The
2019
Arthur Ellis Awards Shortlists for Excellence in Canadian Crime Writing were
released on April 18. Presented by Crime Writers of Canada, the
awards recognize the best in mystery, crime, and suspense fiction and
crime nonfiction by Canadian authors. Winners will be announced at a ceremony
in Toronto on May 23.
The Arthur Ellis Awards are not named
after a writer, but after the official pseudonym of Canada’s hangman and the
trophy is a jumping jack type wood figure on a gallows, which must certainly be
one of the more disturbing award trophies out there.
BEST
CRIME NOVEL
- Cape
Diamond by
Ron Corbett, ECW Press,
- Though
the Heavens Fall by
Anne Emery ECW Press
- The
Winters by
Lisa Gabriele, Doubleday Canada
- Kingdom
of the Blind by
Louise Penny, Minotaur Books
- The
Girl in the Moss by
Loreth Anne White, Montlake Romance
BEST
FIRST CRIME NOVEL (Sponsored by Rakuten Kobo)
- Cobra
Clutch by
A.J. Devlin NeWest Press
- Operation
Wormwood by
Helen C. Escott, Flanker Press,
- Full
Disclosure by
Beverley McLachlin, Simon & Schuster Canada
- Why
Was Rachel Murdered? By
Bill Prentice, Echo Road,
- Find
You in the Dark by
Nathan Ripley, Simon & Schuster Canada
BEST
CRIME NOVELLA – The Lou Allin Memorial Award,
- The
B-Team: The Case of the Angry First Wife, by Melodie Campbell Orca Book Publishers
- Blue
Water Hues by
Vicki Delany Orca Book Publishers
- Murder
Among the Pines by
John Lawrence Reynolds Orca Book Publishers
BEST
CRIME SHORT STORY (Sponsored by Mystery Weekly Magazine)
- A
Ship Called Pandora by
Melodie Campbell, Mystery Weekly Magazine
- The
Power Man, Baby It’s Cold Outside by Therese Greenwood Coffin Hop Press
- Game
by Twist
Phelan Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine
- Terminal
City by
Linda L. Richards, Vancouver Noir, Akashic Books,
- Wonderful
Life by
Sam Wiebe, Vancouver Noir, Akashic Books
BEST
CRIME BOOK IN FRENCH
- Un
dernier baiser avant de te tuer, by Jean-Philippe Bernié, Libre Expression
- Adolphus
– Une enquête de Joseph Laflamme, by Hervé Gagnon Libre Expression
- Ces
femmes aux yeux cernés by
André Jacques, Éditions Druide
- Deux
coups de pied de trop,
by Guillaume Morissette , Guy Saint-Jean Éditeur
- Rinzen
la beauté intérieure,
by Johanne Seymour, Expression noir
BEST
JUVENILE/YOUNG ADULT CRIME BOOK
- Escape by Linwood Barclay, Puffin
Canada
- The
House of One Thousand Eyes by
Michelle Barker, Annick Press
- Call
of the Wraith by
Kevin Sands, Aladdin
- The
Ruinous Sweep by
Tim Wynne-Jones, Candlewick Press
- The
Rumrunner’s Boy by
E.R. Yatscoff, TG & R Books
BEST
NONFICTION CRIME BOOK
- Dying
for a Drink: How a Prohibition Preacher Got Away With Murder by Patrick Brode,
Biblioasis
- The
King of Con: How a Smooth-Talking Jersey Boy Made and Lost Billions, Baffled
the FBI, Eluded the Mob, and Lived to Tell the Crooked Tale by Thomas Giacomaro and
Natasha Stoynoff, BenBella Books, Inc,
- The
Boy on the Bicycle: A Forgotten Case of Wrongful Conviction in Toronto by Nate Hendley, Five Rivers
Publishing
- Murder
by Milkshake: An Astonishing True Story of Adultery, Arsenic, and a Charismatic
Killer by
Eve Lazarus, Arsenal Pulp Press,
- The
Real Lolita: The Kidnapping of Sally Horner and the Novel that Scandalized the
World by
Sarah Weinman, Alfred A. Knopf Canada
BEST
UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPT – aka The Unhanged Arthur (Sponsored by
Dundurn Press)
- Hypnotizing
Lions by
Jim Bottomley,
- Omand’s
Creek by
Don Macdonald
- The
Scarlet Cross by
Liv McFarlane
- One
for the Raven Darrow Woods, The Book of Answers by Heather McLeod,
Derrick
Murdoch Award
The
2019 Derrick Murdoch Award recipient is Vicki Delany. The Derrick
Murdoch Award is a special achievement award for contributions to the
crime genre.
[Thanks to
Cora Buhlert for the story.]