Stealing Up on the Latest Crime Fiction Awards

From Japan, the UK and Australia comes news of three crime fiction awards.

2023 MALTESE FALCON AWARD

 S. J. Rozan has won the 2023 Falcon Award for Paper Son. 

The award is given by the Maltese Falcon Society of Japan for the best hardboiled/private eye novel published in Japan in the previous year.

The winning author receives a certificate of merit and a falcon sculpture crafted in wood.

The Maltese Falcon Society was founded in San Francisco in 1981, and later added chapters in New York and Japan. The Japanese chapter is the last one still active, and holds meetings in Tokyo and Osaka.

2023 FINGERPRINT AWARDS

Capital Crime, a crime fiction con in London, has announced the finalists for The Fingerprint Awards 2022. The public can vote for the winners at the link.  The winners will be announced August 31.

CRIME BOOK OF THE YEAR 2022

  • The Botanist by M W Craven
  • The It Girl by Ruth Ware
  • Bleeding Heart Yard by Elly Griffiths
  • The Family Remains by Lisa Jewell 
  • The Twist of a Knife by Anthony Horowitz

THRILLER BOOK OF THE YEAR 2022

  • Like a Sister by Kellye Garrett
  • Do No Harm by Jack Jordan
  • Truly Darkly Deeply by Victoria Selman
  • Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister
  • A Good Day to Die by Amen Alonge 

HISTORICAL BOOK OF THE YEAR 2022

  • The Lost Man of Bombay by Vaseem Khan
  • The Clockwork Girl by Anna Mazzola
  • A Fatal Crossing by Tom Hindle
  • Miss Aldridge Regrets by Louise Hare
  • Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson

GENRE-BUSTING BOOK OF THE YEAR 2022

  • The House of Ashes by Stuart Neville
  • The Skeleton Key by Erin Kelly
  • The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd
  • Wild and Wicked Things by Francesca May
  • Suicide Thursday by Will Carver

DEBUT BOOK OF THE YEAR 2022

  • The Maid by Nita Prose
  • Wahala by Nikki May
  • That Green-Eyed Girl by Julie Owen-Moylan
  • A Fatal Crossing by Tom Hindle 
  • Death and the Conjuror by Tom Mead 

AUDIO BOOK OF THE YEAR 2022

  • Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith; narrated by Robert Glenister
  • The Skeleton Key by Erin Kelly; narrated by Helen Keeley
  • One Last Secret by Adele Parks; narrated by Kristin Atherton
  • The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett; narrated by Thomas Judd
  • Better the Blood by Michael Bennett; narrated by Miriama McDowell and Richard Te Are

2023 DAVITT AWARDS

Sisters in Crime Australia have announced the 2023 Davitt Awards longlist. The award is given for the best crime and mystery books published by women in 2022..

ADULT NOVELS

  • N D Campbell, Daughters of Eve (Allen & Unwin) Debut
  • Jane Caro, The Mother (Allen & Unwin) Debut
  • Lucy Christopher, Release (Text Publishing)
  • Aoife Clifford, When We Fall (Ultimo Press)
  • Maryrose Cuskelly, The Cane (Allen & Unwin) Debut
  • Kerry Greenwood, Murder in Williamstown (Allen & Unwin)
  • Margaret Hickey, Stone Town (Penguin Random House Australia)
  • Julie Janson, Madukka the River Serpent (UWA Publishing)
  • Tracey Lien, All That’s Left Unsaid (HQ Fiction) Debut
  • Fleur McDonald, Broad River Station (Allen & Unwin)
  • Dinuka McKenzie, The Torrent (HarperCollins Publishing Australia) Debut
  • Dervla McTiernan, The Murder Rule (HarperCollins Publishing Australia)
  • Mercedes Mercier, White Noise (HarperCollins Publishing Australia) Debut
  • Vikki Petraitis, The Unbelieved (Allen & Unwin) Debut
  • Sally Piper, Bone Memories (University of Queensland Press)
  • Hayley Scrivenor, Dirt Town (Pan Macmillan Australia) Debut
  • Emma Styles, No Country for Girls (Sphere, an imprint of Hachette Australia) Debut
  • Susan White, Cut (Affirm Press)

YOUNG ADULT NOVELS

  • Louise Bassett, The Hidden Girl (Walker Books) Debut
  • Sarah Epstein, Night Lights (Fourteen Press)
  • Ellie Marney, The Killing Code (Allen & Unwin)

CHILDREN’S NOVELS

  • Deborah Abela, The Book of Wondrous Possibilities (Puffin, an imprint of Penguin Random House Australia)
  • Charlie Archbold, The Sugarcane Kids and the Red-bottomed Boat (Text Publishing)
  • Fleur Ferris, Seven Days (Penguin Random House Australia)
  • Emily Gale, The Goodbye Year (Text Publishing)
  • Nicki Greenberg, The Detective’s Guide to New York City (Affirm Press)
  • Lian Tanner, Rita’s Revenge (Allen & Unwin)
  • Sue Whiting, Pearly and Pig and the Great Hairy Beast (Walker Books)

NON-FICTION

  • Wendy Davis, Don’t Make a Fuss: It’s only the Claremont Serial Killer (Fremantle Press) Debut
  • Meg Foster, Boundary Crossers: The hidden history of Australia’s other bushrangers (NewSouth Books) Debut
  • Ellis Gunn, Rattled (Allen & Unwin) Debut
  • Katrina Marson, Legitimate Sexpectations: The power of sex-ed (Scribe Publications)
  • Megan Norris, Out of the Ashes (Big Sky Publishing)

[Thanks to Cora Buhlert for these stories.]

Crime Fiction Awards Shortlists and Winners

BLOODY SCOTLAND. The shortlist for the Scottish Crime Debut of the Year 2021 has been announced, which is the other award handed out by the Bloody Scotland festival in addition to the McIlvanney Prize: 

  • The Silent Daughter by Emma Christie (Wellbeck)
  • No Harm Done by Alistair Liddle (Self Published)
  • Edge of the Grave by Robbie Morrison (Macmillan)
  • Waking the Tiger by Mark Wightman (Hobeck Books)

MARGERY ALLINGHAM COMPETITION. The winner of the CWA’s 2021 Margery Allingham Short Mystery Competition has been announced as well.

  • Heartbridge Homicides by Camilla Macpherson 

The international competition is open to short stories of up to 3,500 words that have not been previously published anywhere, or shortlisted for this competition.

FALCON AWARD. C. J. Box has won the 2021 Falcon Award for his novel Breaking Point. 

The award is given by the Maltese Falcon Society of Japan for the best hardboiled/private eye novel published in Japan in the previous year.

The winning author receives a certificate of merit and a falcon sculpture crafted in wood.

The Maltese Falcon Society was founded in San Francisco in 1981, and later added chapters in New York and Japan. The Japanese chapter is the last one still active, and holds meetings in Tokyo and Osaka.

[Thanks to Cora Buhlert for the story.]

Mosley Wins 2020 Falcon Award

Walter Mosley

Walter Mosley has won the 2020 Falcon Award for his novel Down the River Unto the Sea. 

The award is given by the Maltese Falcon Society of Japan for the best hardboiled/private eye novel published in Japan in the previous year.

The winning author receives a certificate of merit and a falcon sculpture crafted in wood.

The Maltese Falcon Society was founded in San Francisco in 1981, and later added chapters in New York and Japan. The Japanese chapter is the last one still active, and holds meetings in Tokyo and Osaka.