The Crime Writers of Canada have announced the 2024 winners of their annual Awards of Excellence.
THE PETER ROBINSON AWARD FOR BEST CRIME NOVEL
sponsored by Rakuten Kobo, with a $1000 prize
Loreth Anne White, The Maid’s Diary, Montlake
BEST CRIME FIRST NOVEL
sponsored by Melodie Campbell, with a $1000 prize
Amanda Peters, The Berry Pickers, Harper Perennial
THE HOWARD ENGEL AWARD FOR BEST CRIME NOVEL SET IN CANADA
sponsored by Charlotte Engel and Crime Writers of Canada, with a $500 prize
Joan Thomas, Wild Hope, Harper Perennial/HarperCollins
THE WHODUNIT AWARD FOR BEST TRADITIONAL MYSTERY
sponsored by Jane Doe, with a $500 prize
Nita Prose, The Mystery Guest, Viking
BEST CRIME SHORT STORY
Marcelle Dubé, Reversion, Mystery Magazine
THE BEST FRENCH LANGUAGE CRIME BOOK (FICTION AND NONFICTION)
André Marois, La sainte paix, Héliotrope
BEST JUVENILE/YA CRIME BOOK
sponsored by Shaftesbury Films with a $500 prize (Fiction and Nonfiction)
Cherie Dimaline, Funeral Songs for Dying Girls, Tundra Books
THE BRASS KNUCKLES AWARD FOR BEST NONFICTION CRIME BOOK
sponsored by David Reid Simpson Law Firm (Hamilton), with a $300 prize
Michael Lista, The Human Scale, Véhicule Press
BEST UNPUBLISHED CRIME NOVEL MANUSCRIPT WRITTEN BY AN UNPUBLISHED AUTHOR
Craig H. Bowlsby, Requiem for a Lotus
2024 GRAND MASTER AWARD
Maureen Jennings
Established in 2014, the Grand Master (GM) Award recognizes a Canadian crime writer with a substantial body of work that has garnered national and international recognition.
Maureen Jennings, a long-time Crime Writers of Canada member, is a prolific author of non-fiction, short stories and book series featuring Christine Morris, Detective Murdoch, and D.I. Tom Tyler. The Detective William Murdoch television series, set in Victorian era Toronto, was optioned in 2003 by Shaftesbury Films. Murdoch Mysteries are shown in over 120 countries and feature innovative crime-solving techniques, social justice subplots and surprise guest appearances.
Mary Keenan The Canadians (Killin’ Time in San Diego), Down & Out Books
donalee Moulton, Troubled Water, Black Cat Weekly (Wildside Press)
Zandra Renwick, American Night, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine
The Best French Language Crime Book (Fiction and Nonfiction)
Jean-Philippe Bernié, La punition, Glénat Québec
Chrystine Brouillet,Le mois des morts, Éditions Druide
Catherine Lafrance, Le dernier souffle est le plus lourd, Éditions Druide
André Marois, La sainte paix, Héliotrope
Jean-Jacques Pelletier, Rien, Alire
Best Juvenile/YA Crime Book
sponsored by Shaftesbury Films with a $500 prize (Fiction and Nonfiction)
Kelley Armstrong, Someone is Always Watching, Tundra Books
Cherie Dimaline, Funeral Songs for Dying Girls, Tundra Books
Rachelle Delaney, The Big Sting, Tundra Books
Clara Kumagai, Catfish Rolling, Penguin Teen Canada
Kevin Sands, Champions of the Fox, Puffin Canada
The Brass Knuckles Award for Best Nonfiction Crime Book
sponsored by David Reid Simpson Law Firm (Hamilton), with a $300 prize
Josef Lewkowicz and Michael Calvin, The Survivor: How I Survived Six Concentration Camps and Became a Nazi Hunter, HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
Michael Lista, The Human Scale, Véhicule Press
David Rabinovitch, Jukebox Empire, Rowman & Littlefield
Bill Waiser and Jennie Hansen, Cheated, ECW Press
Carolyn Whitzman, Clara at the Door with a Revolver, UBC Press, On Point Press
Best Unpublished Crime Novel manuscript written by an unpublished author
Tom Blackwell, The Patient
Craig H. Bowlsby, Requiem for a Lotus
Sheilla Jones and James Burns, Murder on Richmond Road: An Enquiry Bureau Mystery
Nora Sellers, The Forest Beyond
William Wodhams, Thirty Feet Under
2024 Grand Master Award
Maureen Jennings
Established in 2014, the Grand Master (GM) Award recognizes a Canadian crime writer with a substantial body of work that has garnered national and international recognition.
Maureen Jennings, a long-time Crime Writers of Canada member, is a prolific author of non-fiction, short stories and book series featuring Christine Morris, Detective Murdoch, and D.I. Tom Tyler. The Detective William Murdoch television series, set in Victorian era Toronto, was optioned in 2003 by Shaftesbury Films. Murdoch Mysteries are shown in over 120 countries and feature innovative crime-solving techniques, social justice subplots and surprise guest appearances.
SPOTTED OWL
Friends of Mystery logo
The winner of the 2024 Spotted Owl Award was announced on March 28 by the Friends of Mystery. The award is for a mystery published during the previous calendar year by an author whose primary residence is Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho or the Province of British Columbia. The winner is:
Breakneck by Marc Cameron
The runners-up were:
2. Dana Stabenow for Not the Ones Dead 3. Dana Haynes for The Saint of Thieves 4. Sam Wiebe for Sunset and Jericho 5. Jon Talton for The Nurse Murders 6. James Bryne for Deadlock 7. Haris Orkin for License to Die 8. Frank Zafiro for Hope Dies Last 9 (tie). Orlando Davidson for Baseline Road and J.A. Jance for Collateral Damage
PINCKLEY PRIZES
The winners of the 2022 and 2023 Pinckley Prizes for Crime Fiction, awarded by the Women’s National Book Association of New Orleans, honor three women writers. The winners receive a financial award of $2,500. This year the prize winners Douaihy and Rothchild participated at the 2024 Tennessee Williams Literary Festival.
2022 Pinckley Prize for Debut Fiction
Sascha Rothchild for Blood Sugar
2023 Pinckley Prize for Debut Fiction
Margot Douaihy for Scorched Grace
2023 Pinckley Prize for Distinguished Body of Work
The Crime Writers of Canada have announced the winners of their annual Awards of Excellence.
BEST CRIME NOVEL sponsored by Rakuten Kobo, with a $1000 prize
Anthony Bidulka,Going to Beautiful, Stonehouse Publishing
BEST CRIME FIRST NOVEL sponsored by Melodie Campbell, with a $1000 prize
Sam Shelstad, Citizens of Light, TouchWood Editions
THE HOWARD ENGEL AWARD FOR BEST CRIME NOVEL SET IN CANADA sponsored by Charlotte Engel and CWC, with a $500 prize
Joanne Jackson, A Snake in the Raspberry Patch, Stonehouse Publishing
THE WHODUNIT AWARD FOR BEST TRADITIONAL MYSTERY sponsored by Jane Doe, with a $500 prize
Thomas King, Deep House, HarperCollins Canada
BEST CRIME NOVELLA sponsored by Mystery Magazine, with a $200 prize
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
BEST FRENCH CRIME BOOK (FICTION AND NONFICTION)
Richard Ste-Marie, Monsieur Hämmerli, Éditions Alire
BEST JUVENILE OR YA CRIME BOOK (FICTION AND NONFICTION)
sponsored by Shaftesbury, with a $500 prize
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
Rosemary Sullivan, The Betrayal of Anne Frank: A Cold Case Investigation, HarperCollins Canada
THE AWARD FOR BEST UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPT sponsored by ECW Press, with a $500 prize
Mary Keenan, Snowed
SPOTTED OWL
The winner of the 2023 Spotted Owl Award was announced on May 8. The award is for a mystery published during the previous calendar year by an author whose primary residence is Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho or the Province of British Columbia. The winner is:
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
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.
