Crime Makes a Killing in UK Awards

British book circles were abuzz this evening, as the 2013 Specsavers National Book Award winners were announced during a ceremony held at London’s Mandarin Oriental Hotel. There were 10 categories of competitors, but the following four should be of particular interest to fans of crime, mystery, and thriller fiction.

Specsavers Popular Fiction Book of the Year:
An Officer and a Spy, by Robert Harris (Cornerstone)

Also nominated: Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, by Helen Fielding (Jonathan Cape); Oh Dear Silvia, by Dawn French (Michael Joseph); Solo, by William Boyd (Jonathan Cape); The State We’re In, by Adele Parks (Headline Review); and The White Princess, by Philippa Gregory (Simon & Schuster)

Crime & Thriller Book of the Year:
The Carrier, by Sophie Hannah (Hodder)

Also nominated: Apple Tree Yard, by Louise Doughty (Faber & Faber); Dead Man’s Time, by Peter James (Macmillan); Never Coming Back, by Tim Weaver (Penguin); Never Go Back, by Lee Child (Bantam Press); and The Cuckoo’s Calling, by Robert Galbraith, aka J.K. Rowling (Sphere)

International Author of the Year:
Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn (Orion)

Also nominated: And the Mountains Echoed, by Khaled Hosseini (Bloomsbury); Inferno, by Dan Brown (Bantam Press); The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt (Little, Brown); The Luminaries, by Eleanor Catton (Granta); and Wonder, by R.J. Palacio (Doubleday)

Waterstones UK Author of the Year:
Life After Life, by Kate Atkinson (Transworld)

Also nominated: Harvest, by Jim Crace (Picador); Instructions for a Heatwave, by Maggie O’Farrell (Tinder Press); The Crane Wife, by Patrick Ness (Canongate); The Ocean at the End of the Lane, by Neil Gaiman (Headline); and The Quarry, by Iain Banks (Little, Brown)

Congratulations to all of this year’s contenders!

The full rundown of the 2013 winners is here. Or click here if you’d like to study the shortlists for each of the categories in this competition.