Crimefest Awards Shortlists

 

After sixteen successful years, Bristol’s iconic crime fiction convention, CrimeFest, will come to an end in 2025. But they're going out with a bang, including the annual CrimeFest Awards, with shortlists revealed this week. Winners will be presented at the convention Gala Awards Dinner on May 17. Congrats to all the finalists!

SPECSAVERS DEBUT CRIME NOVEL AWARD

In association with headline sponsor, the Specsavers Debut Crime Novel Award is for debut authors first published in the United Kingdom in 2023. The winning author receives a £1,000 prize.

• Tom Baragwanath for Paper Cage (Baskerville)
• Tasha Coryell for Love Letters to a Serial Killer (Orion Fiction)
• C. L. Miller for The Antique Hunter’s Guide to Murder (Pan Macmillan)
• Akira Otani (and translator Sam Bett) for The Night of Baba Yaga (Faber & Faber)
• Tracy Sierra for Nightwatching (Viking)
• Claire Wilson for Five by Five (Michael Joseph)

eDUNNIT AWARD

For the best crime fiction ebook first published in both hardcopy and in electronic format in the United Kingdom in 2024.

• Martin Edwards for Hemlock Bay (Head of Zeus)
• Laurie R. King for The Lantern’s Dance (Allison & Busby)
• Jean Hanff Korelitz for The Sequel (Faber & Faber)
• Bella Mackie for What A Way To Go (The Borough Press)
• Liz Moore for The God of the Woods (The Borough Press)
• Peter Swanson for A Talent for Murder (Faber & Faber)

LAST LAUGH AWARD

The Last Laugh Award is for the best humorous crime novel first published in the United Kingdom in 2024.

• Cathy Ace for The Case of the Secretive Secretary (Four Tails Publishing Ltd.)
• DG Coutinho for The Light and Shade of Ellen Swithin (Harvill Secker)
• Bella Mackie for What A Way To Go (The Borough Press)
• Orlando Murrin for Knife Skills for Beginners (Transworld)
• Mike Ripley for Mr Campion’s Christmas (Severn House)
• Antti Tuomianen (and translator David Hackston) for The Burning Stones (Orenda Books)

H.R.F. KEATING AWARD

The H.R.F. Keating Award is for the best biographical or critical book related to crime fiction first published in the United Kingdom in 2024. The award is named after H.R.F. ‘Harry’ Keating, one of Britain’s most esteemed crime novelists, crime reviewers and writer of books about crime fiction.

• Mark Aldridge for Agatha Christie’s Marple: Expert in Wickedness (HarperCollins)
• Jem Bloomfield for Allusion in Detective Fiction (Palgrave Macmillan)
• Ashley Bowden for Female Detectives in Early Crime Fiction 1841-1920 (Fabula Mysterium Press)
• Dan Coxon & Richard V. Hirst for Writing the Murder: Essays in Crafting Crime Fiction (Dead Ink)
• Sara Lodge for The Mysterious Case of the Victorian Female (Yale University Press)
• Lynda La Plante for Getting Away With Murder: My Unexpected Life on Page, Stage and Screen (Zaffre)

THALIA PROCTOR MEMORIAL AWARD FOR BEST ADAPTED TV CRIME DRAMA

This award is for the best television crime drama based on a book, and first screened in the UK in 2024. Eligible titles were collated from the Radio Times, and CrimeFest newsletter readers establish the shortlist and the winning title. The winning author and production company each receive a Bristol Blue Glass commemorative award.

• Bad Monkey, based on the book by Carl Hiaasen (Apple TV+)
• Dalgliesh (series 3), based on the Inspector Dalgliesh books by P.D. James (Channel 5)
• Lady in the Lake based on the book by Laura Lippman (Apple TV+)
• Moonflower Murders based on the book by Anthony Horowitz (BBC)
• Slow Horses (series 4), based on the Slough House books by Mick Herron (Apple TV+)
• The Turkish Detective, based on the Inspector Ikmen books by Barbara Nadel (BBC)

CRIMEFEST AWARDS FOR BEST CRIME NOVEL FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULTS

Eligible titles are submitted by publishers, and reviewers of fiction for children and young adults vote alongside volunteering members of the School Library Association (SLA) to establish the shortlist and the winning title. The winners receive a commemorative Bristol Blue Glass award.

BEST CRIME NOVEL FOR CHILDREN

This award is for the best crime novel for children (aged 8-12) first published in the United Kingdom in 2024.

• Sufiya Ahmed for Rosie Raja: Undercover Codebreaker (Bloomsbury Education)
• Natasha Farrant for The Secret of Golden Island (Faber & Faber)
• A.M. Howell for Mysteries at Sea: The Hollywood Kidnap Case (Usborne Publishing)
• M. G. Leonard for The Twitchers: Feather (Walker Books)
• Beth Lincoln for The Swifts: A Gallery of Rogues (Penguin Random House Children’s UK)
• Nicki Thornton for The Floating Witch Mystery (Faber & Faber)

BEST CRIME NOVEL FOR YOUNG ADULTS

This award is for the best crime novel for young adults (aged 12-16) first published in the United Kingdom in 2024.

• H.F. Askwith for A Cruel Twist of Fate (Penguin Random House Children’s UK)
• Denise Brown for It All Started With a Lie (Hashtag Press)
• A.J. Clack for Lie or Die (Firefly Press)
• Amie  Jordan for All the Hidden Monsters (Chicken House)
• Kayvion Lewis for Heist Royale (Simon & Schuster Children’s Books)
• Karen M. McManus for Such Charming Liars (Penguin Random House Children’s UK)