Canada Applauds Its Stars

The Crime Writers of Canada last night announced its shortlists of nominees for the 2020 Arthur Ellis Awards. Because of the present COVID-19 pandemic, that news was spread online, rather than through the traditional method: a series of events held across Canada.

Best Crime Novel:
• Greenwood, by Michael Christie (McClelland & Stewart)
• Fate, by Ian Hamilton (House of Anansi Press)
• Hideaway, by Nicole Lundrigan (Penguin Random House Canada)
• The Last Resort, by Marissa Stapley (Simon & Schuster Canada)
• In the Dark, by Loreth Anne White (Montlake Romance)

The Angela Harrison Memorial Award for Best Crime First Novel:
• Nobody Move, by Philip Elliott (Into the Void Press)
• Blindshot, by Denis Coupal (Linda Leith)
• Past Presence, by Nicole Bross (Literary Wanderlust)

Best Crime Novella:
• The Red Chesterfield, by Wayne Arthurson
(University of Calgary Press)
• Blood Ties, by Barbara Fradkin (Orca)
• Too Close to Home, by Brenda Chapman (Grass Roots Press)
• The Goddaughter Does Vegas, by Melodie Campbell (Orca)
• The Woman in Apartment 615, by Devon Shepherd (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, January/February 2019)

Best Crime Short Story:
• “In Plain Sight,” by Y.S. Lee (from Life is Short and Then You Die, edited by Kelley Armstrong; Macmillan)
• “Closing Doors,” by Peter Sellers (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, March/April 2019)
• “The Dead Man's Dog,” by Zandra Renwick (Alfred Hitchcock
Mystery Magazine, January/February 2019)

Best French Crime Book:
• Les offrandes, by Louis Carmain (VLB Éditeur)
• Tempêtes, by Andrée Michaud (Éditions Québec Amériques)
• Ghetto X, by Martin Michaud (Libre Expression)
• Le tribunal de la rue Quirion, by Guillaume Morrissette
(Guy Saint-Jean Éditeur)
• Le cercle de cendres, by Félix Ravenelle-Arcouette (Héliotrope)

Best Juvenile or YA Crime Book:
• Tank & Fizz: The Case of the Tentacle Terror, by Liam O’Donnell
and Mike Dean, Orca)
• The Grey Sisters, by Jo Treggiari (Penguin Teen)
• Keep This to Yourself, by Tom Ryan (Albert Whitman)
• Ghosts, by David A. Robertson (HighWater Press)

Best Non-fiction Crime Book:
• The Missing Millionaire: The True Story of Ambrose Small and the City Obsessed with Finding Him, by Katie Daubs
(MacClelland & Stewart)
• The Billionaire Murders, by Kevin Donovan (Penguin Random House)
• The Court of Better Fiction, by Debra Komar (Dundurn Press)
• The Forest City Killer: A Serial Murderer, a Cold-Case Sleuth, and a Search for Justice, by Vanessa Brown (ECW Press)
• Murdered Midas: A Millionaire, His Gold Mine, and a Strange Death on an Island Paradise, by Charlotte Gray (HarperCollins)

The Unhanged Arthur Award for Best Unpublished
Crime Manuscript:
• Bert Mintenko and the Serious Business, by B.L. Smith
• Henry’s Bomb, by K.P. Bartlett
• One Bad Day After Another, by Max Folsom
• The Dieppe Letters, by Liz Rachel Walker
• The River Cage, by Pam Barnsley

In addition, Peter Robinson, Toronto-based author of the Alan Banks mystery series, has been chosen to receive the 2020 Grand Master Award, an honor presented biennially “to recognize a Canadian crime writer with a substantial body of work who has garnered national and international recognition.”

Winners of the other prizes are to be named in late May.