Living It Up with the Dead Goods

Thanks to the ever-reliable Ali Karim, our man at this weekend’s Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate, England, we now have the winners of the 2016 Dead Good Reader Awards, sponsored by the UK-based crime-fiction Web site Dead Good. The announcement of victorious books and authors was made during a special event held this evening at the festival.

The Dead Good Recommends Award for Most Recommended Book:
Career of Evil, by Robert Galbraith (Little, Brown)

Also nominated: Die of Shame, by Mark Billingham (Little, Brown); In Her Wake, by Amanda Jennings (Orenda); The Missing, by C.L. Taylor (Avon); Tastes Like Fear, by Sarah Hilary (Headline); and Untouchable Things, by Tara Guha (Legend Press)

The Tess Gerritsen Award for Best Series:
Roy Grace, created by Peter James (Macmillan)

Also nominated: Jack Reacher, created by Lee Child (Transworld); Marnie Rome, created by Sarah Hilary (Headline); Logan McRae, created by Stuart MacBride (Harper Collins); Ruth Galloway, created by Elly Griffiths (Quercus); and George MacKenzie, created by Marnie Riches (Maze)

The Linwood Barclay Award for Most Surprising Twist:
Little Black Lies, by Sharon Bolton (Transworld)

Also nominated: Disclaimer, by Renee Knight (Transworld); The Ice Twins, by S.K. Tremayne (Harper Collins); I Let You Go, by Clare Mackintosh (Sphere); The Kind Worth Killing, by Peter Swanson (Faber & Faber); and When She Was Bad, by Tammy Cohen (Transworld)

The Papercut Award for Best Page Turner:
The Girl in the Ice, by Robert Bryndza (Bookouture)

Also nominated: Broken Promise, by Linwood Barclay (Orion); Career of Evil, by Robert Galbraith (Little, Brown); Follow Me, by Angela Clarke (Avon); In a Dark, Dark Wood, by Ruth Ware (Vintage); and Splinter the Silence, by Val McDermid (Little, Brown)

The Hotel Chocolat Award for Darkest Moment:
In the Cold Dark Ground, by Stuart MacBride (HarperCollins)

Also nominated: Behind Closed Doors, by B.A. Paris (Mira); The Darkest Secret, by Alex Marwood (Sphere); Little Boy Blue, by M.J. Arlidge (Michael Joseph); The Teacher, by Katerina Diamond (Avon); and Viral, by Helen Fitzgerald (Faber & Faber)

The Mörda Award for Captivating Crime in Translation:
Nightblind, by Ragnar Jónasson (Orenda Books)

Also nominated: Camille, by Pierre Lemaitre (MacLehose Press); The Crow Girl, by Erik Axl Sund (Vintage); The Defenceless, by Kati Hiekkapelto (Orenda Books); I’m Travelling Alone, by Samuel Bjork (Doubleday); and The Undesired, by Yrsa Sigurdardóttir
(Hodder & Stoughton)

Congratulations to all of this year’s contenders!