Child and Lagercrantz battle it out on CrimeFest Awards shortlists

Lee Child, David Lagercrantz and Fiona Barton are among the names on this year's CrimeFest Awards shortlists, which include a mix of established and new names in crime fiction.

Child and Anthony Horowitz will be fighting it out in the listener-voted Audible Sounds of Crime Award category, with other competition including Lagercrantz’s The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye (Quercus) and Barton’s psychological thriller The Child (Audible Studios).

Dennis Lehane, the author behind modern thrillers such as "Shutter Island", has been shortlisted for the eDunnit Award for Since We Fell (Little, Brown), alongside Tartan Noir author Christopher Brookmyre for Want You Gone (Little, Brown), and Ken Bruen’s The Ghost of Galway (Head of Zeus).

Following the 125th year since Sherlock Holmes was first published in print, the H R F. Keating Award for best non-fiction book explores the social and cultural history of the fictional detective in shortlisted books by Christopher Sandford, Michael Sims, Benjamin Poore and Sam Naidu. Also nominated are Mike Ripley and past winners Martin Edwards and Barry Forshaw.

For Best Crime Novel for Children (aged 8-12), crime fiction couple Santa and Simon Sebag Montefiore are up against Dermot O’Leary’s Toto the Ninja Cat and the Great Snake Escape (Hodder). The Zoella Book Club 2017 novel Girlhood by Cat Clarke (Quercus) is up for the Best Crime Novel for Young Adults (aged 12-16), alongside bestseller Sophie McKenzie’s SweetFreak (S&S) and Patrice Lawrence’s Indigo Donut (Hodder).

The winners will be announced at the CrimeFest Gala Awards Dinner hosted by Robert Thorogood, creator of "Death in Paradise", on Saturday 19th May.

CrimeFest co-director Adrian Muller said: “CrimeFest is thrilled to announce such an eclectic and exciting shortlist for our tenth CrimeFest Awards. Over the past decade the awards have highlighted breakthrough debut novelists as well as a number of established crime fiction authors delving into children’s fiction and nonfiction. We are also pleased to continue showcasing audiobooks which have undergone a meteoric rise since we began presenting our awards. We are all extremely proud and excited to present the 10th annual CrimeFest awards, and find out who wins on 19th May.”  

The 10th anniversary of CrimeFest this year will host crime fiction royalty Martina Cole, Lee Child and Peter James as some of the top names set to speak at this year’s convention. Close to 500 attendees, including more than 150 authors, agents, publishers and crime fans from across the globe, will descend on the city for a jam-packed four days of over 60 speaking events and panel discussions.

The shortlists in full:

Best Unabridged Crime Audiobook:
- Fiona Barton, The Child (Audible Studios), read by Clare Corbett, Adjoa Andoh, Finty Williams, Fenella Woolgar & Steven Pacey
- Lee Child, The Midnight Lane (Transworld), read by Jeff Harding
- J.P. Delaney, The Girl Before, (Quercus), read by Emilia Fox, Finty Williams & Lise Aagaard Knudsen
- Sarah A. Denzil, Silent Child (Audible Studios), read by Joanne Froggatt
- Alice Feeney, Something I Lie (HQ – Harper Collins), read by Stephanie Racine
- Michelle Frances, The Girlfriend (Pan Macmillan Audio), read by Antonia Beamish
- Anthony Horowitz, The Word is Murder (Penguin Random House Audio), read by Rory Kinnear
- David Lagercrantz, The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye (Quercus), read by Sail Reichlin
 
eDUNNIT AWARD
- Chris Brookmyre, Want You Gone (Little, Brown Book Group)
- Ken Bruen, The Ghost of Galway (Head of Zeus)
- Michael Connelly, The Late Show (Orion)
- Joe Ide, IQ (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
- Dennis Lehane, Since We Fell (Little, Brown Book Group)
- Steve Mosby, You Can Run (Orion)
- Gunnar Staalesen, Wolves in the Dark (Orenda Books)
- Sarah Stovell, Exquisite (Orenda Books)

LAST LAUGH AWARD
- Simon Brett, Blotto, Twinks and the Stars of the Silver Screen (Little, Brown Book Group)
- Christopher Fowler, Bryant & May - Wild Chamber (Doubleday)
- Mick Herron, Spook Street (John Murray)
- Vaseem Khan, The Strange Disappearance of a Bollywood Star (Mullholland Books)
- Khurrum Rahman, East of Hounslow (HQ – HarperCollns)
- C.J. Skuse, Sweetpea (HQ – HarperCollins)
- Antti Tuomainen, The Man Who Died (Orenda Books)
- L.C. Tyler, Herring in the Smoke (Allison & Busby Ltd)
 
H.R.F. KEATING AWARD
- Martin Edwards, The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books (British Library)
- Barry Forshaw, America Noir (No Exit Press)
- Sam Naidu, Sherlock Holmes in Context (Palgrave Macmillan)
- Benjamin Poore, Sherlock Holmes from Screen to Stage (Palgrave Macmillan)
- Mike Ripley, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (HarperCollins)
- Christopher Sandford, The Man Who Would Be Sherlock (The History Press)
- Michael Sims, Arthur & Sherlock (Bloomsbury)
- Nick Triplow, Getting Carter (No Exit Press)
 
BEST CRIME NOVEL FOR CHILDREN (08 – 12)
- Linwood Barclay, Chase (Orion Children's Books)
- Kieran Crowley, The Misfits Club (Macmillan Children's Books)
- Helena Duggan, A Place Called Perfect (Usborne Publishing)
- Santa & Simon Sebag Montefiore, The Royal Rabbits of London: Escape from the Tower (Simon & Schuster)
- Dermot O'Leary, Toto the Ninja Cat and the Great Snake Escape (Hodder Children's Books)
- Alex T. Smith, Mr Penguin and the Lost Treasure (Hodder Children's Books)
- Harriet Whitehorn, Violet and the Mummy Mystery (Simon & Schuster)
 
BEST CRIME NOVEL FOR YOUNG ADULTS (12 – 16)
- Cat Clarke, Girlhood (Quercus Children's Books)
- Zana Fraillon, The Ones That Disappeared (Orion Children's Books)
- Will Hill, After the Fire (Usborne Publishing)
- Patrice Lawrence, Indigo Donut (Hodder Children's Books)
- E. Lockhart, Genuine Fraud (Hot Key Books)
- Sophie McKenzie, SweetFreak (Simon & Schuster)
- Teri Terry, Dark Matter: Contagion (Orchard Books)
- Teresa Toten, Beware That Girl (Hot Key Books)