CRIMEFEST, one of Europe’s leading crime writing conventions, has announced the winners of its annual awards at a gala banquet this evening. Now in its 15th year, the awards honored the best crime books released in 2021 in the UK.
This year also saw the Thalia Proctor Memorial Award for Best Adapted TV Crime Drama named in honor of Proctor, a CrimeFest team member and a much-loved figure in the world of crime fiction, who sadly died earlier this year. The award is decided by public vote from a longlist of the forty-three programs broadcast on British television in the last year that were based on a crime book. Ann Cleeves won the inaugural prize for Shetland, beating out a shortlist that included Anthony Horowitz for Alex Rider; M.C. Beaton for Agatha Raisin; and James Runcie for Grantchester.
Congratulations to all the winners and finalists!
Specsavers Debut Crime Novel Award
WINNER: David Heska Wanbli Weiden for Winter Counts (Simon & Schuster)
Other finalists:
Abigail Dean for Girl A (HarperCollins)
Janice Hallett for The Appeal (Viper)
Saima Mir for The Khan (Point Blank)
Rahul Raina for How to Kidnap the Rich (Abacus)
Lara Thompson for One Night, New York (Virago)
Audible Sounds of Crime Award
WINNER: Richard Osman for The Man Who Died Twice, reader Lesley Manville (Penguin Random House Audio)
Other finalists:
Lee and Andrew Child for Better Off Dead, reader Jeff Harding (Penguin Random House Audio)
Abigail Dean for Girl A, reader Holliday Grainger (HarperFiction)
Paula Hawkins for Slow Fire Burning, reader Rosamund Pike (Penguin Random House Audio)
Lisa Jewell for The Night She Disappeared, reader Joanna Froggatt (Penguin Random House Audio)
Liane Moriarty for Apples Never Fall, reader Caroline Lee (Penguin Random House Audio)
K.L. Slater for The Marriage, reader Lucy Price-Lewis (Audible Studios / Bookouture)
Karin Slaughter for False Witness, reader Kathleen Early (HarperCollins)
H R F Keating Award
WINNER: Patricia Highsmith (edited by Anna von Planta) for Patricia Highsmith: Her Diaries and Notebooks (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
Other finalists:
Lucy Andrews & Samuel Saunders (editors) for The Detective’s Companion in Crime Fiction: A Study in Sidekicks (Palgrave Macmillan)
Richard Bradford for Devils, Lusts and Strange Desires: The Life of Patricia Highsmith (Bloomsbury Caravel)
James Fleming (editor) for Bond Behind the Iron Curtain (The Book Collector)
Carla Valentine for Murder Isn’t Easy: The Forensics of Agatha Christie (Little, Brown Book Group)
Stephen James Walker for Hank Janson Under Cover (Telos Publishing Ltd)
Last Laugh Award
WINNER: Mick Herron for Slough House (Baskerville)
Other finalists:
Simon Brett for An Untidy Death (Severn House)
Andrea Camilleri for Riccardino (Mantle)
Christopher Fowler for Bryant & May: London Bridge is Falling Down (Doubleday)
Janice Hallett for The Appeal (Viper)
Antti Tuomainen for The Rabbit Factor (Orenda Books)
eDunnit Award
WINNER: Abigail Dean for Girl A (HarperCollins)
Other finalists:
Megan Abbott for The Turnout (Virago)
Gianrico Carofiglio for The Measure of Time (Bitter Lemon Press)
Michael Connelly for The Dark Hours (Orion Fiction)
Cath Staincliffe for Running Out of Road (Constable)
Andrew Taylor for The Royal Secret (HarperCollins)
Best Crime Novel for Children (ages 8-12)
WINNER: M.G. Leonard for Twitch (Walker Books)
Other finalists:
Frank Cottrell-Boyce for Noah’s Gold (Macmillan Children’s Books)
Maz Evans for VI Spy: Licence to Chill (Chicken House)
Anthony Horowitz for Nightshade (Walker Books)
Anthony Kessel for The Five Clues (Crown House Publishing)
Jennifer Killick for Crater Lake Evolution (Firefly Press)
Alexandra Page (illustrator: Penny Neville-Lee) for Wishyouwas (Bloomsbury Publishing Plc)
Ella Risbridger for The Secret Detectives (Nosy Crow)
Best Crime Novel for Young Adults (ages 12-16)
WINNER: Angeline Boulley for Firekeeper’s Daughter (Rock the Boat)
Other finalists:
Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé for Ace of Spades (Usborne Publishing)
Andreina Cordani for The Girl Who… (Atom)
William Hussey for The Outrage (Usborne Publishing)
Holly Jackson for As Good As Dead (Electric Monkey)
Patrice Lawrence for Splinters of Sunshine (Hodder Children’s Books)
Jonathan Stroud for The Outlaws of Scarlett & Browne (Walker Books)
C.L. Taylor for The Island (HQ)
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