Accolades Abundant in Bristol

Thanks to Ali Karim, The Rap Sheet’s fortunate man on the ground in Bristol, England, we have the winners of seven different awards presented earlier this evening during a “gala dinner” at CrimeFest. Judging from reports I’ve heard, one of the program’s highlights was a speech by novelist Ann Cleeves—this year’s Crime Writers’ Association Diamond Dagger award winner—who recalled her lengthy struggle toward success and encouraged other aspiring authors to “stay the course” as well. Here, finally, are tonight’s prize winners:

Audible Sounds of Crime Award (for best unabridged crime audiobook): I See You, by Clare Mackintosh; read by
Rachel Atkins (Sphere)

Also nominated: Kill Me Again, by Rachel Abbott; read by Lisa
Coleman (Bolinda /Audible); The Widow, by Fiona Barton; read by Clare Corbett (Bolinda /Audible); 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); and Coffin Road, by Peter May; read by Peter Forbes (Riverrun)

eDunnit Award (for the best crime fiction e-book): Wilde Lake,
by Laura Lippman (Faber and Faber)

Also nominated: 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); Rather Be the Devil, by Ian Rankin (Orion); The Ashes of London, by Andrew Taylor (HarperFiction); and Cat Among the Herrings,
by L.C. Tyler (Allison & Busby)

The Last Laugh Award (for the best humorous crime novel):
Real Tigers, by Mick Herron (John Murray)

Also nominated: 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); 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); and Tall Oaks, by Chris Whitaker (Twenty7)

The H.R.F. Keating Award (for the best biographical or critical book related to crime fiction): Brit Noir, by Barry Forshaw (No Exit Press)

Also nominated: Agatha Christie on Screen, by Mark Aldridge (Palgrave Macmillan); Queering Agatha Christie, by J.C. Berthnal (Palgrave Macmillan); 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); and The Contemporary Irish Detective Novel, by Elizabeth Mannion (Palgrave Macmillan)

Best Crime Novel for Children (8-12): Murder Most Unladylike: Mistletoe and Murder, by Robin Stevens (Puffin)

Also nominated: 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); Violet and the Smugglers, by Harriet Whitehorn (Simon & Schuster); and The Mystery of the Jewelled Moth, by Katherine Woodfine (Egmont)

Best Crime Novel for Young Adults (12-16): Kid Got Shot, by Simon Mason (David Fickling)

Also nominated: 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); Blame, by Simon Mayo (Penguin); and In the Dark, In the Woods, by Eliza Wass (Hachette Children’s Group)

Petrona Award for Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year: Where Roses Never Die, by Gunnar Staalesen, translated by Don Bartlett (Orenda Books; Norway)

Also nominated: The Exiled, by Kati Hiekkapelto, translated by David Hackston (Orenda Books; Finland); The Dying Detective, by Leif G.W. Persson, translated by Neil Smith (Doubleday; Sweden); The Bird Tribunal, by Agnes Ravatn, translated by Rosie Hedger (Orenda Books; Norway); Why Did You Lie? by Yrsa Sigurđardóttir, translated by Victoria Cribb (Hodder & Stoughton; Iceland); and The Wednesday Club, by Kjell Westö, translated by Neil Smith (MacLehose
Press; Finland)

Congratulations to all of this year’s contenders!

READ MORE: “The Petrona Award 2017—Winner,” by Karen Meek
(Euro Crime); “CrimeFest and the CWA Short Story Dagger,” by Martin Edwards (‘Do You Write Under Your Own Name?’).