Arthur Ellis Awards Shortlists

The Arthur Ellis Awards are for CRIME WRITING, and are not restricted to mystery writing. The crime genre includes crime, detective, espionage, mystery, suspense, and thriller writing, as well as fictional or factual accounts of criminal doings and crime-themed literary works. The Awards were established in 1984.  Named after the nom de travail of Canada's official hangman, they are awarded annually by the Crime Writers of Canada.  Prizes will be handed out at an awards gala in Toronto on May 31.


Best Novel

• Alan Bradley, I Am Half-Sick of Shadows (Doubleday Canada)
• William Deverell, I’ll See You in My Dreams (McClelland & Stewart)
• Louise Penny, A Trick of the Light (St. Martin’s Press/Raincoast)
• Peter Robinson, Before the Poison (M&S)
• Robert Rotenberg, The Guilty Plea (Simon & Schuster)

Best Non-Fiction

• Jay Bahadur, The Pirates of Somalia (HarperCollins Canada)
• Robert Fowler, A Season in Hell (HarperCollins Canada)
• Adrian Humphreys, The Weasel: A Double Life in the Mob (John Wiley & Sons Canada)
• Joshua Knelman, Hot Art: Chasing Thieves and Detectives through the Secret World of Stolen Art (Douglas & McIntyre)
• Steven Laffoley, The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (Pottersfield Press)

Best Juvenile/Young Adult

• Becky Citra, Missing (Orca Book Publishers)
• Rob Mills, Charlie’s Key (Orca)
• Edeet Ravel, Held (Annick Press)
• Arthur Slade, Empire of Ruins (HarperCollins Canada)
• Tim Wynne-Jones, Blink & Caution (Candlewick Press/Random House)

Best First Novel

• Norm Foster, Watching Jeopardy (Xlibris)
• Ian Hamilton, The Water Rat of Wanchai (Spiderline/House of Anansi)
• Fraser Nixon, The Man Who Killed (D&M)
• Sean Slater, The Survivor (S&S)
• Roger White, Tight Corner (BPS Books)

Best Short Story

• Catherine Astolfo, “What Kelly Did” (Northword Magazine)
• Melodie Campbell, “The Perfect Mark” (Flash Fiction Magazine)
• Scott Mackay, “The Girl with the Golden Hair” (Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine)
• Shane Nelson, “Beer Money” (Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine)
• Jas. R. Petrin, “A New Pair of Pants” (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine)

Unhanged Arthur (Best Unpublished First Crime Novel)

• William Bonnell, Snake in the Snow
• Valerie A. Drego, The Rhymester
• Madeleine Harris-Callway, Gunning for Bear
• Shane Sawyer, Too Far to Fall
• Sam Wiebe, Last of the Independents

Best Crime Writing in French

• Guillaume Lapierre-Desnoyers, Pour Ne pas mourir ce soir (Lévesque Éditeur)
• Martin Michaud, La chorale du diable (Les Éditions Guélette)
• Diane Vincent, Pwazon (Triptyque)