The Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence 2021 shortlists are out. The winners will be announced on Thursday, May 27.  

BEST CRIME NOVEL

• Marjorie Celona, How a Woman Becomes a Lake, Hamish Hamilton Canada; Penguin Canada
• Cecilia Ekbäck, The Historians, HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
• Will Ferguson, The Finder, Simon & Schuster Canada
• Thomas King, Obsidian, HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
• Roz Nay, Hurry Home, Simon & Schuster Canada

BEST CRIME FIRST NOVEL

• Raye Anderson, And We Shall Have Snow, Signature Editions
• Chris Patrick Carolan, The Nightshade Cabal, Parliament House Press
• Guglielmo D’Izza, The Transaction, Guernica Editions
• Russell Fralich, True Patriots, Dundurn Press
• Emily Hepditch, The Woman in the Attic, Flanker Press

THE HOWARD ENGEL AWARD FOR BEST CRIME NOVEL SET IN CANADA

• Randall Denley, Payback, Ottawa Press and Publishing
• Helen Humphreys, Rabbit Foot Bill, HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
• Ann Lambert, The Dogs of Winter, Second Story Press
• Kevin Major, Two for The Tablelands, Breakwater Books
• Katrina Onstad, Stay Where I Can See You, HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

BEST CRIME NOVELLA

• C.C. Benison, The Unpleasantness at the Battle of Thornford, At Bay Press
• Vicki Delany, Coral Reef Views, Orca Book Publishers
• Winona Kent, Salty Dog Blues, Sisters in Crime – Canada West
• Sam Wiebe, Never Going Back, Orca Book Publishers

BEST CRIME SHORT STORY

• Marcelle Dubé, Cold Wave, Sisters in Crime – Canada West
• Twist Phelan, Used to Be, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine
• Zandra Renwick, Killer Biznez, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine
• Sylvia Maultash Warsh, Days Without Name, Carrick Publishing
• Sarah Weinman, Limited Liability, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine

BEST FRENCH CRIME BOOK (FICTION AND NONFICTION)

• Roxanne Bouchard, La mariée de corail, Libre Expression
• Stéphanie Gauthier, Inacceptable, Éditions Québec Amérique
• Christian Giguère, Le printemps des traîtres, Héliotrope NOIR
• Guy Lalancette, Les cachettes, VLB éditeur
• Jean Lemieux, Les Demoiselles de Havre-Aubert, Éditions Québec Amérique

BEST JUVENILE OR YA CRIME BOOK (FICTION AND NONFICTION)

• Frances Greenslade, Red Fox Road, Puffin Canada, an imprint of Penguin Random House
• Janet Hill, Lucy Crisp and the Vanishing House, Tundra Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House
• Sheena Kamal, Fight Like a Girl, Penguin Teen, an imprint of Penguin Random House
• Kelly Powell, Magic Dark and Strange, Margaret K. McElderry Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Inc.
• Tom Ryan, I Hope You’re Listening, Albert Whitman & Co.

THE BRASS KNUCKLES AWARD FOR BEST NONFICTION CRIME BOOK

• Jeff Blackstock, Murder in the Family: How the Search For My Mother’s Killer Led to My Father, Viking Press
• Norm Boucher, Horseplay: My Time Undercover on the Granville Strip, NeWest Press
• Silver Donald Cameron, Blood in the Water: A True Story of Revenge in the Maritimes, Viking Press
• Justin Ling, Missing From the Village: The Story of Serial Killer Bruce McArthur, the Search for Justice, and the System That FailedToronto’s Queer Community, McClelland & Stewart
• Michael Nest with Deanna Reder and Eric Bell, Cold Case North: The Search for James Brady and Absolom Halkett, University of Regina Press

 THE AWARD FOR BEST UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPT

• The Future by Raymond Bazowski
• Predator and Prey by Dianne Scott
• Notes on Killing your Wife by Mark Thomas
• A Nice Place to Die by Joyce Woollcott
• Cat with a Bone by Susan Jane Wright

RIVERTON PRIZE. The winner of the 2021 Riverton Prize for Best Norwegian Crime Story was announced on April 29.

• Sven Petter Næss for Skjebnesteinen (Fate of Stone / Stone of Destiny)

The Riverton Prize (Norwegian: Rivertonprisen) is a literature award given annually to the best Norwegian crime story (whether a novel, short story, play, or original screenplay). The prize is named after the Norwegian journalist and author Sven Elvestad (1884-1934) who published detective stories under the pen name Stein Riverton.

[Thanks to Cora Buhlert for the story.]