Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence in Canadian Crime Writing Shortlists and Derrick Murdoch Award Recipient

Crime Writers of Canada (CWC) announced the Shortlists for the 2023 Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence in Canadian Crime Writing. Since 1984, Crime Writers of Canada has recognized the best in mystery, crime, and suspense fiction, and crime nonfiction by Canadian authors, including citizens abroad and new residents.

Winners will be announced Thursday 25 May 2023.

Jack Batten is the recipient of the 2023 Derrick Murdoch Award. The Derrick Murdoch Award is issued every two years to recognize a member of Crime Writers of Canada who has made significant contributions to the crime/mystery/thriller genre.

Jack Batten is an acclaimed freelancer and award-winning author of dozens of fiction and non-fiction books for adults and young people. He’s written scores of short stories and articles on topics covering music, the law, movies and sports. His Crang mystery, Straight No Chaser, was shortlisted for the Crime Writers of Canada’s 1990 Award for Best Crime Novel.

From 1999 to 2022, Jack wrote hundreds of crime fiction book reviews in his weekly Whodunit column in the Toronto Star, supporting emerging and established authors and encouraging readers to discover more about the genre.

THE 2023 AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE SHORTLISTS

Best Crime Novel sponsored by Rakuten Kobo, with a $1000 prize

Linwood Barclay, Take Your Breath Away, HarperCollins Canada Anthony Bidulka, Going to Beautiful, Stonehouse Publishing
Nicole Lundrigan, An Unthinkable Thing, Viking Canada
Catherine McKenzie, Please Join Us, Simon & Schuster Canada Shelly Sanders, Daughters of the Occupation, HarperCollins Canada

Best Crime First Novel sponsored by Melodie Campbell, with a $1000 prize

T. Lawrence Davis, The Pale Horse, Friesen Press
Bill Edwards, Killer Time, Friesen Press
Adam Frost, The Damned Lovely, Down and Out Books Sam Shelstad, Citizens of Light, TouchWood Editions M.Z. Urlocker, The Man from Mittlewerk, Inkshares, Inc.

The Howard Engel Award for Best Crime Novel Set in Canada sponsored by Charlotte Engel and CWC, with a $500 prize

A. J. Devlin, Five Moves of Doom, NeWest Press
S. M. Freedman, Blood Atonement, Dundurn Press
Joanne Jackson, A Snake in the Raspberry Patch, Stonehouse Publishing Maureen Jennings, Cold Snap, Cormorant Books
Amy Tector, The Foulest Things, Keylight Books

The Whodunit Award for Best Traditional Mystery sponsored by Jane Doe, with a $500 prize

Alice Bienia, Knight in the Museum, Cairn Press
Anne Emery, Fenian Street, ECW Press
Thomas King, Deep House, HarperCollins Canada
Mary Jane Maffini, Death Plans a Perfect Trip, Beyond the Page Iona Whishaw, Framed in Fire, Touchwood Editions

Best Crime Novella sponsored by Mystery Magazine, with a $200 prize

M.H. Callway, Amdur's Ghost, In the Spirit of 13, Carrick Publishing
Hilary Davidson, Dangerous to Know, A Grifter's Song Vol. 8, Down & Out Books
Julie Hiner, Dead End Track, Julie Hiner
Matt Hughes, The Emir's Falcon, Shadowpaw Press Premiere
Alexis Stefanovich-Thomson, The Man Who Went Down Under, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazines

Best Crime Short Story sponsored by Mystery Magazine, with a $300 prize

Craig H. Bowlsby, The Girl Who Was Only Three Quarters Dead, Mystery Magazine M.H. Callway, Must Love Dogs - or You're Gone, Red Dog Press
Blair Keetch, To Catch a Kumiho, In the Spirit of 13, Carrick Publishing
Sylvia Maultash Warsh, The Natural Order of Things, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine donalee Moulton, Swan Song, Cold Canadian Crime, Crime Writers of Canada

Best French Crime Book (Fiction and Nonfiction)

Geneviève Blouin, Le Mouroir des anges, Éditions Alire Isabelle Lafortune, Chaîne de glace, Éditions XYZ

Guillaume Morrissette, Le dernier manège, Saint-Jean éditeur Suzan Payne, Modus operandi, Éditions Perce-Neige
Richard Ste-Marie, Monsieur Hämmerli, Éditions Alire

Best Juvenile or YA Crime Book (Fiction and Nonfiction) sponsored by Shaftesbury, with a $500 prize

Natasha Deen, Lark Steals the Show, Orca Book Publisher
Marthe Jocelyn, Aggie Morton Mystery Queen: The Seaside Corpse, Tundra Books H.N. Khan, Wrong Side of the Court, Penguin Teen
Wesley King, Butt Sandwich & Tree, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Jo Treggiari, Heartbreak Homes, Nimbus Publishing Limited

The Brass Knuckles Award for Best Nonfiction Crime Book sponsored by David Reid Simpson Law Firm, Hamilton, with a $300 prize

Michael Arntfield, How to Solve a Cold Case: And Everything Else You Wanted to Know About Catching Killers, HarperCollins Canada
Sharon Anne Cook and Margaret Carson, The Castleton Massacre, Dundurn Press Ltd.
Harley Rustad, Lost in the Valley of Death, Knopf Canada - Penguin Random House Canada
Rosemary Sullivan, The Betrayal of Anne Frank: A Cold Case Investigation, HarperCollins Canada Sarah Weinman, Scoundrel, Knopf Canada - Penguin Random House Canada

The Award for Best Unpublished Manuscript sponsored by ECW Press, with a $500 prize

Jan Garnett, No Safe House
Mary Keenan, Snowed
Joanne Kormylo, Two Knots
Joel Nedecky, The Broken Detective Michael Pennock, The Peaks

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About Crime Writers of Canada

Crime Writers of Canada was founded in 1982 as a professional organization designed to raise the profile of Canadian crime writers. Members include authors, publishers, editors, booksellers, librarians, reviewers, and literary agents as well as many developing authors.