One Last Bristol Batch of Prizes

In advance of the 17th and final CrimeFest kicking off on May 15 in Bristol, England, organizers of that four-day event have released the shortlists of contenders for seven annual awards. Winners are to be announced during a celebratory dinner on Saturday, May 17.

Specsavers Debut Crime Novel Award:
• Paper Cage, by Tom Baragwanath (Baskerville)
• Love Letters to a Serial Killer, by Tasha Coryell (Orion Fiction)
• The Antique Hunter’s Guide to Murder, by C.L. Miller
(Pan Macmillan)
• The Night of Baba Yaga, by Akira Otani (Faber & Faber)
• Nightwatching, by Tracy Sierra (Viking)
• Five by Five, by Claire Wilson (Michael Joseph)

eDunnit Award (for the best crime fiction ebook first published in both hardcopy and in electronic format):
• Hemlock Bay, by Martin Edwards (Head of Zeus)
• The Lantern’s Dance, by Laurie R. King (Allison & Busby)
• The Sequel, by Jean Hanff Korelitz (Faber & Faber)
• What a Way to Go, by Bella Mackie (Borough Press)
• The God of the Woods, by Liz Moore (Borough Press)
• A Talent for Murder, by Peter Swanson (Faber & Faber)

H.R.F. Keating Award (for the best biographical or critical book related to crime fiction):
• Agatha Christie’s Marple: Expert on Wickedness, by Mark
Aldridge (HarperCollins)
• Allusion in Detective Fiction, by Jem Bloomfield (Palgrave Macmillan)
• Female Detectives in Early Crime Fiction, 1841-1920, by Ashley Bowden (Fabula Mysterium Press)
• Writing the Murder: Essays on Crafting Crime Fiction, by Dan Coxon and Richard V. Hirst (Dead Ink)
• The Mysterious Case of the Victorian Female Detective, by Sara Lodge (Yale University Press)
• Getting Away With Murder: My Unexpected Life on Page, Stage and Screen, by Lynda La Plante (Zaffre)

Last Laugh Award (for the best humorous crime novel):
• The Case of the Secretive Secretary, by Cathy Ace (Four Tails)
• The Light and Shade of Ellen Swithin, by D.G. Coutinho
(Harvill Secker)
• What a Way to Go, by Bella Mackie (Borough Press)
• Knife Skills for Beginners, by Orlando Murrin (Transworld)
• Mr. Campion’s Christmas, by Mike Ripley (Severn House)
• The Burning Stones, by Antti Tuomainen (Orenda)

Best Crime Fiction Award for Children (aged 8-12):
• Rosie Raja: Undercover Codebreaker, by Sufiya Ahmed
(Bloomsbury Education)
• The Secret of Golden Island, by Natasha Farrant (Faber & Faber)
• Mysteries at Sea: The Hollywood Kidnap Case, by A.M.
Howell (Usborne)
• The Twitchers: Feather, by M.G. Leonard (Walker)
• The Swifts: A Gallery of Rogues, by Beth Lincoln (Penguin Random House Children’s UK)
• The Floating Witch Mystery, by Nicki Thornton (Faber & Faber)

Best Crime Fiction Award for Young Adults (aged 12-16):
• A Cruel Twist of Fate, by H.F. Askwith (Penguin Random House Children’s UK)
• It All Started With a Lie, by Denise Brown (Hashtag Press)
• Lie or Die, by A.J. Clack (Firefly Press)
• All the Hidden Monsters, by Amie Jordan (Chicken House)
• Heist Royale, by Kayvion Lewis (Simon & Schuster Children’s Books)
• Such Charming Liars, by Karen M. McManus (Penguin Random
House Children’s UK)

Thalia Proctor Memorial Award for Best Adapted TV Crime Drama:
• Bad Monkey, based on the book by Carl Hiaasen (Apple TV+)
• Dalgliesh (series 3), based on the Inspector Dalgliesh books by P.D. James (Channel 5)
• Lady in the Lake, based on the book by Laura Lippman (Apple TV+)
• Moonflower Murders, based on the book by Anthony Horowitz (BBC)
• Slow Horses (series 4), based on the Slough House books by Mick Herron (Apple TV+)
• The Turkish Detective, based on the Inspector Ikmen books by Barbara Nadel (BBC)

Congratulations to all of this year’s nominees!