Crime fiction's 'greatest writers' shortlisted for CrimeFest Awards

Crime fiction heavyweights Lee Child and Anthony Horowitz are going head to head at this year’s CrimeFest Gala Awards, with Katherine Woodfine, Fiona Barton and Simon Mayo also competing for gongs.

The shortlist for the six awards have been revealed, ahead of the Crimefest Gala Awards Dinner which will take place in Bristol on 21st May.

Battling it out in the £1,000 Audible Sounds of Crime category for best unabridged crime audiobook published in the UK in 2016 are Rachel Abbott for Kill Me Again, read by Lisa Coleman (Bolinda / Audible), Fiona Barton for The Widow, read by Clare Corbett (Bolinda / Audible), Clare Mackintosh for I See You, read by Rachel Atkins (Sphere), Holly Seddon for Try Not to Breath, read by Jot Davies, Lucy Middleweek & Katy Sobey (Bolinda), Ben Aaronovitch for The Hanging Tree, read by Kobna Holdbrook– Smith (Orion Publishing Group), Lee Child for Night School, read by Jeff Harding (Transworld Digital), Anthony Horowitz for Magpie Murders, read by Allan Corduner & Samantha Bond (Orion Publishing Group) and Peter May for Coffin Road, read by Peter Forbes (Riverrun).

Competing in the “eDunnit” category for the best crime fiction e-book are Linwood Barclay for The Twenty– Three (Orion), Steph Broadribb for Deep Down Dead (Orenda Books), Michael Connelly for The Wrong Side of Goodbye (Orion), Ragnar Jonasson for Blackout (Orenda Books), Laura Lippman for Wilde Lake (Faber & Faber), Ian Rankin for Rather Be the Devil (Orion Publishing Group), Andrew Taylor for The Ashes of London (HarperFiction) and L C. Tyler for Cat Among the Herrings (Allison & Busby).

The Last Laugh gong for the best humorous crime novel is being fought over by Ken Bruen & Jason Starr for Pimp (Hardcase Crime), John Dufresne for I Don't Like Where This Is Going (Serpent's Tail), Judith Flanders for A Cast of Vultures (Allison & Busby), Mick Herron for Real Tigers (John Murray), Carl Hiaasen for Razor Girl (Little, Brown Book Group), Vaseem Khan for The Perplexing Theft of the Jewel in the Crown (Hodder & Stoughton), L.C. Tyler again for Cat Among the Herrings (Allison & Busby) and Chris Whitaker for Tall Oaks (Twenty7).

There are two new awards this year – for Best Crime Novel For Children (aged eight – 12) and for Best Crime Novel for Young Adults (YA), (aged 12-16).

Listed in the former category is Robin Stevens for Murder Most Unladylike: Mistletoe and Murder (Puffin), Katherine Woodfine for The Mystery of the Jewelled Moth (Egmont), Lyn Gardner for Rose Campion and The Stolen Secret (Nosy Crow), Fleur Hitchcock for Murder In Midwinter (Nosy Crow), Gareth P. Jones for The Thornthwaite Betrayal (Piccadilly Press), Tom McLaughlin for The Accidental Secret Agent (Oxford University Press) and Harriet Whitehorn for Violet and the Smugglers (Simon & Schuster).

For the Best Crime YA Novel, Leigh Bardugo is on the shortlist for Crooked Kingdom (Hachette Children's Group), Kerry Drewery for Cell 7 (Hot Key Books), John Grisham for Theodore Boone: The Scandal (Hodder & Stoughton), Erin Lange for Rebel, Bully, Geek, Pariah (Faber & Faber), Patrice Lawrence for Orangeboy (Hachette Children's Group), Simon Mason for Kid Got Shot (David Fickling Books) and Simon Mayo for Blame (Penguin).

Finally, up for the H.R.F. Keating Award for the best biographical or critical book related to crime fiction first published in the British Isles in 2016 are: Mark Aldridge for Agatha Christie on Screen (Palgrave Macmillan), J.C. Berthnal for Queering Agatha Christie (Palgrave Macmillan), Barry Forshaw for Brit Noir (No Exit Press), Rachel Franks & Alistair Rolls for Crime Uncovered: Private investigator (Intellect), Katharina Hall for Crime Fiction in German: Der Krimi (University of Wales Press), Megan Hoffman for Gender and Representation in British ‘Golden Age’ Crime Fiction (Palgrave Macmillan) and Elizabeth Mannion for The Contemporary Irish Detective Novel (Palgrave Macmillan).

CrimeFest co-director Adrian Muller said: “The shortlist for our awards this year is our most exciting yet, with some of crime fiction’s greatest writers up against some of the most successful debut novelists we’ve seen in recent years. To have such a diverse selection of authors spanning crime, thriller, humour, biography and non-fiction on the list is fantastic and showcases the talent out there within the genre. We are all very much excited about seeing who wins on 20th May.”

Anthony Horowitz, Ann Cleeves and Peter Lovesey are among the names set to speak at this year’s CrimeFest convention in Bristol over 18th-21st may. Around 500 attendees, including more than 150 authors, agents, publishers and crime fiction fans are expected to attend.