Calgary writer Will Ferguson was among the winners of the Crime Writers of Canada Awards.

The annual awards, previously known as the Arthur Ellis Awards, recognize the best in mystery, crime and suspense fiction and crime nonfiction by Canadian authors.

Ferguson won the prize for best crime novel, which is worth $1,000 for The Finder.

The Finder is an adventure novel about finding things that are lost in the world. The story takes readers to Japan, Australia and New Zealand as Interpol agent Gaddy Rhodes, photographer Tamsin Greene and travel writer Thomas Rafferty unexpectedly cross paths as they track "The Finder" — a mysterious figure who believes they can find history's lost objects, such as the missing Romanov Fabergé eggs and Muhammad Ali's Olympic gold medal.

Ferguson is a humour, travel and fiction writer. He won the 2012 Scotiabank Giller Prize for his thriller 419. He has won the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour three times: for his novel Generica (now titled Happiness), his Canadian travel book Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw and his travel memoir Beyond Belfast.

Justin Ling won the $300 Brass Knuckles Award for best nonfiction crime book for Missing From the Village. The book is based on the disappearance of eight men — the victims of serial killer Bruce McArthur — from Toronto's queer community.

Ling is an investigative journalist from Toronto. He hosted the CBC podcast Uncover: The Village, which is also about his work on the Bruce McArthur case.

Guglielmo D'Izzia won best crime first novel for The Transaction. The darkly humorous novel by the Toronto-based author traces a person's descent into deviancy amidst a criminal conspiracy.

Katrina Onstad won the $500 Howard Engel Award, which honours the best crime novel set in Canada, for Stay Where I Can See You. The novel by the Toronto author is about the swing of fortune and the ferocity of mother–daughter devotion as they navigate the notoriety brought by a lottery win.

Sam Wiebe won the $200 prize for best crime novella for Never Going Back. The story by the Canadian author follows Alison Kidd, once the best thief in the city, as she leaves prison and looks for her missing brother Dean.

Cold Wave, Sisters in Crime by Marcelle Dubé won best crime short story, a $300 prize. Cold Wave features Olivia, a Yukoner who is trying to catch up to her friends while cross-country skiing — only to find her friends in danger.

Roxanne Bouchard's La mariée de corail won best French crime book. In La mariée de corail, Joaquin Morales is called to investigate the disappearance of a lobster boat captain, while being caught in a family crisis caused by the sudden arrival of his son.

Red Fox Road by Frances Greenslade won the $500 best juvenile or YA crime book. Greenslade writes about Francie's spring road trip with her parents, which takes a turn when their truck hits a rock and leaves them in the middle of nowhere.

The Future by Raymond Bazowski won the $500 Award for best unpublished manuscript. Bazowski is a professor in the political science department at York University.

The Crime Writers of Canada was founded in 1982 as a professional organization designed to raise the profile of Canadian crime writers. The awards were first given out in 1984.

Past winners of the awards have included such major names in Canadian crime writing such as Gail Bowen, Stevie Cameron, Howard Engel, Louise Penny, Peter Robinson and Eric Wright.