Robinson’s “Poison” Takes the Prize

During a banquet tonight in Toronto, the Crime Writers of Canada announced the winners of its 2012 Arthur Ellis Awards as follows:

Best Crime Novel:
Before the Poison, by Peter Robinson (McClelland & Stewart)

Also nominated: A Trick of the Light, by Louise Penny (St. Martin’s Press); I Am Half-Sick of Shadows, by Alan Bradley (Doubleday Canada); I’ll See You in My Dreams, by William Deverell (McClelland & Stewart); and The Guilty Plea, by Robert Rotenberg (Simon & Schuster)

Best First Novel:
The Water Rat of Wanchai, by Ian Hamilton (House of Anansi Press)

Also nominated: The Man Who Killed, by Fraser Nixon (Douglas & McIntrye); The Survivor, by Sean Slater (Simon & Schuster); Tight Corner, by Roger White (BPS Books); and Watching Jeopardy, by Norm Foster (XLibris)

Best Crime Book in French:
La chorale du diable, by Martin Michaud (Les Editions Guelette)

Also nominated: Pwazon, by Diane Vincent (Editors Triptyque) and Pour Ne Pas Mourir ce soir, by Guillaume Lapierre-Desnoyers (Levesque Editeur)

Best Juvenile or Young Adult Crime Book:
Blink & Caution, by Tim Wynne-Jones (Candlewick Press)

Also nominated: Charlie’s Key, by Rob Mills (Orca); Empire of Ruins, by Arthur Slade (HarperCollins); Held, by Edeet Ravel (Annick Press); and Missing, by Becky Citra (Orca)

Best Crime Non-fiction:
Hot Art: Chasing Thieves and Detectives Through the Secret World of Stolen Art, by Joshua Knelman (Douglas & McIntyre)

Also nominated: A Season in Hell, by Robert Fowler (HarperCollins); The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, by Steven Laffoley (Pottersfield); The Pirates of Somalia, by Jay Bahader (HarperCollins); and The Weasel: A Double Life in the Mob, by Adrian Humphreys (Wiley)

Best Crime Short Story:
“What Kelly Did,” by Catherine Astolfo (North Word Magazine)

Also nominated: “A New Pair of Pants,” by Jas. R. Petrin (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, September 2011); “Beer Money,” by Shane Nelson (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, February 2011); “The Girl with the Golden Hair,” by Scott Mackay (EQMM, December 2011); and “The Perfect Mark,” by Melodie Campbell (Flash Fiction, July 2011)

Best Unpublished First Novel (“Unhanged Arthur”):
Last of the Independents, by Sam Wiebe

Also nominated: Gunning for Bear, by Madeleine Harris-Callway; Snake in the Snow, by William Bonnell; The Rhymester, by Valerie A. Drego; and Too Far to Fall, by Shane Sawyer

Congratulations to all of the nominees!

(Hat tip to Crime Watch.)