Canadian Crime Makes a Splash

I’m still hunkered down in my office, working to finish a longish piece for another publication. But I want to make sure everyone knows which books and authors have won the 2020 Arthur Ellis Awards. The announcement was made last night by the Crime Writers of Canada.

Best Crime Novel:
Greenwood, by Michael Christie (McClelland & Stewart)

Also nominated: 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); and 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)

Also nominated: Blindshot, by Denis Coupal (Linda Leith); and Past Presence, by Nicole Bross (Literary Wanderlust)

Best Crime Novella: The Red Chesterfield, by Wayne Arthurson (University of Calgary Press)

Also nominated: Blood Ties, by Barbara Fradkin (Orca); Too Close to Home, by Brenda Chapman (Grass Roots Press); The Goddaughter Does Vegas, by Melodie Campbell (Orca); and The Woman in Apartment 615, by Devon Shepherd (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, January/February 2019)

Best Crime Short Story: “Closing Doors,” by Peter Sellers (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, March/April 2019)

Also nominated: “In Plain Sight,” by Y.S. Lee (from Life is Short and Then You Die, edited by Kelley Armstrong; Macmillan); and “The Dead Man's Dog,” by Zandra Renwick (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, January/February 2019)

Best French Crime Book:
Tempêtes, by Andrée Michaud (Éditions Québec Amériques)

Also nominated: Les offrandes, by Louis Carmain (VLB Éditeur); Ghetto X, by Martin Michaud (Libre Expression); Le tribunal de la rue Quirion, by Guillaume Morrissette (Guy Saint-Jean Éditeur); and Le cercle de cendres, by Félix Ravenelle-Arcouette (Héliotrope)

Best Juvenile or Young Adult Crime Book:
Keep This to Yourself, by Tom Ryan (Albert Whitman)

Also nominated: Tank & Fizz: The Case of the Tentacle Terror, by Liam O’Donnell and Mike Dean, Orca); The Grey Sisters, by Jo Treggiari (Penguin Teen); and Ghosts, by David A. Robertson (HighWater Press)

Best Non-fiction Crime Book:
Murdered Midas: A Millionaire, His Gold Mine, and a Strange Death on an Island Paradise, by Charlotte Gray (HarperCollins)

Also nominated: The Missing Millionaire: The True Story of Ambrose Small and the City Obsessed with Finding Him, by Katie Daubs (McClelland & Stewart); The Billionaire Murders, by Kevin Donovan (Penguin Random House); The Court of Better Fiction, by Debra Komar (Dundurn Press); and The Forest City Killer: A Serial Murderer, a Cold-Case Sleuth, and a Search for Justice, by Vanessa Brown (ECW Press)

The Unhanged Arthur Award for Best Unpublished Crime Manuscript: The Dieppe Letters, by Liz Rachel Walker

Also nominated: 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; and The River Cage, by Pam Barnsley

Grand Master Award: Peter Robinson

(Hat tip to Mystery Fanfare.)