You know how much we love to celebrate great mystery and crime fiction. The Crime Writers of Canada love it too.
Last weekend,the CWC feted the winners of its annual Arthur Ellis Awards for excellence in works in the crime/mystery/thriller genre published for the first time in the previous year by permanent residents of Canada, or by Canadian citizens living abroad. Here are the nominees and the winners (in bold).
Best Novel
- Trust Your Eyes by Linwood Barclay
- Until the Night by Giles Blunt
- The Trinity Game by Sean Chercover
- The Messenger by Stephen Miller
- Niceville by Carsten Stroud
Best First Novel
- The Beggar’s Opera by Peggy Blair
- Confined Space by Deryn Collier
- The Dead of Winter by Peter Kirby
- A Private Man by Chris Laing
- The Haunting of Maddy Clare by Simone St. James
Best Novella
- Contingency Plan by Lou Allin
- A Winter Kill by Vicki Delany
- Evil Behind that Door by Barbara Fradkin
- “Reunion” by Christopher G. Moore in Phnom Penh Noir
Best Nonfiction
- Bloody Justice: The Truth behind the Bandidos Massacre at Shedden by Anita Arvast
- Octopus: Sam Israel, the Secret Market, and Wall Street’s Wildest Con by Guy Lawson
- The Devil’s Cinema: The Untold Story Behind Mark Twitchell’s Kill Room by Steve Lillebuen
- Thieves of Bay Street: How Banks, Brokerages and the Wealthy Steal Billions from Canadians by Bruce Livesey
Best Juvenile/YA Book
- Live to Tell by Lisa Harrington
- The Agency: The Traitor in the Tunnel by Y.S. Lee
- Crush Candy Corpse by Sylvia McNicoll
- Becoming Holmes by Shane Peacock
- The Lynching of Louie Sam by Elizabeth Stewart
Best French Book
- La Nuit des albinos: Sur les traces de Max O’Brien by Mario Bolduc
- De pierres et de sang by André Jacques
- L’homme du jeudi by Jean Lemieux
- Je me souviens by Martin Michaud
- L’inaveu by Richard Ste Marie
Best Short Story
- “Life Without George” by Melodie Campbell in Over My Dead Body Mystery Magazine, August 2012
- “Sins of the Fathers” by Sandy Conrad in Daughters and Other Strangers
- “Cruel Coast” by Scott MacKay in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, July 2012
- “Mad Dog” by Jas R. Petrin in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, October 2012
- “Spring-blade Knife” by Yasuko Thanh in Floating Like the Dead
“Unhanged Arthur” for Best Unpublished First Novel
- Cold Black Tide by William Hall
- The Raffle Baby by Ilonka Halsband
- Sins Revisited by Coleen Steele
The Derrick Murdoch Award for special achievement was given posthumously to author Lyn Hamilton for her body of work and extensive contributions to the Canadian crime-writing community.