Championing Canadian Crime

Crime Writers of Canada has announced its shortlist of nominees for the 2015 Arthur Ellis Awards. These prizes highlight “excellence in Canadian crime writing.” Winners will be announced on May 28 during a “gala” affair at the Arts and Letters Club in Toronto.

Best Novel:

• Cold Mourning, by Brenda Chapman (Dundurn Press)

• None So Blind, by Barbara Fradkin (Dundurn Press)

• Plague, by C.C. Humphreys (Doubleday Canada)

• No Known Grave, by Maureen Jennings (McClelland & Stewart)

• Killing Pilgrim, by Alen Mattich (House of Anansi)

Best First Novel:

• A Quiet Kill, by Janet Brons (Touchwood)

• Siege of Bitterns, by Steve Burrows (Dundurn Press)

• Windigo Fire, by M.H. Callway (Seraphim)

• No Worst, There Is None, by Eve McBride (Dundurn Press)

• Last of the Independents, by Sam Wiebe (Dundurn Press)

Best Novella:

• The Boom Room, by Rick Blechta (Orca)

• Juba Good, by Vicki Delany (Orca)

• The Dragon Head of Hong Kong, by Ian Hamilton (House of Anansi)

• A Knock on the Door, by Jas. R. Petrin (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, April 2014)

Best Short Story:

• “Stone Mattress,” by Margaret Atwood (from Stone Mattress: Nine Stories, by Margaret Atwood; McClelland & Stewart)

• “Hook, Line and Sinker,” by Melodie Campbell (NorthWord)

• “Therapy,” by Peter Clement (Belgrave House)

• “First Impressions,” by Madona Skaff (from The Whole She-Bang 2: 24 Stories by Sisters in Crime Canada, edited by Janet Costello; Toronto Sisters in Crime)

• “Writers Block,” by Kevin P. Thornton (from World Enough and Crime, edited by Donna Carrick; Carrick Publishing) 

Best Book in French:

• Jack: Une enquête de Joseph Laflamme, by Hervé Gagnon (Expression noir/Groupe librex)

• Bondrée, by Andrée Michaud (Editions Québec Amérique)

• Meurtre à l’hôtel Despréaux, by Maryse Rouy (Édition Druide)

• Repentirs, by Richard Ste Marie (Alire)

Best Juvenile/Young Adult Book:

• Face-Off, by Michael Betcherman (Penguin Canada)

• Dead Man’s Switch, by Sigmund Brouwer (Harvest House)

• The Voice Inside My Head, by S.J. Laidlaw (Tundra)

• About That Night, by Norah McClintock (Orca)

• The Bodies We Wear, by Jeyn Roberts (Knopf Books for Young Readers)

Best Non-fiction Book:

• Being Uncle Charlie, by Bob Deasy, with Mark Ebner (Penguin Random House)

• The Massey Murder, by Charlotte Gray (HarperCollins)

• Innocence on Trial: The Framing of Ivan Henry, by Joan McEwen (Heritage House)

• Life Real Loud: John Lefebvre, Neteller, and the Revolution in Online Gambling, by Bill Reynolds (ECW Press)

• Extreme Mean, by Paula Todd (McClelland & Stewart)

Unhanged Arthur (for best unpublished first crime novel):

• Rum Luck, by Ryan Aldred
• Full Curl, by Dave Butler

• Crisis Point, by Dwayne Clayden

• Afghan Redemption, by Bill Prentice

• Strange Things Done, by Elle Wild

In addition, Sylvia McConnell has been given the 2015 Derrick Murdoch Award, with this explanation: “In 1998, Sylvia McConnell began RendezVous Crime, a publishing house with the mandate to publish crime novels written by Canadians set in Canada. Over the next thirteen years she published 80 works of crime fiction, many of which were nominated for or won prestigious awards. For her belief in the value of Canadians telling Canadian stories, for her encouragement of new Canadian authors, and for her recognition of talent with staying power, she was given the Derrick Murdoch Award.”

And Crime Writers of Canada is creating a new Lou Allin Memorial Award, named in honor of Canadian mystery writer Allin, who died last July at age 69. “Lou was a board member of CWC, a co-chair of the 2011 Bloody Words Conference, an award-winning writer, and a mentor to many. This award is particularly fitting, as she was the winner of the first Arthur Ellis Novella Award.”

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Last but not least, I somehow missed seeing the recent news about this year’s two winners of the Pinckley Prize for Achievement in Crime Fiction. Nevada Barr, known for her novels about crimes in U.S. national parks, has won the first Pinckley for her body of work, while Adrianne Harun has picked up the second for her 2014 debut novel, A Man Came Out of a Door in the Mountain (Penguin).

(Hat tip to The Gumshoe Site.)