Galbraith and Shukla scoop CrimeFest prizes

Robert Galbraith and Nikesh Shukla were amongst the winners of the CrimeFest awards in Bristol.

Laura Lippman was also honoured, along with Lynne Truss, James Sallis and Lauren St John at the prize ceremony in Bristol on Friday evening (11th May).

Galbraith, the pen-name of J K Rowling, took the Audible Sounds of Crime Award for the audiobook of Lethal White (Hachette Audio), read by Robert Glenister, in a hotly contested category, beating the likes of Bill Clinton and James Patterson’s audiobook of The President is Missing (Random House Audiobooks) as well as King for The Outsider, read by Will Patton (Hodder & Stoughton), across a 10-strong shortlist. The £1,000 prize is for the best unabridged crime audiobook first published in the UK in 2018 in both printed and audio formats, available from audible.co.uk. The prize is shared equally between the author and audiobook readers.

The eDunnit Award for the best crime fiction e-book went to Lippman for noir novel Sunburn (Faber), which was also nominated for a CWA Gold Dagger. She won a Bristol Blue Glass commemorative award, beating six other authors including Martin Edwards for Gallows Court (Head of Zeus) and fellow Faber author Sarah Ward for The Shrouded Path.

Meanwhile Sallis triumphed in the H R F Keating Award is for the best biographical or critical book related to crime fiction, for his Difficult Lives - Hitching Rides (No Exit Press), a volume of essays tracking the legacy of original paperback writers. He beat six other authors including Barry Forshaw and Nils Clausson to win the prize which is dedicated to Harry Keating, the late crime novelist and crime writing expert.

Truss was also successful at the prize ceremony for her novel A Shot in the Dark (Bloomsbury), which won the Last Laugh Award. The first book in Truss’ new Constable Twitten mystery series, it fended off competition from seven other books including Mick Herron’s London Rules (John Murray).

In the Best Crime Novel for Children, St John was crowned winner for Kat Wolfe Investigates (Macmillan Children's Books). The six-strong shortlist for the best crime novel for children, aged eight to 12, also included authors such as Fleur Hitchcock and P G Bell.

Finally Shukla was awarded the Best Novel for Young Adults for his novel Run, Riot (Hodder Children's Books) – deemed “powerful [and] politically charged” by organisers - beating the likes of David Almond and Tom Pollock.

The ceremony marked the end of the CrimeFest convention involving hundreds of authors, publishers, agents and crime fiction fans. Highlights of this year’s convention included guest author appearances from John Harvey, Ashley Jensen and the Agatha Raisin creative team. Each winner received a Bristol Blue Glass commemorative award.

Adrian Muller, CrimeFest co-host, said: “It’s always a pleasure to see who our judges select as our award winners, and we’re thrilled by this year’s eclectic mix of established and new names. The recipients reinforce the consistently high standards of the work that the CrimeFest awards recognise, whilst introducing readers to some of the most exciting new names to enter onto the crime fiction scene."

This year’s CWA Dagger Award longlists were also revealed at the festival, featuring authors such as Abir Mukherjee, Megan Abbott and Belinda Bauer.