Picking the Best for CrimeFest

Organizers of the 2017 CrimeFest convention, which is to be held in Bristol, England (May 18-21), have announced the shortlists of nominees for half a dozen prizes scheduled to be presented to authors during a “gala dinner” on Saturday, May 21. The categories include two new ones, applauding works aimed at younger readers.

Audible Sounds of Crime Award
(for best unabridged crime audiobook):
• Kill Me Again, by Rachel Abbott; read by Lisa Coleman
(Bolinda /Audible)
• The Widow, by Fiona Barton; read by Clare Corbett (Bolinda /Audible)
• I See You, by Clare Mackintosh; read by Rachel Atkins (Sphere)
• Try Not to Breathe, by Holly Seddon; read by Jot Davies, Lucy Middleweek, and Katy Sobey (Bolinda)
• The Hanging Tree, by Ben Aaronovitch; read by Kobna Holdbrook–Smith (Orion)
• Night School, by Lee Child; read by Jeff Harding (Transworld Digital)
• Magpie Murders, by Anthony Horowitz; read by Allan Corduner
and Samantha Bond (Orion)
• Coffin Road, by Peter May; read by Peter Forbes (Riverrun)

eDunnit Award
(for the best crime fiction e-book):
• The Twenty–Three, by Linwood Barclay (Orion)
• Deep Down Dead, by Steph Broadribb (Orenda)
• The Wrong Side of Goodbye, by Michael Connelly (Orion)
• Blackout, by Ragnar Jónasson (Orenda)
• Wilde Lake, by Laura Lippman (Faber and Faber)
• Rather Be the Devil, by Ian Rankin (Orion)
• The Ashes of London, by Andrew Taylor (HarperFiction)
• Cat Among the Herrings, by L.C. Tyler (Allison & Busby)

The Last Laugh Award
(for the best humorous crime novel):
• PIMP, by Ken Bruen and Jason Starr (Hard Case Crime)
• I Don’t Like Where This Is Going, by John Dufresne (Serpent’s Tail)
• A Cast of Vultures, by Judith Flanders (Allison & Busby)
• Real Tigers, by Mick Herron (John Murray)
• Razor Girl, by Carl Hiaasen (Little, Brown)
• The Perplexing Theft of the Jewel in the Crown, by Vaseem Khan (Hodder & Stoughton)
• Cat Among the Herrings, by L.C. Tyler (Allison & Busby)
• Tall Oaks, by Chris Whitaker (Twenty7)

The H.R.F. Keating Award
(for the best biographical or critical book related to crime fiction):
• Agatha Christie on Screen, by Mark Aldridge (Palgrave Macmillan)
• Queering Agatha Christie, by J.C. Berthnal (Palgrave Macmillan)
• Brit Noir, by Barry Forshaw (No Exit Press)
• Crime Uncovered: Private investigator, by Rachel Franks
and Alistair Rolls (Intellect)
• Crime Fiction in German: Der Krimi, by Katharina Hall
(University of Wales Press)
• Gender and Representation in British “Golden Age” Crime Fiction,
by Megan Hoffman (Palgrave Macmillan)
• The Contemporary Irish Detective Novel, by Elizabeth Mannion (Palgrave Macmillan)

Best Crime Novel for Children (8-12):
• Rose Campion and the Stolen Secret, by Lyn Gardner (Nosy Crow)
• Murder in Midwinter, by Fleur Hitchcock (Nosy Crow)
• The Thornthwaite Betrayal, by Gareth P. Jones (Piccadilly Press)
• The Accidental Secret Agent, by Tom McLaughlin
(Oxford University Press)
• Murder Most Unladylike: Jolly Foul Play, by Robin Stevens (Puffin)
• Murder Most Unladylike: Mistletoe and Murder,
by Robin Stevens (Puffin)
• Violet and the Smugglers, by Harriet Whitehorn (Simon & Schuster)
• The Mystery of the Jewelled Moth, by Katherine Woodfine (Egmont)

Best Crime Novel for Young Adults (12-16):
• Crooked Kingdom, by Leigh Bardugo (Hachette Children’s Group)
• Cell 7, by Kerry Drewery (Hot Key Books)
• Theodore Boone: The Scandal, by John Grisham
(Hodder & Stoughton)
• Rebel, Bully, Geek, Pariah, by Erin Lange (Faber and Faber)
• Orangeboy, by Patrice Lawrence (Hachette Children’s Group)
• Kid Got Shot, by Simon Mason (David Fickling)
• Blame, by Simon Mayo (Penguin)
• In the Dark, In the Woods, by Eliza Wass (Hachette Children’s Group)

Also expected to be announced during May’s CrimeFest dinner is the winner of the 2017 Petrona Award for Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year. The list of contenders for that commendation was previously broadcast.

Congratulations to all of the nominees!

READ MORE: “CrimeFest Announces Star-Studded 2017 Lineup and Programme” (Spinetingler Magazine).