Doing Crime the Canadian Way

This morning brought the scheduled announcement of which books and authors have won the 2021 Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence in Canadian Crime Writing (formerly known as the Arthur Ellis Awards). Below are the nine categories of recipients.

Best Crime Novel:
The Finder, by Will Ferguson (Simon & Schuster Canada)

Also nominated: How a Woman Becomes a Lake, by Marjorie Celona (Hamish Hamilton Canada); The Historians, by Cecilia Ekbäck (HarperCollins); Obsidian, by Thomas King (HarperCollins); and Hurry Home, by Roz Nay (Simon & Schuster Canada)

Best Crime First Novel: The Transaction, by Guglielmo D’Izza (Guernica Editions)

Also nominated: And We Shall Have Snow, by Raye Anderson (Signature Editions); True Patriots, by Russell Fralich (Dundurn Press); The Woman in the Attic, by Emily Hepditch (Flanker Press); and The Nightshade Cabal, by Chris Patrick Carolan (Parliament House Press)

The Howard Engel Award for Best Crime Novel Set in Canada:
Stay Where I Can See You, by Katrina Onstad (HarperCollins)

Also nominated: Payback, by Randall Denley (Ottawa Press); Rabbit Foot Bill, by Helen Humphreys (HarperCollins); The Dogs of Winter, by Ann Lambert (Second Story Press); and Two for the Tablelands, by Kevin Major (Breakwater)

Best Crime Novella:
Never Going Back, by Sam Wiebe (Orca)

Also nominated: The Unpleasantness at the Battle of Thornford, by C.C. Benison (At Bay Press); Coral Reef Views, by Vicki Delany (Orca); and “Salty Dog Blues,” by Winona Kent (from Crime Wave: A Canada West Anthology, edited by Karen L. Abrahamson; Sisters in Crime-Canada West Chapter)

Best Crime Short Story:
“Cold Wave,” by Marcelle Dubé (from Crime Wave: A Canada West Anthology, edited by Karen L. Abrahamson; Sisters in Crime- Canada West Chapter)

Also nominated: “Days Without Name,” by Sylvia Maultash Warsh (from A Grave Diagnosis: 35 Stories of Murder and Malaise, edited by Donna Carrick; Carrick Publishing); “Used to Be,” by Twist Phelan (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine [EQMM], January/February 2020); “Killer Biznez,” by Zandra Renwick (EQMM, September/October 2020); and “Limited Liability,” by Sarah Weinman (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, May/June 2020)

Best French Crime Book (fiction and non-fiction):
La mariée de corail, by Roxanne Bouchard (Libre Expression)

Also nominated: Inacceptable, by Stéphanie Gauthier (Éditions Québec Amérique); Le printemps des traîtres, by Christian Giguère (Héliotrope NOIR); Les cachettes, by Guy Lalancette (VLB éditeur); and Les Demoiselles du Havre-Aubert, by Jean Lemieux (Éditions Québec Amérique)

Best Juvenile or YA Crime Book (fiction and non-fiction): Red Fox Road, by Frances Greenslade (Puffin Canada)

Also nominated: Lucy Crisp and the Vanishing House, by Janet Hill (Tundra); Fight Like a Girl, by Sheena Kamal (Penguin Teen); Magic Dark and Strange, by Kelly Powell (Margaret K. McElderry); and Hope You’re Listening, by Tom Ryan (Albert Whitman)

The Brass Knuckles Award for Best Non-fiction Crime Book:
Missing from the Village: The Story of Serial Killer Bruce McArthur, the Search for Justice, and the System That Failed Toronto’s Queer Community, by Justin Ling (McClelland & Stewart)

Also nominated: Murder in the Family: How the Search for My Mother’s Killer Led to My Father, by Jeff Blackstock (Viking Press); Horseplay: My Time Undercover on the Granville Strip, by Norm Boucher (NeWest Press); Blood in the Water: A True Story of Revenge in the Maritimes, by Silver Donald Cameron (Viking Press); and Cold Case North: The Search for James Brady and Absolom Halkett, by Michael Nest with Deanna Reder and Eric Bell (University of Regina Press)

The Award for Best Unpublished Manuscript:
The Future, by Raymond Bazowski

Also nominated: Predator and Prey, by Dianne Scott; Notes on Killing Your Wife, by Mark Thomas; A Nice Place to Die, by Joyce Woollcott; and Cat with a Bone, by Susan Jane Wright

Let’s give a round of applause to all of this year’s candidates!