Now in its 14th year, the awards honor the best crime books released in 2020 in the UK. From their site: “CRIMEFEST is a convention for people who like to read an occasional crime novel as well as for die-hard fanatics.” In most cases, eligible titles were submitted by publishers, and a team of British crime fiction reviewers voted to establish the shortlists.
Affected by Covid as so many other events have, the 2021 winners were announced online in May.
Congratulations to all the nominees and winners (Indicated in red)!
DEBUT CRIME NOVEL AWARD
Eva Bjorg Aegisdottir “The Creak on the Stairs”
Marion Brunet “Summer of Reckoning”
Robin Morgan-Bentley “The Wreckage”
Richard Osman “The Thursday Murder Club”
Mara Timon “City of Spies”
Trevor Wood “The Man on the Street”
LAST LAUGH AWARD (humorous crime fiction)
Ben Aaronovitch “False Value”
ChristopherFowler “Bryant & May-Oranges and Lemons”
Elly Griffiths “The Postscript Murders”
Carl Hiaasen “Squeeze Me”
RichardOsman “The Thursday Murder Club”
Malcolm Pryce “The Corpse in the Garden of Perfect Brightness”
Khurrum Rahman “Ride or Die”
OlgaWojtas “Miss Blaine’s Prefect and the Vampire Menace”
eDUNNIT AWARD (ebooks)
Gabriel Bergmoser “The Hunted”
Sharon Bolton “The Split”
P. Carter “Little Boy Lost”
Steve Cavanagh “Fifty-Fifty”
Michael Connelly “Fair Warning”
James Lee Burke “A Private Cathedral”
Ian Rankin “A Song for the Dark Times”
Holly Watt “The Dead Line”
H.R.F. KEATING AWARD (critical or biography)
Mark Aldridge “Agatha Christie’s Poirot: The Greatest Detective in the World”
MartinEdwards (editor) “Howdunit: A Masterclass in Crime Writing by Members of the Detection Club”
Colin Larkin “Cover Me: The Vintage Art of Pan Books: 1950-1965”
Andrew Lycett “Conan Doyle’s Wide World”
Heather Martin “The Reacher Guy”
Sheila Mitchell “HRF Keating: A Life of Crime”
Craig Sisterson “Southern Cross Crime: The Pocket Essential Guide to the Crime Fiction, Film & TV of Australia and New Zealand”
Peter Temple “The Red Hand: Stories, reflections and the last appearance of Jack Irish”
BEST CRIME NOVEL FOR CHILDREN (ages 8-12)
Sophie Deen “Agent Asha: Mission Shark Bytes”
Elly Griffiths “A Girl Called Justice -The Smugglers’ Secret”
Anthony Horowitz “Nightshade”
Jack Noel “My Headteacher is an Evil Genius”
Serena Patel “Anisha, Accidental Detective”
Serena Patel “School’s Cancelled”
Onjali Q. Rauf “The Night Bus Hero”
Dave Shelton “The Pencil Case”
