Partying It Up in Canada

During an event held last evening in Toronto, the Crime Writers of Canada announced the winners of the 2018 Arthur Ellis Awards. These prizes recognize “excellence in Canadian crime writing.”

Best Crime Novel:
Sleeping in the Ground, by Peter Robinson (McClelland & Stewart)

Also nominated: The Winners’ Circle, by Gail Bowen (McClelland & Stewart); The Party, by Robyn Harding (Gallery/Scout Press); The White Angel, by John MacLachlan Gray (Douglas and McIntyre); and The Forgotten Girl, by Rio Youers (St. Martin’s Press)

Best First Crime Novel:
Full Curl, by Dave Butler (Dundurn Press)

Also nominated: Puzzle of Pieces, by Sally Hill Brouard (FriesenPress); Ragged Lake, by Ron Corbett (ECW Press); Flush, by Sky Curtis (Inanna); and Our Little Secret, by Roz Nay (Simon & Schuster Canada)

Best Crime Novella (The Lou Allin Memorial Award):
“How Lon Pruitt Was Found Murdered in an Open Field with No Footprints Around,” by Mike Culpepper (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, September/October 2017)

Also nominated: “Snake Oil,” by M.H. Callway (from 13 Claws: The Mesdames of Mayhem; Carrick); Blood and Belonging, by Vicki Delany (Orca); “Dead Clown Blues,” by R. Daniel Lester (Shotgun Honey); and “Money Maker,” by Jas R. Petrin (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, May/June 2017)

Best Crime Short Story:
“The Outlier,” by Catherine Astolfo (from 13 Claws)

Also nominated: “There be Dragons,” by Jane Petersen Burfield (from 13 Claws); “Jerusalem Syndrome,” by Hilary Davidson (from Passport to Murder: Bouchercon Anthology 2017, edited by John McFetridge; Down & Out); “The Ranchero’s Daughter,” by Sylvia Maultash Warsh (from 13 Claws); and “The Sin Eaters,” by Melissa Yi (from Montreal Noir, edited by John McFetridge and Jacques Fillippi; Akashic)

Best Non-Fiction Crime Book:
The Whisky King, by Trevor Cole (HarperCollins)

Also nominated: Murder in Plain English, by Michael Arntfield and Marcel Danesi (Prometheus); Blood, Sweat and Fear, by Eve Lazarus (Arsenal Pulp Press); The Dog Lover Unit, by Rachel Rose (St. Martin’s Press); and Police Wife: The Secret Epidemic of Police Domestic Violence, by Alex Roslin (Sugar Hill)

Best Juvenile/Young Adult Crime Book:
Chase, by Linwood Barclay (Puffin Canada)

Also nominated: Missing, by Kelley Armstrong (Doubleday Canada); The Disappearance, by Gillian Chan (Annick Press); Thistlewood, by Donna Chubaty (Grasmere); and The Lives of Desperate Girls, by MacKenzie Common (Penguin Teen Canada)

Best Crime Book in French:
Les Tricoteuses, by Marie Saur (Héliotrope Noir)

Also nominated: Amqui, by Éric Forbes (Héliotrope Noir); La vie rêvée de Frank Bélair, by Maxime Houde (Éditions Alire); Les clefs du silence, by Jean Lemieux (Québec Amérique); and La mort en bleu pastel, by Maryse Rouy (Éditions Druide)

Best Unpublished Manuscript:
Destruction in Paradise, by Dianne Scott

Also nominated: The Alibi Network, by Raimey Gallant; Finn Slew, by Ken MacQueen; Dig, Dug, Dead, by Sylvia Teaves; and Condemned, by Kevin Thornton

On top of all those commendations, Gail Bowen, a playwright and author currently living in Regina, Saskatchewan, was presented with the Crime Writers’ Grand Master Award. A statement from the organization reads: “Gail Bowen is being recognized by Crime Writers of Canada for her long and illustrious career as a crime-fiction author. She has almost 20 books in her long-running Joanne Kilbourn series, several of which were either nominated for or received awards, including the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel in 1994, for A Colder Kind of Death. She has also written four Rapid Reads novellas and several plays. She is well established in Canada, highly respected in the writing community, and much sought after by readers. She is frequently a guest at literary events. Several of her Joanne Kilbourn books were turned into a TV series.”