Ashley Audrain, Cherie Dimaline, Linwood Barclay, Shari Lapena shortlisted for crime writing awards
Ashley Audrain, Cherie Dimaline, Linwood Barclay, Shari Lapena are among the writers shortlisted for the 2022 Crime Writers of Canada Awards.
The annual awards, created by the Crime Writers of Canada were formerly known as the Arthur Ellis Awards. The prizes recognize works in mystery, crime and suspense fiction and nonfiction by Canadian authors across 10 categories.
Ashley Audrain is a finalist for the Best Crime First Novel Award for her novel, The Push.
In The Push, Blythe Connor is determined that she will be the warm, comforting mother to her new baby Violet that she herself never had. But in the thick of motherhood's exhausting early days, Blythe becomes convinced that something is wrong with her daughter — she doesn't behave like most children do.
Ashley Audrain is a writer living in Toronto and the former publicity director of Penguin Canada. The Push is her first novel.
Cherie Dimaline is a finalist for best juvenile or YA book for her YA novel Hunting By Stars.
Hunting by Stars takes place in the world of The Marrow Thieves, a post-apocalyptic North America where the Indigenous people of North America are being hunted for their bone marrow and ability to dream.
LISTEN | Cherie Dimaline on The Next Chapter
Dimaline is an award-winning Métis fiction author whose previous books include The Marrow Thieves, a bestselling book and finalist for Canada Reads 2018, as well as Empire of Wild, Red Rooms, A Gentle Habit and The Girl Who Grew a Galaxy.
Linwood Barclay is a finalist for the Best Crime Novel Award for Find You First. The book follows a millionaire named Miles Cookson, who has been told he only has a short time left to live. He decides it's time to connect with the children that were born with sperm he donated decades before. But as his search unfolds, his offspring vanish, one by one.
Barclay is an American Canadian thriller writer, with almost 20 books to his credit. His books include the adult thrillers Broken Promise, A Noise Downstairs, Elevator Pitch and the middle-grade novels Escape and Chase.
Shari Lapena is a finalist for the Best Crime Novel Award for Not a Happy Family. In Lapena's thriller, the wealthy residents of Brecken Hill are shaken by the murders of their neighbours, Fred and Sheila Merton. The suspicion turns on Fred and Sheila's three adult children, who stand to inherit millions.
Shari Lapena is an internationally bestselling author of thrillers like The Couple Next Door, Someone We Know and The End of Her. She lives in Toronto.
In addition to the 10 categories, the Crime Writers of Canada also presents the Grand Master Award, a biennial prize given to a Canadian crime writer with a large body of work with national and international recognition.
The 2022 Grand Master Award is presented to Louise Penny, international bestselling author of the Armand Gamache mysteries. The former CBC journalist began her series in 2005 with Still Life, introducing readers to a veteran detective and his adventurous life in a small, tight-knit Quebec village called Three Pines. She went on to win the CWC Award for best first novel, the New Blood Dagger, Anthony and Barry awards, and publish 16 more books in the series. She recently co-authored the thriller State of Terror with Hillary Rodham Clinton. Penny was named to the Order of Canada in 2017.
The winners will be announced in a virtual presentation in May 2022. The finalists for the $1,000 prize for best crime novel are:
- Find You First by Linwood Barclay
- Lost Immunity by Daniel Kalla
- Under an Outlaw Moon by Dietrich Kalteis
- Not a Happy Family by Shari Lapena
- The Hunted by Roz Nay
The finalists for the $500 prize for best crime first novel are:
- The Push by Ashley Audrain
- The Captive by Fiona King Foster
- Windfall: A Henry Lysyk Mystery by Byron TD Smith
- All is Well by Katherine Walker
- Seven Down by David Whitton
The finalists for the $500 Whodunit Award for Best Traditional Mystery are:
- What's the Matter with Mary Jane? by Candas Jane Dorsey
- Three Dog Knight by Alice Bienia
- Hell's Half Acre by Jackie Elliott
- So Many Windings by Catherine Macdonald
- Murder in a Teacup by Vicki Delany
The finalists for the $500 Howard Engel Award for best crime novel set in Canada are:
- Beneath Her Skin by C. S. Porter, Beneath Her Skin
- The Corpse with the Iron Will by Cathy Ace
- Death on Darby's Island by Alice Walsh
- Hell and Gone by Sam Wiebe
- Three for Trinity by Kevin Major
The finalists for the $200 prize for best crime novella are:
- Identity Withheld by Marcelle Dubé
- Murder in Abstract by Brenda Gayle
- Letters From Johnny by Wayne Ng
- Not So Fast, Dr. Quick by Elvie Simons
The finalists for the $300 prize for best crime short story:
- What can You Do? by Pam Barnsley
- Weed Man by Hilary Davidson
- Number 10 Marlborough Place by Elizabeth Elwood
- All My Darlings by Charlotte Morganti
- Dead Man's Hand by Melissa Yi
The finalists best french crime book are:
- Le murmure des hakapiks by Roxanne Bouchard
- Dis-moi qui doit vivre… by Marc-André Chabot
- Conduite dangereuse by Guillaume Morrissette
- Flots by Patrick Senécal
- Stigmates by Richard Ste-Marie
The finalists for the $500 prize for best juvenile or YA crime book are:
- Blood Donor by Karen Bass
- Alice Fleck's Recipes for Disaster by Rachelle Delaney
- Hunting by Stars by Cherie Dimaline
- The Traitor's Blade by Kevin Sands
- Don't Breathe a Word by Jordyn Taylor
The finalists for the $300 Brass Knuckles Award for best nonfiction crime book are:
- Don't Call it a Cult by Sarah Berman
- Vancouver Vice: Crime and Spectacle in the City's West End by Aaron Chapman
- Murder on the Inside: The True Story of the Deadly Riot at Kingston Penitentiary by Catherine Fogarty
- The Beatle Bandit by Nate Hendley
- The Don: The Story of Toronto's Infamous Jail by Lorna Poplak
The finalists for the $500 prize for best unpublished manuscript are:
- The Strength to Rise by Delee Fromm
- Captives by Pam Isfeld
- Elmington by Renee Lehnen
- Ken's Corner by Katie Mac
- Part Time Crazy by Mark Thomas
