PETRONA AWARD

The winner of the 2021 Petrona Award for the Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year is:

• To Cook A Bear by Mikael Niemi, translated from the Swedish by Deborah Bragan-Turner (MacLehose Press)

The author Mikael Niemi receives a trophy and a pass to and a guaranteed panel at CrimeFest 2022. Mikael Niemi and Deborah Bragan-Turner will also receive a cash prize.

CRIME FICTION LOVER AWARDS 2021

The inaugural Crime Fiction Lover Awards shortlists was selected by Crime Fiction Lover readers. Anybody can vote for the winners here. The deadline to vote is December 1.

Best Crime Novel 0f 2021 shortlist

• The Dark Remains by Ian Rankin and William McIlvanney
• Razorblade Tears by SA Cosby
• The Devil’s Advocate by Steve Cavanagh
• I Know What I Saw by Imran Mahmood
• True Crime Story by Joseph Knox
• The Night Hawks by Elly Griffiths
• 1979 by Val McDermid

Best Debut Crime Novel of 2021 shortlist

• The Source by Sarah Sultoon
• Black Drop by Leonora Nattrass
• Edge of the Grave by Robbie Morrison
• The Waiter by Ajay Chowdhury
• Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden
• Burying the Newspaper Man by Curtis Ippolito

Best Crime Novel in Translation of 2021 shortlist

• Hotel Cartagena by Simone Buchholz, translated by Rachel Ward
• Bullet Train by Kotaro Isaka, translated by Sam Malissa
• The Rabbit Factor by Antti Tuomainen, translated by David Hackston
• Riccardino by Andrea Camilleri, translated by Stephen Sartarelli
• The Girl Who Died by Ragnar Jonasson, translated by Victoria Cribb
• Cold As Hell by Lilja Sigurdardottir, translated by Quentin Bates
• Little Rebel by Jerome Leroy, translated by Graham H Roberts

Best Indie Crime Novel of 2021 shortlist

• Strangers of Braamfontein by Onyeka Nwelue
• Black Reed Bay by Rod Reynolds
• Evaders by EC Scullion
• Little Lies by Valerie Keogh
• The Butcher’s Prayer by Anthony Neil Smith
• The Quiet People by Paul Cleave
• The Corpse with the Iron Will by Cathy Ace

Best Crime Show of 2021 shortlist

• Bosch
• Line of Duty
• Mare of Easttown
• Paris Police 1900
• Time
• Endeavour

Crime Author of the Year of 2021 shortlist

• Ian Rankin
• MW Craven
• Ann Cleeves
• Elly Griffiths
• William Shaw
• SA Cosby

LITTLE, BROWN UEA CRIME PRIZE

The winner of the 2021 Little, Brown UEA Crime Prize has been announced: 

• Hannah Brown has won the 2021 Little, Brown UEA Crime Fiction Award for her historical suspense novel My Name Is Emma. 

The award is for the best novel by a graduating student, with the winner receiving £3,000.  

Judges also awarded a highly commended prize to Duality – a Russian in Osaka by Denise Kuehl, a Japanese-set procedural with near-future touches.  

AL BLANCHARD AWARD

The winner of the 2021 Al Blanchard Award, a short mystery prize handed out at a con called the New England Crime Bake, has been announced.

• “Herb Ecks Goes Underground” by Joseph S. Walker

The award is for a previously unpublished short crime story by a New England author or with a New England setting if the author is not from New England.

The winner receives a $100 cash award, publication in 2021’s Best New England Crime Stories anthology, free admission to the Crime Bake Conference, and a plaque.

2022 JOYCE CAROL OATES PRIZE LONGLIST

The 2022 Joyce Carol Oates Prize Longlist honoring mid-career authors in fiction has been announced. It includes several crime and mystery novels as well as a few that appear to be SFF:

LONGLISTED AUTHORS: 2022 JOYCE CAROL OATES PRIZE AND THEIR MOST RECENT TITLES:

• Megan Abbott, The Turnout, Putnam
• Kristen Arnett, With Teeth, Riverhead
• Christopher Beha, The Index of Self-destructive Acts, Tin House
• Matt Bell, Appleseed, Custom House
• Venita Blackburn, How to Wrestle a Girl, MCD
• Amina Cain, Indelicacy, FSG
• Dan Chaon, Sleepwalk, Henry Holt
• Joshua Cohen, The Netanyahus, New York Review Books
• Lucy Corin, The Swank Hotel, Graywolf
• Katie Crouch, Embassy Wife, FSG
• Louis Edwards, Ramadan Ramsey, Amistad
• Percival Everett, The Trees, Graywolf
• Jonathan Evison, Legends of the North Cascades, Algonquin
• Rivka Galchen, Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch, FSG
• Kaitlyn Greenidge, Libertie, Algonquin
• Lauren Groff, Matrix, Riverhead
• Joshua Henken, Morningside Heights, Pantheon
• Caitlin Horrocks, Life among the Terranauts, Little, Brown
• Jessica Francis Kane, Rules for Visiting, Penguin Press
• Katie Kitamura, Intimacies, Riverhead
• Alexandra Kleeman, Something New Under the Sun, Hogarth
• Shelia Kohler, Open Secrets, Penguin
• Jean Hanff Korelitz, The Plot; Celadon
• Zachary Lazar: Vengeance, Catapult
• Jonathan Lethem, The Arrest, Ecco
• Atticus Lish, The War for Gloria, Knopf
• Jason Mott, Hell of a Book, Dutton
• Ruth Ozeki, The Book of Form and Emptiness, Viking
• Kathleen Rooney, Cher Ami and Major Whittlesey, Penguin
• Maggie Shipstead, Great Circle, Knopf
• Joan Silber, Secrets of Happiness, Counterpoint
• Dana Spiotta, Wayward, Knopf
• Brandon Taylor, Filthy Animals, Riverhead
• Laura van den Berg, I Hold a Wolf by the Ears, FSG
• Vendela Vida, We Run the Tides, Ecco
• Bryan Washington, Memorial, Riverhead
• Tiphanie Yanique, Monster in the Middle, Riverhead

Finalists are expected to be named in early March 2022, followed by a Winner named in April 2022. Recipients will participate in virtual or non-virtual events. The Prize Winner receives $50,000 and will be in brief residence at Cal and in the Bay Area at a time to be determined in 2022–23.

[Thanks to Cora Buhlert for the stories.]