Press Release: CRIMEFEST Announce 2020 Award Nominees

CRIMEFEST, one of Europe’s leading crime writing conventions, has announced the shortlists for its annual awards.

Now in its 13th year, the awards honour the best crime books released in 2019 in the UK.

New for 2020, in association with its headline sponsor Specsavers, is the Specsavers Debut Crime Novel Award. The winner will receive a £1,000 prize.

Adrian Muller, Co-host of CRIMEFEST, said: “Specsavers are passionate about the crime genre thanks to its founder Dame Mary Perkins, and their support ensures new voices in the genre will be recognised. We have really diverse awards reflecting the depth and breadth of the crime genre. Categories recognise e-books and audiobooks, humour, children and Young Adult crime fiction novels. We aim to be the most inclusive of awards to reflect the values of our convention.”

A further £1,000 prize fund is also awarded to the Audible Sounds of Crime Award, sponsored by Audible UK. Eligible titles are submitted by publishers, and Audible UK listeners establish the shortlist and the winning title.

Laurence Howell, Vice President, Content at Audible said: “We are delighted to continue as sponsor of the Audible Sounds of Crime Award. This is a prize that is very close to our heart and important for our members who are passionate fans of crime audiobooks. Crime and thriller remains one of our bestselling genres because of the intimate, immersive nature of audiobooks. Congratulations to all award nominees!”

All other category winners, which are judged by panels of leading British crime fiction reviewers, receive a Bristol Blue Glass commemorative award.

The 2020 CRIMEFEST Awards were due to be presented at a Gala Dinner during the convention at the Bristol Grand Mercure Hotel this June. In light of Covid-19, the winners will be announced online at www.crimefest.com and via its social media pages on Tuesday 7 July.

CRIMEFEST was created following the hugely successful one-off visit to Bristol in 2006 of the American Left Coast Crime convention. It was established over ten years ago in 2008. It follows the egalitarian format of most US conventions, making it open to all authors and readers alike.

The convention has grown to become not only one of the biggest crime fiction events in Europe, but also one of the most popular dates in the international crime fiction calendar, with circa 60 panel events and 150 authors over four days.

The Shortlists (as a list in full)

SPECSAVERS DEBUT CRIME NOVEL AWARD

- Fiona Erskine for The Chemical Detective (Point Blank)

- Katja Ivar for Evil Things (Bitter Lemon Press)

- Carolyn Kirby for The Conviction of Cora Burns (No Exit Press)

- Alex Michaelides for The Silent Patient (Orion Fiction)

- Laura Shepherd-Robinson for Blood & Sugar (Mantle)

- Holly Watt for To The Lions (Raven Books)

AUDIBLE SOUNDS OF CRIME AWARD

- Kate Atkinson for Big Sky narrated by Jason Isaacs (Penguin Random House Audio)

- Oyinkan Braithwaite for My Sister, the Serial Killer narrated by Weruche Opia (W F Howes)

- Alex Callister for Winter Dark narrated by Ell Potter (Audible Studios)

- Lee Child for Blue Moon narrated by Jeff Harding (Penguin Random House Audio)

- Lisa Jewell for The Family Upstairs narrated by Tamaryn Payne, Bea Holland, Dominic Thorburn (Penguin Random House Audio)

- T.M. Logan for The Holiday narrated by Laura Kirman (Zaffre)

- Peter May for The Man with No Face narrated by Peter Forbes (Quercus, Fiction)

- Alex Michaelides for The Silent Patient narrated by Louise Brealey, Jack Hawkins (Orion)

H.R.F. KEATING AWARD

- Ursula Buchan for Beyond The Thirty-Nine Steps (Bloomsbury Publishing)

- John Curran for The Hooded Gunman (HarperCollins Crime Club)

- Barry Forshaw for Crime Fiction: A Reader's Guide (No Exit Press)

                                                     LAST LAUGH AWARD

- William Boyle for A Friend is a Gift you Give Yourself (No Exit Press)

- Hannah Dennison for Tidings of Death at Honeychurch Hall (Constable)

- Helen FitzGerald for Worst Case Scenario (Orenda Books)

- Christopher Fowler for Bryant & May - The Lonely Hour (Transworld)

- Antti Tuomainen for Little Siberia (Orenda Books)

- L.C. Tyler for The Maltese Herring (Allison & Busby)

eDUNNIT AWARD

- Helen FitzGerald for Worst Case Scenario (Orenda Books)

- Sarah Hilary for Never Be Broken (Headline)

- Andrew Taylor for The King's Evil (HarperFiction)

- L.C. Tyler for The Maltese Herring (Allison & Busby)

- Holly Watt for To The Lions (Raven Books)

- Don Winslow for The Border (HarperFiction)

BEST CRIME FICTION NOVEL FOR CHILDREN (ages 8-12)

- P.G. Bell for The Great Brain Robbery (Usborne Publishing)

- Vivian French for The Steam Whistle Theatre Company (Walker Books)

- Sophie Green for Potkin and Stubbs (Bonnier Books)

- A.M. Howell for The Garden of Lost Secrets (Usborne Publishing)

- Simon Lelic for The Haven (Hodder Children's Books)

- Thomas Taylor for Malamander (Walker Books)

BEST CRIME FICTION NOVEL FOR YOUNG ADULTS (ages 12-16)

- Kathryn Evans for Beauty Sleep (Usborne Publishing)

- John Grisham for Theodore Boone: The Accomplice (Hodder & Stoughton)

- Samuel J. Halpin for The Peculiar Peggs of Riddling Woods (Usborne Publishing)

- Simon Mason for Hey Sherlock! (David Fickling Books)

- Tom Pollock for Heartstream (Walker Books)

- Nikesh Shukla for The Boxer (Hodder Children's Books)