CrimeFest Capper

Following on from today’s previous announcement of the 2018 Petrona Award winner comes news about the recipients of half a dozen other prizes, all dispensed this evening during a banquet held as part of CrimeFest in Bristol, England.

Best Unabridged Crime Audiobook:
The Girl Before, by J.P. Delaney; read by Emilia Fox, Finty Williams, and Lise Aagaard Knudsen (Quercus)

Also nominated: The Child, by Fiona Barton; read by Clare Corbett, Adjoa Andoh, Finty Williams, Fenella Woolgar, and Steven Pacey (Audible Studios); The Midnight Line, by Lee Child; read by Jeff Harding (Transworld); Silent Child, by Sarah A. Denzil; read by Joanne Froggatt (Audible Studios); Sometimes I Lie, by Alice Feeney; read by Stephanie Racine (HQ); The Girlfriend, by Michelle Frances; read by Antonia Beamish (Pan Macmillan Audio); The Word Is Murder, by Anthony Horowitz; read by Rory Kinnear (Penguin Random House Audio); and The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye, by David Lagercrantz; read by Saul
Reichlin (Quercus)

eDunnit Award (for the best crime fiction e-book): The Late Show, by Michael Connelly (Orion)

Also nominated: Want You Gone, by Chris Brookmyre (Little, Brown); The Ghosts of Galway, by Ken Bruen (Head of Zeus); IQ, by Joe Ide (Weidenfeld & Nicolson); Since We Fell, by Dennis Lehane (Little, Brown); You Can Run, by Steve Mosby (Orion); Wolves in the Dark, by Gunnar Staalesen (Orenda); and Exquisite, by Sarah Stovell (Orenda)

The Last Laugh Award (for the best humorous crime novel):
Spook Street, by Mick Herron (John Murray)

Also nominated: Blotto, Twinks and the Stars of the Silver Screen, by Simon Brett (Little, Brown); Bryant & May: Wild Chamber, by Christopher Fowler (Doubleday); The Strange Disappearance of a Bollywood Star, by Vaseem Khan (Mullholland); East of Hounslow, by Khurrum Rahman (HQ); Sweetpea, by C.J. Skuse, (HQ); The Man Who Died, by Antti Tuomainen (Orenda); and Herring in the Smoke, by L.C. Tyler (Allison & Busby)

The H.R.F. Keating Award (for the best biographical or critical book related to crime fiction): Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, by Mike Ripley (HarperCollins)

Also nominated: The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books, by Martin Edwards (British Library); America Noir, by Barry Forshaw (No Exit Press); Sherlock Holmes in Context, by Sam Naidu (Palgrave Macmillan); Sherlock Holmes from Screen to Stage, by Benjamin Poore (Palgrave Macmillan); The Man Who Would Be Sherlock, by Christopher Sandford (The History Press); Arthur & Sherlock, by Michael Sims (Bloomsbury); and Getting Carter, by Nick Triplow (No Exit Press)

Best Crime Novel for Children (8-12):
A Place Called Perfect, by Helena Duggan (Usborne)

Also nominated: Chase, by Linwood Barclay (Orion Children’s Books); The Misfits Club, by Kieran Crowley (Macmillan Children’s Books); The Royal Rabbits of London: Escape from the Tower, by Santa and Simon Sebag Montefiore (Simon & Schuster); Toto the Ninja Cat and the Great Snake Escape, by Dermot O'Leary (Hodder Children’s Books); Mr. Penguin and the Lost Treasure, by Alex T. Smith (Hodder Children’s Books); and Violet and the Mummy Mystery, by Harriet Whitehorn (Simon & Schuster)

Best Crime Novel for Young Adults (12-16):
Indigo Donut, by Patrice Lawrence (Hodder Children’s Books)

Also nominated: Girlhood, by Cat Clarke (Quercus Children’s Books); The Ones That Disappeared, by Zana Fraillon (Orion Children’s Books); After the Fire, by Will Hill (Usborne); Genuine Fraud, by E. Lockhart (Hot Key); SweetFreak, by Sophie McKenzie (Simon & Schuster); Dark Matter: Contagion, by Teri Terry (Orchard); and Beware That Girl, by Teresa Toten (Hot Key)

I’m particularly pleased to see UK columnist-author Mike Ripley pick up this year’s H.R.F. Keating Award, as he was a longtime friend of Keating (who died in 2011 at age 84). Capturing this commendation named after the creator of the Inspector Ghote mysteries can only be, for Ripley, a heart-warming reminder of their years of fellowship.