Canada Hosts the Arthurs

I wish I’d been in Toronto, Ontario, last evening to attend the Crime Writers of Canada’s presentation of its 2019 Arthur Ellis Awards, for several friends and associates of The Rap Sheet were among the winners. Here’s the full list of honorees.

Best Crime Novel:
Though the Heavens Fall, by Anne Emery (ECW Press)

Also nominated: Cape Diamond, by Ron Corbett (ECW Press); The Winters, by Lisa Gabriele (Doubleday Canada); Kingdom of the Blind, by Louise Penny (Minotaur); and The Girl in the Moss, by Loreth Anne White (Montlake Romance)

Best First Crime Novel:
Cobra Clutch, by A.J. Devlin (NeWest Press)

Also nominated: Operation Wormwood, by Helen C. Escott (Flanker Press); Full Disclosure, by Beverley McLachlin (Simon & Schuster Canada); Why Was Rachel Murdered?, by Bill Prentice (Echo Road); and Find You in the Dark, by Nathan Ripley (Simon & Schuster Canada)

Best Crime Novella (aka the Lou Allin Memorial Award):
Murder Among the Pines, by John Lawrence Reynolds (Orca)

Also nominated: The B-Team: The Case of the Angry First Wife, by Melodie Campbell (Orca); and Blue Water Hues, by Vicki Delany (Orca)

Best Crime Short Story: “Terminal City,” by Linda L. Richards (from Vancouver Noir, edited by Sam Wiebe; Akashic)

Also nominated: “A Ship Called Pandora,” by Melodie Campbell (Mystery Weekly Magazine); “The Power Man,” by Therese Greenwood (from Baby It’s Cold Outside, edited by Robert Bose and Sarah L. Johnson; Coffin Hop Press); “Game,” by Twist Phelan (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine); and “Wonderful Life,” by Sam Wiebe (from Vancouver Noir)

Best Crime Book in French: Adolphus—Une enquête de Joseph Laflamme, by Hervé Gagnon (Libre Expression)

Also nominated: Un dernier baiser avant de te tuer, by Jean-Philippe Bernié (Libre Expression); Ces femmes aux yeux cernés, by André Jacques (Éditions Druide); Deux coups de pied de trop, by Guillaume Morissette (Guy Saint-Jean Éditeur); and Rinzen la beauté intérieure, by Johanne Seymour (Expression Noir)

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

Also nominated: The House of One Thousand Eyes, by Michelle Barker (Annick Press); Call of the Wraith, by Kevin Sands (Aladdin); The Ruinous Sweep, by Tim Wynne-Jones (Candlewick Press); and The Rumrunner's Boy, by E.R. Yatscoff (TG & R)

Best Non-fiction Crime Book:
The Real Lolita: The Kidnapping of Sally Horner and the Novel that Scandalized the World, by Sarah Weinman (Knopf)

Also nominated: Dying for a Drink: How a Prohibition Preacher Got Away with Murder, by Patrick Brode (Biblioasis); The King of Con: How a Smooth-Talking Jersey Boy Made and Lost Billions, Baffled the FBI, Eluded the Mob, and Lived to Tell the Crooked Tale, by Thomas Giacomaro and Natasha Stoynoff (BenBella); The Boy on the Bicycle: A Forgotten Case of Wrongful Conviction in Toronto, by Nate Hendley (Five Rivers); and Murder by Milkshake: An Astonishing True Story of Adultery, Arsenic, and a Charismatic Killer, by Eve Lazarus (Arsenal Pulp Press)

Best Unpublished Manuscript (aka the Unhanged Arthur):
The Scarlet Cross, by Liv McFarlane

Also nominated: Hypnotizing Lions, by Jim Bottomley; Omand’s Creek, by Don Macdonald; One for the Raven, by Heather McLeod; and The Book of Answers, by Darrow Woods

In addition, the CWC presented Ontario author Vicki Delany with this year’s Derrick Murdoch Award for special achievement.

As a CWC news release, the Arthur Ellis Awards (taking their name from the pseudonym of Canada’s official hangman) recognize “the best in mystery, crime, and suspense fiction and crime non-fiction by Canadian authors.” Congratulations to all of the nominees!