Sisters in Crime Australia has announced the shortlists for the 2022 Davitt Awards for best crime books by Australian women.

The winners will be announced in Melbourne on August 27.

The shortlisted titles are:

ADULT CRIME NOVEL                

• Unforgiven (Sarah Barrie, HQ Fiction)
• Before You Knew My Name (Jacqueline Bublitz, A&U)
• You Had It Coming (B M Carroll, Profile Books)
• All That I Remember About Dean Cola (Tania Chandler, Scribe)
• Bodies of Light (Jennifer Down, Text)
• Shelter (Catherine Jinks, Text)
• The Beautiful Words (Vanessa McCausland, HarperCollins)
• Once There Were Wolves (Charlotte McConaghy, Hamish Hamilton)
• The Family Doctor (Debra Oswald, A&U)
• The Second Son (Loraine Peck, Text)
• The Silent Listener (Lyn Yeowart, Viking)

YOUNG ADULT CRIME NOVEL

• The Gaps (Leanne Hall, Text)
• Dirt Circus League (Maree Kimberley, Text)
• Sugar Town Queens (Malla Nunn, A&U Children’s)
• House of Hollow (Krystal Sutherland, Penguin)

CHILDREN’S CRIME NOVEL

• Night Ride into Danger (Jackie French, HarperCollins)
• The Detective’s Guide to Ocean Travel (Nicki Greenberg, Affirm)
• Ella at Eden #6: The London thief (Laura Sieveking, Scholastic)

NONFICTION CRIME BOOK

• Empowering Women: From murder and misogyny to High Court victory (Susie Allanson with Lizzie O’Shea, Wilkinson Publishing)
• Larrimah: A missing man, an eyeless croc and an outback town of 11 people who mostly hate each other (Caroline Graham & Kylie Stevenson, A&U)
• The Winter Road: A story of legacy, land and a killing at Croppa Creek (Kate Holden, Black Inc.)
• Banquet: The untold story of Adelaide’s family murders (Debi Marshall, Vintage)

DEBUT CRIME BOOKS

• Before You Knew My Name (Jacqueline Bublitz, A&U)
• Shadow Over Edmund Street (Suzanne Frankham, Journey to Words)
• Larrimah: A missing man, an eyeless croc and an outback town of 11 people who mostly hate each other (Caroline Graham & Kylie Stevenson, A&U)
• The Waterhole (Lily Malone, Lily Malone Publishing)
• Unsheltered (Clare Moleta, S&S)
• The Family Doctor (Debra Oswald, A&U)
• The Second Son (Loraine Peck, Text)
• Shiver (Allie Reynolds, Hachette)
• Crime Writer (Dime Sheppard, Ruby Books)
• House of Hollow (Krystal Sutherland, Penguin)
• The Silent Listener (Lyn Yeowart, Viking)

The Davitts are named after Ellen Davitt, the author of Australia’s first mystery novel, Force and Fraud, in 1865.

[Thanks to Cora Buhlert for the story.]