Canadian Prizes Snag the Limelight

The winners of the 2016 Arthur Ellis Awards were announced earlier this evening during a Crime Writers of Canada (CWC) event at the Arts and Letters Club in Toronto, Ontario.

Best Novel:
Open Season, by Peter Kirby (Linda Leith)

Also nominated: Hungry Ghosts, by Peggy Blair (Simon & Schuster); The Storm Murders, by John Farrow (Minotaur); A Killing in Zion, by Andrew Hunt (Minotaur); and The Night Bell, by Inger Ash Wolfe (McClelland & Stewart)

Best First Novel:
The Unquiet Dead, by Ausma Zehanat Khan (Minotaur)

Also nominated: Hard Drive, by J. Mark Collins (iUniverse); What Kills Good Men, by David Hood (Vagrant Press); Encore, by Alexis Koetting (Five Star); and Old Bones, by Brian R. Lindsay (Volumes)

Lou Allin Memorial Award for Best Novella:
Black Canyon, by Jeremy Bates (Dark Hearts)

Also nominated: Deadly Season, by Alison Bruce (Imajin); Glow Glass, by M.H. Callway (Carrick); The Night Thief, by Barbara Fradkin (Orca); and Beethoven’s Tenth, by Brian Harvey (Orca)

Best Short Story:
“The Avocado Kid,” by Scott Mackay (Ellery Queen Mystery
Magazine [EQMM], June 2015)

Also nominated: “With One Shoe,” by Karen Abrahamson (from The Playground of Lost Toys, edited by Colleen Anderson and Ursula Pflug; Exile Press); “The Siege,” by Hilary Davidson (EQMM, December 2015); “The Water Was Rising,” by Sharon Hunt (EQMM, August 2015); and “Movable Type,” by S.G. Wong (from AB Negative: An Alberta Crime Anthology, edited by Axel Howerton; Coffin Hop Press)

Best Book in French:
L’Affaire Myosotis, by Luc Chartrand (Québec Amérique)

Also nominated: L’affaire Céline, by Jean-Louis Fleury (Éditions Alire); La bataille de Pavie, by André Jacques (Druide); Le mauvais côté des choses, by Jean Lemieux (Québec Amérique); and L’affaire Mélodie Cormier, by Guillaume Morrissette (Guy Saint-Jean éditeur)

Best Juvenile/YA Book:
Trouble Is a Friend of Mine, by Stephanie Tromly (Kathy Dawson)

Also nominated: Diego’s Crossing, by Robert Hough (Annick Press); Set You Free, by Jeff Ross (Orca); The Blackthorn Key, by Kevin Sands (Aladdin); and The Dogs, by Allan Stratton (Scholastic)

Best Non-fiction Book:
Empire of Deception: The Incredible Story of a Master Swindler Who Seduced a City and Captivated the Nation, by Dean Jobb (HarperCollins)

Also nominated: Human on the Inside: Unlocking the Truth about Canada’s Prisons, by Gary Garrison (University of Regina Press); The Bastard of Fort Stikine: The Hudson’s Bay Company and the Murder of John McLoughlin Jr., by Debra Komar (Goose Lane); Cold War, by Jerry Langton (HarperCollins); and Mr. Big: The Investigation into the Deaths of Karen and Krista Hart, by Colleen Lewis and Jennifer Hicks
(Flanker Press)

The Dundurn Unhanged Arthur for Best Unpublished First Crime Novel: When the Flood Falls, by Jayne Barnard

Also nominated: Knight Blind, by Alice Bienia; Brave Girls, by Pam Isfeld; Better the Devil You Know, by J.T. Siemens; and Give Out Creek, by J.G. Toews

In addition, the CWC named the late Eric Wright, author of the Charlie Salter mysteries, as its 2016 Grand Master.

Congratulations to all of the victors and their rivals!

(Hat tip to Mystery Fanfare.)