York City, hosted by The Strand Magazine.”

 
Best Novel:
Wonder Valley, by Ivy Pochoda (Ecco)

Best First Novel:
The Lost Ones, by Sheena Kamal (Morrow)

Lifetime Achievement Awards: 
Jonathan Gash (aka John Grant), British creator of the antiques-focused Lovejoy mysteries;
and
J.A. Jance, best known for her J.P. Beaumont series and her Joanna Brady series. Both of those authors will receive their commendations during that same July 11 fête.

Publisher of the Year Award:

Tom Doherty of Tor/Forge books

Congratulations to All!

Thanks to the Rap Sheet for the information.

2018 Strand Critics Awards

The Strand Magazine have announced its nominees for the 2018 Strand Critics Awards.

Best Novel:
A Legacy of Spies, by John le Carré (Viking)
The Late Show, by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)
Magpie Murders, by Anthony Horowitz (Harper)
My Darling Detective, by Howard Norman (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Bluebird, Bluebird, by Attica Locke (Mulholland)
Wonder Valley, by Ivy Pochoda (Ecco)

Best First Novel:
My Sister’s Bones, by Nuala Ellwood (Morrow)
Quicksand, by Malin Persson Giolito (Other Press)
August Snow, by Stephen Mack Jones (Soho Press)
The Lost Ones, by Sheena Kamal (Morrow)
Lola, by Melissa Scrivner Love (Crown)
See What I Have Done, by Sarah Schmidt (Atlantic Monthly Press)

Winners will be awarded on July 11 during “an invitation-only cocktail party in New York City, hosted by The Strand Magazine.”

Lifetime Achievement Awards:  
Jonathan Gash (aka John Grant), British creator of the antiques-focused Lovejoy mysteries;
and
J.A. Jance, best known for her J.P. Beaumont series and her Joanna Brady series. Both of those authors will receive their commendations during that same July 11 fête.

Tom Doherty, publisher of Tor/Forge books, will be given The Strand’s Publisher of the Year Award.

Congratulations to all the nominated authors.

H/T Mystery Fanfare