Ned Kelly Awards Shortlists: Australian Crime Writers Association

The Australian Crime Writers Association announced three new shortlists for the 2025 Ned Kelly Awards. 

Best True Crime Nominees

They’ll Never Hold Me, by Michael Adams (Affirm Press)
A Thousand Miles from Care, by Steve Johnson (William Collins)
The Kingpin and the Crooked Cop, by Neil Mercer (Allen & Unwin)
Meadow’s Law, by Quentin McDermott (HarperCollins)
The Lasting Harm, by Lucia Osborne-Crowley (HarperCollins)

Best International Crime Fiction Nominees

Return to Blood, by Michael Bennett (Simon & Schuster UK)
Leave the Girls Behind, by Jacqueline Bublitz (Allen & Unwin)
The Waiting, by Michael Connelly (Allen & Unwin)
A Case of Matricide, by Graeme Macrae Burnet (Text)
Moscow X, by David McCloskey (Swift Press)
Home Truths, by Charity Norman (Allen & Unwin)

Best Crime Fiction Nominees

Shadow City, by Natalie Conner

Sanctuary, by Garry Disher

Unbury the Dead, by Fiona Hardy

The Creeper, by Margaret Hickey

Cold Truth, by Ashley Kalagian Blunt

Highway 13, by Fiona McFarlane

17 Years Later, by J.P. Pomare

Storm Child, by Michael Robotham

The winners, along with Best Debut Crime Fiction, will be awarded in September.

Ned Kelly: Best Debut Crime Fiction Shortlist: Australian Crime Writers Association

The Australian Crime Writers Association announced its shortlist for the 2025 Ned Kelly Award for Best Debut Crime Fiction:

Down the Rabbit Hole, by Shaeden Berry (Bonnier Echo)
A Town Called Treachery, by Mitch Jennings (HarperCollins)
The Chilling, by Riley James (Allen & Unwin)
All You Took From Me, by Lisa Kenway (Transit Lounge)
Everywhere We Look, by Martine Kropkowski (Ultimo Press)
Those Opulent Days, by Jacquie Pham (Atlantic Monthly Press)

Other category shortlists have not been announced.

HT: TheRapSheet

THE NED KELLY AWARD WINNERS: Australian Crime Writers Association

The Australian Crime Writers Association announced the winners of the Ned Kelly Awards. Congratulations to All! 

2024 Ned Kelly Award for Best International Crime Fiction:

The Only Suspect - By Louise Candlish

2024 Ned Kelly Award for Best True Crime:

Crossing the Line - By Nick McKenzie

2024 Ned Kelly Awards for Best Crime Fiction: 

Darling Girls - Sally Hepworth

2024 Ned Kelly Award for Best Debut Crime Fiction:
Murder in the Pacific: Ifira Point - By Matt Francis

For all the nominees, go here. 

THE NED KELLY AWARDS SHORTLISTS

The Australian Crime Writers Association announced all the categories for the Ned Kelly Award Shortlists. Congratulations to All! 

The Australian Crime Writers Association is proud to announce the 2024 Ned Kelly Awards Shortlist for Best International Crime Fiction:

Birnam Wood - By Eleanor Catton
Dice - By Claire Baylis
Resurrection Walk - By Michael Connelly
The Only Suspect - By Louise Candlish
The Search Party - By Hannah Richell
Zero Days - By Ruth Ware

The Australian Crime Writers Association is proud to announce the 2024 Ned Kelly Awards Shortlist for Best True Crime:

Crossing the Line - By Nick McKenzie
Killing for Country – By David Marr
The Murder Squad - By Michael Adams
Reckless - By Marele Day
The Teacher’s Pet - By Hedley Thomas

The Australian Crime Writers Association is proud to announce the 2024 Ned Kelly Awards Shortlist for Best Crime Fiction:

Killer Traitor Spy - Tim Ayliffe
Dark Corners - Megan Goldin
Dark Mode - Ashley Kalagian Blunt
Darling Girls - Sally Hepworth
The Seven - Chris Hammer
Ripper - Shelley Burr
The Tea Ladies - Amanda Hampson
Everyone on this train is a suspect - Benjamin Stevenson

The Australian Crime Writers Association is proud to announce the 2024 Ned Kelly Awards Shortlist for Best Debut Crime Fiction:

Four Dogs Missing - By Rhys Gard
Gus and the Missing Boy - By Troy Hunter
Lowbridge - By Lucy Campbell
Murder in the Pacific: Ifira Point - By Matt Francis
The Fall Between - By Darcy Tindale
The Beacon - By P.A. Thomas
Violet Kelly and the Jade Owl - By Fiona Britton

2024 Ned Kelly Awards Shortlist Best Debut Crime Fiction

The Australian Crime Writers Association announced the Ned Kelly Award Shortlist for Best Debut Crime Fiction. More awards to be announced shortly. Congratulations to All! 

NED KELLY AWARDS 2022 SHORTLISTS: Australian Crime Writers Association

The Australian Crime Writers Association (ACWA) has announced the shortlist for the 2022 Ned Kelly Awards.

The shortlisted titles in each category are:

Best debut crime fiction

• Sweet Jimmy (Bryan Brown, A&U)
• Shadow Over Edmund Street (Suzanne Frankham, Journey to Words Publishing)
• Cutters End (Margaret Hickey, Penguin)
• Banjawarn (Josh Kemp, UWA Publishing)

Best true crime

• The Mother Wound (Amani Haydar, Macmillan)
• Larrimah (Caroline Graham & Kylie Stevenson, A&U)
• Banquet: The untold story of Adelaide’s family murders(Debi Marshall, Vintage)
• A Witness of Fact (Drew Rooke, Scribe)

Best international crime fiction

• Case Study (Graeme Macrae Burnet, Text)
• The Heron’s Cry (Ann Cleeves, Macmillan)
• The Maid (Nita Prose, HarperCollins)
• Cry Wolf (Hans Rosenfeldt, HarperCollins)

Best crime fiction

• The Enemy Within (Tim Ayliffe, S&S)
• The Others (Mark Brandi, Hachette)
• You Had it Coming (B M Carroll, Profile Books)
• The Chase (Candice Fox, Bantam)
• Kill Your Brother (Jack Heath, A&U)
• The Family Doctor (Debra Oswald, A&U)
• The Deep (Kyle Perry, Michael Joseph).

Established in 1995, the Ned Kelly Awards are Australia’s oldest, most prestigious awards honouring crime fiction and true crime writing. ACWA reported that in 2022 ‘it was particularly pleasing to see authors breaking away from some of the more common crime tropes, with a large variety of characters, settings and social diversity in this year’s entries’.

The association expects to announce the winners in approximately one month. 

NED KELLY AWARDS 2021 SHORTLISTS

The Australian Crime Writers Association (ACWA) announced the shortlist for the 2021 Ned Kelly Awards. Congratulations to all!

Best Crime Fiction

• Consolation (Garry Disher, Text)
• Gathering Dark (Candice Fox, Penguin)
• A Testament of Character (Sulari Gentill, Pantera)
• The Survivors (Jane Harper, Pan)
• The Good Turn (Dervla McTiernan, HarperCollins)
• Tell Me Lies (J P Pomare, Hachette)
• When She Was Good (Michael Robotham, Hachette)
• White Throat (Sarah Thornton, Text)

Best Debut Crime Fiction

• The Good Mother (Rae Cairns, Bandrui Publishing)
• The Second Son (Lorraine Peck, Text)
• The Bluffs (Kyle Perry, PRH)
• The Night Whistler (Greg Woodlands, Text)

Best True Crime

• The Husband Poisoner (Tanya Bretherton, Hachette)
• Stalking Claremont: Inside the hunt for a serial killer (Bret Christian, HarperCollins)
• Public Enemies (Mark Dapin, A&U)
• Hazelwood (Tom Doig, Viking)
• Witness (Louise Milligan, Hachette)

 Best International Cime Fiction

• The Guest List  (Lucy Foley, HarperCollins)
• The Secrets of Strangers (Charity Norman, A&U)
• Take Me Apart (Sara Sligar, Text)
• We Begin at the End (Chris Whittaker, A&U)
• Broken (Don Winslow, HarperCollins).

Established in 1995, the Ned Kelly Awards are Australia’s oldest, most prestigious awards honoring crime fiction and true crime writing.

For more information about the 2021 shortlists, go to the ACWA website.

2020 NED KELLY AWARDS: Australian Crime Writers Association

The Australian Crime Writers Association announced the winners of the 2020 Ned Kelly Awards, aka the Neddies.

Best Crime Fiction:
The Wife and the Widow, by Christian White (Affirm Press)

Also nominated: Death of a Typographer, by Nick Gadd (Australian Scholarly Publishing); The Strangers We Know, by Pip Drysdale (Simon & Schuster); The Scholar, by Dervla McTiernan (Harlequin); Rivers of Salt, by Dave Warner (Fremantle Press); and True West, by David Whish-Wilson (Fremantle Press)

Best Debut Crime Fiction:
Present Tense, by Natalie Conyer (Clan Destine Press)

Also nominated: Eight Lives, by Susan Hurley (Affirm Press); Where the Truth Lies, by Karina Kilmore (Simon & Schuster); The Nancys, by R.W.R. McDonald (Allen & Unwin); Six Minutes, by Petronella McGovern (Allen & Unwin); and Lapse, by Sarah Thornton (Text)

Best True Crime:
Bowraville, by Dan Box (Penguin Random House)

Also nominated: Dead Man Walking: The Murky World of Michael McGurk and Ron Medich, by Kate McClymont (Penguin Random House); Shark Arm, by Phillip Rooper and Kevin Meagher (Allen & Unwin); and Snakes and Ladders, by Angela Williams (Affirm Press)

Best International Crime Fiction:
The Chain, by Adrian McKinty (Hachette)

Also nominated: Cruel Acts, by Jane Casey (HarperCollins); The Night Fire, by Michael Connelly (Allen & Unwin); and The Last Widow, by Karin Slaughter (HarperCollins)

HT: The Gumshoe Site and The Rapsheet

NED KELLY AWARDS: Australian Crime Writers Association

The Australian Crime Writers Association announced the winners for the 2019 Ned Kelly Awards.

2019 Best Fiction
The Lost Man by Jane Harper

2019 Best True Crime
Eggshell Skull by Bri Lee

2019 Best First Fiction
The Ruin by Dervla McTiernan

2019 Ned Kelly Award Winners

The Australian Crime Writers Association announced the winners of the 2019 Ned Kelly Awards.

Longlist: 2019 Best Fiction

The Rip by Mark Brandi
Kill Shot by Garry Disher
Gone by Midnight by Candice Fox
The Spotted Dog by Kerry Greenwood
Scrublands by Chris Hammer
The Lost Man by Jane Harper
The Other Wife by Michael Robotham
Preservation by Jock Serong
Under Your Wings by Tiffany Tsao
Live and Let Fry by Sue Williams

Longlist: 2019 Best True Crime

Trace by Rachael Brown
The Arsonist by Chloe Hooper
Eggshell Skull by Bri Lee
Southern Justice by Colin McLaren
Siege by Deborah Snow
The Prisoner by Kerry Tucker with Craig Henderson
The Court Reporter by Jamelle Wells
Waiting for Elijah by Kate Wild

Longlist: 2019 Best First Fiction

Half Moon Lake by Kirsten Alexander
The Practice Baby by L.M. Ardor
The Portrait of Molly Dean by Katherine Kovacic
The Yellow House by Emily O'Grady
Lonely Girl by Lynne Vincent McCarthy
The Ruin by Dervla McTiernan
Call Me Evie by J.P. Pomare
Greenlight by Benjamin Stevenson
The Nowhere Child by Christian White

2018 NED KELLY AWARDS

The Australian Crime Writers Association announced the winners of the 2018 Ned Kelly Awards at the Melbourne Writers Festival.

2018 Ned Kelly Awards

Best Crime

• Crossing the Lines by Sulari Gentill

Best First Crime

• The Dark Lake by Sarah Bailey

Best True Crime

• Unmaking A Murder: The Mysterious Death of Anna Jane Cheney by Graham Archer

Ned Kelly Awards

The Australian Crime Writers Association announced the winners of the 2017 Ned Kelly Awards, in three categories.

Best Fiction:

• Police at the Station and They Don’t Look Friendly, by Adrian
McKinty (Serpent’s Tail)

Best First Fiction:

• The Dry, by Jane Harper (Pan)

True Crime:

• Getting Away with Murder, by Duncan McNab (Vintage)

HT: The Rap Sheet

Ned Kelly Awards Shortlist

The Australian Crime Writers Association announced its shortlist for the 2017 Ned Kelly Awards, in three categories.

Best Fiction:

• An Isolated Incident, by Emily Maquire (Picador)

• Crimson Lake, by Candice Fox (Bantam)

• Out of the Ice, by Ann Turner (Simon & Schuster)

• Police at the Station and They Don’t Look Friendly, by Adrian
McKinty (Serpent’s Tail)

• The Golden Child, by Wendy James (Commercial Women’s Fiction)

• The Rules of Backyard Cricket, by Jock Serong (Text)

Best First Fiction:

• Burn Patterns, by Ron Elliott (Fremantle Press)

• Goodwood, by Holly Throsby (Allen & Unwin)

• Only Daughter, by Anna Snoekstra (Harlequin)

• Something for Nothing, by Andy Muir (Affirm Press)

• The Dry, by Jane Harper (Pan)

• The Love of a Bad Man, by Laura Elizabeth Woollett (Scribe)

True Crime:

• Code of Silence, by Colin Dillon with Tom Gilling (Allen & Unwin)

• Denny Day, by Terry Smyth (Ebury)

• Getting Away with Murder, by Duncan McNab (Vintage)

• Murder at Myall Creek, by Mark Tedeschi (Simon & Schuster)

• The Drowned Man, by Brendan James Murray (Echo)

Winners will be announced on September 1 during the annual Ned Kelly Awards Presentation in Melbourne.

HT: The Rap Sheet

The Ned Kelly Awards: Australian Crime Writers Association

The Ned Kelly Awards, given by the Australian Crime Writers Association.

Best Fiction:
Before It Breaks by Dave Warner

Best First Fiction
Resurrection Bay by Emma Viskic

Best True Crime
Certain Admissions by Gideon Haigh

S.D. Harvey Award for Short Stories:
“Flesh,” by Roni O’Brien

Lifetime Achievement: Carmel Shute

For the entire list of nominated books and stories, go HERE.

HT: TheRapSheet

Ned Kelly Awards Shortlist: Australian Crime Writers Association

The Ned Kelly Awards Shortlist was announced at the Melbourne Writers Festival yesterday. The Ned Kelly Awards are given by the Australian Crime Writers Association.

Best Fiction:
Ash Island by Barry Maitland
Before It Breaks by Dave Warner
Fall by Candice Fox
R&R by Mark Dapin
Rain Dogs by Adrian McKinty
The Heat by Garry Disher

Best First Fiction
Amplify-A Billy Lime Thriller by Mark Hollands
Four Days by Iain Ryan
Good Money by J.M. Green
Please Don't Leave Me Here by Tania Chandler
Resurrection Bay by Emma Viskic
Skin Deep by Gary Kemble

True Crime
A Murder Without Motive by Martin McKenzie-Murray
Certain Admissions by Gideon Haigh
Kidnapped by Mark Tedeschi
Killing Love by Rebecca Poulson
The Sting by Kate Kyriacou

2015 Ned Kelly Awards

The Ned Kelly Award Winners were announced at the Melbourne Writers Festival last weekend. The Ned Kelly Awards are given by the Australian Crime Writers Association.

Best Crime Novel: Eden, by Candice Fox (Transworld)

Also nominated: Sweet One, by Peter Docker (Fremantle Press); A Murder Unmentioned, by Sulari Gentill (Pantera Press); Crucifixion Creek, by Barry Maitland (Text); Gun Street Girl, by Adrian McKinty (Profile); and Present Darkness, by Malla Nunn (Atria)

Best First Crime Novel: Quota, by Jock Serong (Text)

Also nominated: King of the Road, by Nigel Bartlett (Random House); What Came Before, by Anna George (Penguin); and Chasing the Ace, by Nicholas J. Johnson (Simon & Schuster)

Best True Crime: This House of Grief: The Story of a Murder Trial, by Helen Garner (Text)

Also nominated: The Fall, by Amy Dale (Random House); The Family Court Murders, by Debi Marshall (Random House); He Who Must Be Obeid, by Kate McClymont and Linton Besser (Random House); The Murder of Allison Baden-Clay, by David Murray (Random House); and The Feel-Good Hit of the Year, by Liam Pieper (Hamish Hamilton)

S.D. Harvey Short Story (with Kill Your Own Darlings): “Short Term People,” by Andrea Gillum

Also nominated: “A Watched Pot,” by Aoife Clifford; “Prisoner's Dilemma,” by Stephen Gray; “Sweetie,” by Grace Heyer; “Daddy Played the Trumpet,” by Adriane Howell; and “Roux’s Sister,” by Darcy-Lee Tindale

Lifetime Achievement Award was given to Peter Lawrence

HT: The Rap Sheet

NED KELLY AWARDS SHORTLIST

The Australian Crime Writers Association announced the Ned Kelly Awards Shortlist

Best Fiction

A Murder Unmentioned by Sulari Gentill

Crucifixion Creek by Barry Maitland

Eden by Candice Fox

Gun Street Girl by Adrian McKinty 

Present Darkness by Malla Nunn   

Sweet One by Peter Docker 

Best First Fiction

Chasing the Ace by Nicholas J Johnson

King of the Road by Nigel Bartlett

Quota by Jock Serong

What Came Before by Anna George

True Crime

He Who Must Be Obeid by Kate McClymont & Linton Besser

The Fall by Amy Dale

The Family Court Murders by Debi Marshall

The Feel-Good Hit of the Year: A Memoir by Liam Pieper 

The Murder of Allison Baden-Clay by David Murray

This House of Grief: The Story of a Murder Trial by Helen Garner

S. D. Harvey Short Story Award

A Watched Pot by Aoife Clifford

Daddy Played the Trumpet by Adriane Howell

Prisoner's Dilemma by Stephen Gray

Roux's Sister by Darcy-Lee Tindale

Short Term People by Andrea Gillum

Sweetie by Grace Heyer