By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
Categories Include Audiobooks, Ebooks, Humor
Announced on Sunday evening (May 20), the UK’s CrimeFest convention awards mark the sixth year of the annual prize program.Featured guests at this year’s conference, which was held in Bristol on May 17 to 20, included Peter James, Martina Cole, Jeffrey Deaver, Lee Child, and translated guest authors Yrsa Sigurdardóttir and Gunnar Staalesen.
Below, we list each of the six categories’ shortlists, the winner in bold.
The Audible Sounds of Crime Award
Named for its sponsor, Audible UK, this award honors an unabridged crime audiobook that can be downloaded from Audible. To be eligible this year, an audiobook had to have been published in the UK in 2017, not only in audio but also in print. The winning author and audiobook narrator(s) share a £1,000 prize, each of them also receiving a Bristol Blue Glass commemorative award. Titles were submitted by publishers, and Audible UK listeners established the shortlist and the winning title.
- Fiona Barton, The Child (Audible Studios), read by Clare Corbett, Adjoa Andoh, Finty Williams, Fenella Woolgar and Steven Pacey
- Lee Child, The Midnight Line (Transworld), read by Jeff Harding
- J.P. Delaney for The Girl Before (Quercus), read by Emilia Fox, Finty Williams and Lise Aagaard Knudsen
- Sarah A. Denzil, Silent Child (Audible Studios), read by Joanne Froggatt
- Alice Feeney, Sometimes I Lie (HQ – Harper Collins), read by Stephanie Racine
- Michelle Frances, The Girlfriend (Pan Macmillan Audio), read by Antonia Beamish
- Anthony Horowitz, The Word is Murder (Penguin Random House Audio), read by Rory Kinnear
- David Lagercrantz, The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye (Quercus), read by Sail Reichlin
The eDunnit Award
This honor is for a crime fiction ebook first published in the British Isles in both hardcover and digital formats. Titles were submitted by publishers, and a team of British crime fiction reviewers voted to establish the shortlist and the winning title.
- Chris Brookmyre, Want You Gone (Little, Brown Book Group)
- Ken Bruen, The Ghost of Galway (Head of Zeus)
- Michael Connelly for The Late Show (Orion)
- Joe Ide, IQ (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
- Dennis Lehane, Since We Fell (Little, Brown Book Group)
- Steve Mosby, You Can Run (Orion)
- Gunnar Staalesen, Wolves in the Dark (Orenda Books)
- Sarah Stovell, Exquisite (Orenda Books)
The Last Laugh Award
This prize honors a humorous crime novel published in the British Isles in 2017. Titles were submitted by publishers, and a team of British crime fiction reviewers voted to establish the shortlist and the winning title.
- Simon Brett, Blotto, Twinks and the Stars of the Silver Screen (Little, Brown Book Group)
- Christopher Fowler, Bryant & May – Wild Chamber (Doubleday)
- Mick Herron for Spook Street (John Murray)
- Vaseem Khan, The Strange Disappearance of a Bollywood Star (Mullholland Books)
- Khurrum Rahman, East of Hounslow (HQ – HarperCollns)
- C.J. Skuse, Sweetpea (HQ – HarperCollins)
- Antti Tuomainen, The Man Who Died (Orenda Books)
- L.C. Tyler, Herring in the Smoke (Allison & Busby Ltd)
The HRF Keating Award
The Keating is for a biographical or critical book related to crime fiction first published in the British Isles in 2017. The award is named after British crime novelist and reviewer HRF ‘Harry’ Keating (1926-2011).
- Martin Edwards, The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books (British Library)
- Barry Forshaw, American Noir (No Exit Press)
- Sam Naidu, Sherlock Holmes in Context (Palgrave Macmillan)
- Benjamin Poore, Sherlock Holmes from Screen to Stage (Palgrave Macmillan)
- Mike Ripley for Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (John Murray)
- Christopher Sandford, The Man Who Would Be Sherlock (The History Press)
- Michael Sims, Arthur & Sherlock (Bloomsbury)
- Nick Triplow, Getting Carter (No Exit Press)
A Crime Novel for Children Ages 8 to 12
Titles published in 2017 in the British Isles were submitted by publishers, and reviewers of fiction for children and young adults voted to establish the shortlist and the winning title.
- Linwood Barclay, Chase (Orion Children’s Books)
- Helena Duggan for A Place Called Perfect (Usborne Publishing)
- Kieran Crowley, The Misfits Club (Macmillan Children’s Books)
- Santa and Simon Sebag Montefiore, The Royal Rabbits of London: Escape from the Tower (Simon & Schuster)
- Dermot O’Leary, Toto the Ninja Cat and the Great Snake Escape (Hodder Children’s Books)
- Alex T. Smith, Mr Penguin and the Lost Treasure (Hodder Children’s Books)
- Harriet Whitehorn, Violet and the Mummy Mystery (Simon & Schuster)
A Crime Novel for Young Readers 12 to 16
Titles published in 2017 in the British Isles were submitted by publishers, and reviewers of fiction for children and young adults voted to establish the shortlist and the winning title.
- Cat Clarke, Girlhood (Quercus Children’s Books)
- Zana Fraillon, The Ones That Disappeared (Orion Children’s Books)
- Will Hill, After the Fire (Usborne Publishing)
- Patrice Lawrence for Indigo Donut (Hodder Children’s Books)
- E. Lockhart, Genuine Fraud (Hot Key Books)
- Sophie McKenzie, SweetFreak (Simon & Schuster)
- Teri Terry, Dark Matter: Contagion (Orchard Books)
- Teresa Toten, Beware That Girl (Hot Key Books)