Aussie Honors

The Australian Crime Writers Association (ACWA) has announced its shortlists of nominees for the 2020 Ned Kelly Awards, aka the “Neddies,” which take their name from that country’s most notorious bushranger. A news release says, “This year, for the first time, the Ned Kelly Awards also include a category for Best International Crime Fiction published in Australia, adding to the regular categories of Best Crime Fiction, Best Debut Crime Fiction and Best True Crime.”

Best Crime Fiction:
• Death of a Typographer, by Nick Gadd (Australian Scholarly Publishing)
• The Strangers We Know, by Pip Drysdale (Simon & Schuster)
• The Scholar, by Dervla McTiernan (Harlequin)
• The Wife and the Widow, by Christian White (Affirm Press)
• Rivers of Salt, by Dave Warner (Fremantle Press)
• True West, by David Whish-Wilson (Fremantle Press)

Best Debut Crime Fiction:
• Present Tense, by Natalie Conyer (Clan Destine Press)
• Eight Lives, by Susan Hurley (Affirm Press)
• Where the Truth Lies, by Karina Kilmore (Simon & Schuster)
• The Nancys, by R.W.R. McDonald (Allen & Unwin)
• Six Minutes, by Petronella McGovern (Allen & Unwin)
• Lapse, by Sarah Thornton (Text)

Best True Crime:
• Bowraville, by Dan Box (Penguin Random House)
• Dead Man Walking: The Murky World of Michael McGurk and Ron Medich, by Kate McClymont (Penguin Random House)
• Shark Arm, by Phillip Rooper and Kevin Meagher (Allen & Unwin)
• Snakes and Ladders, by Angela Williams (Affirm Press)

Best International Crime Fiction:
• Cruel Acts, by Jane Casey (HarperCollins)
• The Night Fire, by Michael Connelly (Allen & Unwin)
• The Chain, by Adrian McKinty (Hachette)
• The Last Widow, by Karin Slaughter (HarperCollins)

The ACWA news release about these prizes does not specify when this year’s winners will be declared, but we’ll keep you posted.