Canada Commends Its Own

Crime Writers of Canada (CWC) today announced the winners of its 2022 Awards of Excellence in Canadian Crime Writing (formerly the Arthur Ellis Awards). Below are the lucky books and authors.

Best Crime Novel:
Under the Outlaw Moon, by Dietrich Kalteis (ECW Press)

Also nominated: Find You First, by Linwood Barclay (Morrow); Lost Immunity, by Daniel Kalla (Simon & Schuster); Not a Happy Family, by Shari Lapena (Doubleday Canada); and The Hunted, by Roz Nay (Simon & Schuster)

Best Crime First Novel:
The Push, by Ashley Audrain (Viking Canada)

Also nominated: The Captive, by Fiona King Foster (HarperCollins); Windfall, by Byron TD Smith (Shima Kun Press); All Is Well, by Katherine Walker (Thistledown Press); and Seven Down, by David Whitton (Rare Machines)

The Whodunit Award for Best Traditional Mystery: What’s the Matter with Mary Jane? by Candas Jane Dorsey (ECW Press)

Also nominated: Three Dog Knight, by Alice Bienia (Cairn Press); Hell’s Half Acre, by Jackie Elliott (Joffe); So Many Windings, by Catherine Macdonald (At Bay Press); and Murder in a Teacup, by Vicki Delany (Kensington)

The Howard Engel Award for Best Crime Novel Set in Canada: Beneath Her Skin, by C.S. Porter (Vagrant Press)

Also nominated: Corpse with an Iron Will, by Cathy Ace (Four Tails); Death on Darby’s Island, by Alice Walsh (Vagrant Press); Hell and Gone, by Sam Wiebe (Harbour); and Three for Trinity, by Kevin Major (Breakwater)

Best Crime Novella:
Letters from Johnny, by Wayne Ng (Guernica Editions)

Also nominated: Identity Withheld, by Marcelle Dubé (Falcon Ridge); Murder in Abstract, by Brenda Gayle (Bowstring); and Not So Fast, Dr. Quick, by Elvie Simons (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, July/August 2021)

Best Crime Short Story:
“Number 10 Marlborough Place,” by Elizabeth Elwood (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine [EQMM], November/December 2021)

Also nominated: “What Can You Do?” by Pam Barnsley (EQMM, November/December 2021); “Weed Man,” by Hilary Davidson (EQMM, September/October 2021); “All My Darlings,” by Charlotte Morganti (from Die Laughing: An Anthology of Humorous Mysteries, edited by Kelly Carter; Independently Published); and “Dead Man’s Hand, by Melissa Yi (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, March/April 2021)

Best French Crime Book (fiction and non-fiction):
Flots, by Patrick Senécal (Editions Alire)

Also nominated: Le murmure des hakapiks, by Roxanne Bouchard (Libre Expression); Dis-moi qui doit vivre …, by Marc-André Chabot (Libre Expression); Conduite dangereuse, by Guillaume Morrissette (Saint-Jean); and Stigmates, by Richard Ste-Marie (Editions Alire)

Best Juvenile or YA Crime Book (fiction and non-fiction):
The Traitor’s Blade, by Kevin Sands (Aladdin)

Also nominated: Blood Donor, by Karen Bass (Orca); Alice Fleck’s Recipes for Disaster, by Rachelle Delane (Puffin Canada); Hunting By Stars, by Cherie Dimaline (Penguin Teen); and Don’t Breathe a Word, by Jordyn Taylor (HarperTeen)

The Brass Knuckles Award for Best Non-fiction Crime Book: The Beatle Bandit: A Serial Bank Robber’s Deadly Heist, a Cross-Country Manhunt, and the Insanity Plea that Shook the Nation, by Nate Hendley (Dundurn Press)

Also nominated: Don’t Call it a Cult: The Shocking Story of Keith Raniere and the Women of NXIVM, by Sarah Berman (Viking Canada); Vancouver Vice: Crime and Spectacle in the City’s West End, by Aaron Chapman (Arsenal Pulp Press); Murder on the Inside: The True Story of the Deadly Riot at Kingston Penitentiary, by Catherine Fogarty (Biblioasis); and The Don: The Story of Toronto’s Infamous Jail, by Lorna Poplak (Dundurn Press)

The Award for Best Unpublished Manuscript:
Elmington, by Renee Lehnen

Also nominated: The Strength to Rise, by Delee Fromm; Captives, by Pam Isfeld; Ken’s Corner, by Katie Mac; and Part Time Crazy, by Mark Thomas

Grand Master Award: Louise Penny

Click here to watch the online presentation of this year’s prize recipients. And congratulations to all 2022 contenders!