Next week the Edgar Awards will be presented on April 26 and the Agatha Award winners will be announced April 28.

But let’s not forget the award-winning authors of our Canadian neighbors.

The nominees for the 2018 Arthur Ellis Awards for Excellence in Canadian Crime Writing have been announced. These nominees represent those novels published during 2017.

The annual Arthur Ellis Awards by Crime Writers of Canada recognizes the best in mystery, crime, and suspense writing in fiction and nonfiction by Canadian writers.

The winners will be announced on May 24, 2018, during the Arthur Ellis Awards Gala in Toronto.

BEST CRIME NOVEL
The Winners’ Circle, by Gail Bowen (McClelland & Stewart)
The Party, by Robyn Harding (Gallery/Scout Press)
The White Angel, by John MacLachlan (Gray Douglas and McIntyre)
Sleeping in the Ground, by Peter Robinson (McClelland & Stewart)
The Forgotten Girl, by Rio Youers (St. Martin’s Press)

BEST FIRST CRIME NOVEL
Puzzle of Pieces, by Sally Hill Brouard (FriesenPress)
Full Curl, by Dave Butler (Dundurn Press)
Ragged Lake, by Ron Corbett (ECW Press)
Flush, by Sky Curtis (Inanna Publications)
Our Little Secret, by Roz Nay (Simon & Schuster Canada, Inc.)

BEST CRIME NOVELLA – The Lou Allin Memorial Award
Snake Oil, by M.H. Callway (published in 13 Claws by Carrick Publishing)
How Lon Pruitt Was Found Murdered in an Open Field with No Footprints Around, by Mike Culpepper (published in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, by Dell)
Blood & Belonging, by Vicki Delany (Orca Book Publishers)
Dead Clown Blues, by R. Daniel Lester (Shotgun Honey)
Money Maker, by Jas R. Petrin (published in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, by Dell)


BEST CRIME SHORT STORY
The Outlier, by Catherine Astolfo (published in 13 Claws by Carrick Publishing)
There be Dragons, by Jane Petersen Burfield (published in 13 Claws by Carrick Publishing)
Jerusalem Syndrome, by Hilary Davidson (published in Passport to Murder Bouchercon Anthology 2017, Down & Out Books)
The Ranchero’s Daughter, by Sylvia Maultash Warsh (published in 13 Claws by Carrick Publishing)
The Sin Eaters, by Melissa Yi (published in Montreal Noir by Akashic Noir)

BEST NONFICTION CRIME BOOK
Murder in Plain English, by Michael Arntfield and Marcel Danesi (Prometheus Books)
The Whisky King, by Trevor Cole (HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.)
Blood, Sweat and Fear, by Eve Lazarus (Arsenal Pulp Press)
The Dog Lover Unit, by Rachel Rose (St. Martin's Press)
Police Wife: The Secret Epidemic of Police Domestic Violence, by Alex Roslin (Sugar Hill Books)

BEST JUVENILE/YOUNG ADULT CRIME BOOK
Missing, by Kelley Armstrong (Penguin Random House Doubleday Canada)
Chase - Get Ready to Run, by Linwood Barclay (Penguin Random House Puffin Canada)
The Disappearance, by Gillian Chan (Annick Press Ltd.)
Thistlewood, by Donna Chubaty (Grasmere Publishing)
The Lives of Desperate Girls, by MacKenzie Common (Penguin Random House Penguin Teen Canada)

BEST CRIME BOOK IN FRENCH
Amqui, by Éric Forbes (Héliotrope Noir)
La vie rêvée de Frank Bélair, by Maxime Houde (Éditions Alire Inc.)
Les clefs du silence, by Jean Lemieux (Québec Amérique)
La mort en bleu pastel, by Maryse Rouy (Éditions Druide)
Les Tricoteuses, by Marie Saur (Héliotrope Noir)

BEST UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPT
The Alibi Network, by Raimey Gallant
Finn Slew, by Ken MacQueen
Destruction in Paradise, by Dianne Scott
Dig, Dug, Dead, by Sylvia Teaves
Condemned, by Kevin Thornton


The Crime Writers of Canada Grand Master Award:
Gail Bowen
Gail Bowen is being recognized by Crime Writers of Canada for her long and illustrious career as a crime fiction author. She has almost 20 books in her long-running Joanne Kilbourn series, several of which were either nominated for or received awards, including the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel in 1994, for A Colder Kind of Death. She has also written four Rapid Reads novellas and several plays. She is well established in Canada, highly respected in the writing community, and much sought after by readers. She is frequently a guest at literary events. Several of her Joanne Kilbourn books were turned into a TV series in Canada.

About Crime Writers of Canada    
Crime Writers of Canada was founded in 1982 as a professional organization designed to raise the profile of Canadian crime writers. Its membership includes authors, publishers, editors, booksellers, librarians, reviewers, literary agents, and “developing authors.” Past winners of the “Arthurs” have included such major names in Canadian crime writing as Howard Engel, Eric Wright, Peter Robinson, Gail Bowen, Louise Penny, Stevie Cameron, Barbara Fradkin, and Mario Bolduc.