Pandemic Won’t Cancel CrimeFest Prizes

Organizers of Britain’s annual CrimeFest today released their diverse lists of contenders for seven awards. Because this year’s convention has had to be cancelled, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the winners will be announced online this coming summer.

Specsavers Debut Crime Novel Award:
• The Creak on the Stairs, by Eva Bjorg Aegisdottir (Orenda)
• Summer of Reckoning, by Marion Brunet (Bitter Lemon Press)
• The Wreckage, by Robin Morgan-Bentley (Trapeze)
• The Thursday Murder Club, by Richard Osman (Viking)
• City of Spies, by Mara Timon (Zaffre)
• The Man on the Street, by Trevor Wood (Quercus)

Audible Sounds of Crime Award:
• The Sentinel, by Lee Child and Andrew Child, read by Jeff
Harding (Transworld)
• The Guest List, by Lucy Foley, read by Olivia Dowd, Aoife McMahon, Chloe Massey, Sarah Ovens, Rich Keeble, and Jot Davies (HarperFiction)
• Troubled Blood, by Robert Galbraith, read by Robert Glenister
(Little, Brown)
• Moonflower Murders, by Anthony Horowitz, read by Lesley Manville and Allan Corduner (Penguin Random House Audio)
• Find Them Dead, by Peter James, read by Daniel Weyman (Pan)
• The Invisible Girl, by Lisa Jewell, read by Rebekah Staton (Penguin Random House Audio)
• Buried, by Lynda La Plante, read by Alex Hassell and Annie
Aldington (Zaffre)
• The Catch, by T.M. Logan, read by Philip Stevens (Zaffre)
• The Thursday Murder Club, by Richard Osman, read by Lesley Manville (Viking)
• A Song for the Dark Times, by Ian Rankin, read by James
Macpherson (Orion)

H.R.F. Keating Award:
• Agatha Christie’s Poirot: The Greatest Detective in the World, by Mark Aldridge (HarperCollins)
• Howdunit: A Masterclass in Crime Writing by Members of the Detection Club, edited by Martin Edwards (Collins Crime Club)
• Cover Me: The Vintage Art of Pan Books: 1950-1965,
by Colin Larkin (Telos)
• Conan Doyle’s Wide World, by Andrew Lycett (Tauris Parke)
• The Reacher Guy, by Heather Martin (Little, Brown)
• H.R.F. Keating: A Life of Crime, by Sheila Mitchell (Level Best)
• Southern Cross Crime: The Pocket Essential Guide to the Crime Fiction, Film & TV of Australia and New Zealand,
by Craig Sisterson (Oldcastle)
• The Red Hand: Stories, Reflections and the Last Appearance of Jack Irish, by Peter Temple (Riverrun)

Last Laugh Award:
• False Value, by Ben Aaronovitch (Gollancz)
• Bryant & May: Oranges and Lemons, by Christopher
Fowler (Doubleday)
• The Postscript Murders, by Elly Griffiths (Quercus)
• Squeeze Me, by Carl Hiaasen (Little, Brown)
• The Thursday Murder Club, by Richard Osman (Viking)
• The Corpse in the Garden of Perfect Brightness, by Malcolm
Pryce (Bloomsbury)
• Ride or Die, by Khurrum Rahman (HQ)
• Miss Blaine's Prefect and the Vampire Menace, by Olga
Wojtas (Contraband)

eDunnit Award:
• The Hunted, by Gabriel Bergmoser (Faber)
• The Split, by Sharon Bolton (Trapeze)
• Little Boy Lost, by J.P. Carter (Avon)
• Fifty-Fifty, by Steve Cavanagh (Orion)
• Fair Warning, by Michael Connelly (Orion)
• A Private Cathedral, by James Lee Burke (Orion)
• A Song for the Dark Times, by Ian Rankin (Orion)
• The Dead Line, by Holly Watt (Raven)

Best Crime Novel for Children (Ages 8-12):
• Mission Shark Bytes, by Sophie Deen (Walker)
• A Girl Called Justice: The Smugglers’ Secret, by Elly Griffiths (Quercus Children’s Books)
• Nightshade, by Anthony Horowitz (Walker)
• My Headteacher Is an Evil Genius, by Jack Noel (Walker)
• Anisha, Accidental Detective, by Serena Patel (Usborne)
• School’s Cancelled, by Serena Patel (Usborne)
• The Night Bus Hero, by Onjali Q. Rauf (Orion Children’s Books)
• The Pencil Case, by Dave Shelton (David Fickling)

Best Crime Novel for Young Adults (Ages 12-16):
• Hideous Beauty, by William Hussey (Usborne)
• The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker, by Lauren James (Walker)
• Devil Darling Spy, by Matt Killeen (Usborne)
• Eight Pieces of Silva, by Patrice Lawrence (Hodder Children’s Books)
• Deadfall, by Simon Lelic (Hodder Children’s Books)
• Hacking, Heists & Flaming Arrows, by Robert Muchamore (Hot Key)
• Burn, by Patrick Ness (Walker)
• The Case of the Missing Marquess, by Nancy Springer (Hot Key)

The competition for this year’s H.R.F. Keating Award for biographical or critical books ought to be especially heated, as it offers a most worthy collection of nominees. I’m pleased to see both Colin Larkin’s Cover Me and Craig Sisterson’s Southern Cross Crime make that shortlist, as they were personal favorites in 2020.