CRIME WRITERS OF CANADA ANNOUNCES 2024 AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE

Crime Writers of Canada (CWC) is pleased to announce the Shortlists for the 2024 Crime  Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence in Canadian Crime Writing. Since 1984, Crime  Writers of Canada has recognized the best in mystery, crime, suspense fiction, and crime  nonfiction by Canadian authors, including citizens abroad and new residents. 

On behalf of CWC, Hyacinthe Miller, Board Chair, wishes to congratulate all the finalists. Winners will be announced on Wednesday, May 29th, 2024. 

Maureen Jennings is this year’s recipient of the 2024 Grand Master Award. 

Established in 2014, the Grand Master (GM) Award recognizes a Canadian crime writer  with a substantial body of work that has garnered national and international recognition. 

Maureen Jennings is not only just about the best crime novelist in Canada, she’s among the  best writers anywhere – a national and international treasure. —LONDON FREE PRESS 

Maureen Jennings, a long-time Crime Writers of Canada member, is a prolific author of non fiction, short stories and book series featuring Christine Morris, Detective Murdoch, and D.I.  Tom Tyler. The Detective William Murdoch television series, set in Victorian era Toronto, was  optioned in 2003 by Shaftesbury Films. Murdoch Mysteries are shown in over 120 countries  and feature innovative crime-solving techniques, social justice subplots and surprise guest  appearances. 

In 2011, she was awarded the Grant Allen award for her on-going contribution to Canadian  crime writing. Maureen has received eight Award of Excellence nominations from CWC for  best novel and short story. In 2014, the 180th anniversary of the city of Toronto, the Toronto  Star named her one of 180 people whose influence has raised the city’s profile. 

Published by Cormorant Books, her latest project The Paradise Café series is set in  Depression-era Toronto and features Private Investigator Charlotte Frayne.  

She is an exceptional talent, a generous mentor and strong supporter of Canadian crime and  mystery writers. CWC is proud to honour Maureen Jennings with the 2024 Grand Master  Award.

THE 2024 AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE SHORTLISTS  

The Peter Robinson Award for Best Crime Novel sponsored by Rakuten Kobo, with a $1000  prize 

Robyn Harding, The Drowning Woman, Grand Central Publishing 

Shari Lapena, Everyone Here is Lying, Doubleday Canada 

Scott Thornley, Middlemen, House of Anansi Press 

Sam Wiebe, Sunset and Jericho, Harbour Publishing 

Loreth Anne White, The Maid’s Diary, Montlake 

Best Crime First Novel, sponsored by Melodie Campbell, with a $1000 prize  Jann Arden, The Bittlemores, Random House Canada 

Lisa Brideau, Adrift, Sourcebooks 

Charlotte Morganti, The End Game, Halfdan Press 

Amanda Peters, The Berry Pickers, Harper Perennial 

Steve Urszenyi, Perfect Shot, Minotaur 

The Howard Engel Award for Best Crime Novel Set in Canada, sponsored by Charlotte Engel  and Crime Writers of Canada, with a $500 prize 

Gail Anderson-Dargatz, The Almost Widow, Harper Avenue/HarperCollins Renee Lehnen, Elmington, Storeyline Press 

Cyndi MacMillan, Cruel Light, Crooked Lane 

Joan Thomas, Wild Hope, Harper Perennial/HarperCollins 

Melissa Yi, Shapes of Wrath, Windtree Press 

The Whodunit Award for Best Traditional Mystery sponsored by Jane Doe, with a $500 prize  Gail Bowen, The Legacy, ECW Press 

Vicki Delany, Steeped in Malice, Kensington Books 

Vicki Delany, The Game is a Footnote, Crooked Lane Books 

Nita Prose, The Mystery Guest, Viking 

Iona Whishaw, To Track a Traitor, TouchWood Editions 

Best Crime Short Story 

M.H. Callway, Wisteria Cottage, Wildside Press (for Malice Domestic) 

Marcelle Dubé, Reversion, Mystery Magazine 

Mary Keenan The Canadians (Killin’ Time in San Diego), Down & Out Books

donalee Moulton, Troubled Water, Black Cat Weekly (Wildside Press) 

Zandra Renwick, American Night, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine 

The Best French Language Crime Book (Fiction and Nonfiction) 

Jean-Philippe Bernié, La punition, Glénat Québec 

Chrystine Brouillet, Le mois des morts, Éditions Druide 

Catherine Lafrance, Le dernier souffle est le plus lourd, Éditions Druide 

André Marois, La sainte paix, Héliotrope 

Jean-Jacques Pelletier, Rien, Alire 

Best Juvenile/YA Crime Book, sponsored by Shaftesbury Films with a $500 prize (Fiction and  Nonfiction) 

Kelley Armstrong, Someone is Always Watching, Tundra Books 

Cherie Dimaline, Funeral Songs for Dying Girls, Tundra Books 

Rachelle Delaney, The Big Sting, Tundra Books 

Clara Kumagai, Catfish Rolling, Penguin Teen Canada 

Kevin Sands, Champions of the Fox, Puffin Canada 

The Brass Knuckles Award for Best Nonfiction Crime Book sponsored by David Reid Simpson  Law Firm (Hamilton), with a $300 prize 

Josef Lewkowicz and Michael Calvin, The Survivor: How I Survived Six Concentration Camps and  Became a Nazi Hunter, HarperCollins Publishers Ltd. 

Michael Lista, The Human Scale, Véhicule Press 

David Rabinovitch, Jukebox Empire, Rowman & Littlefield 

Bill Waiser and Jennie Hansen, Cheated, ECW Press 

Carolyn Whitzman, Clara at the Door with a Revolver, UBC Press, On Point Press 

Best Unpublished Crime Novel manuscript written by an unpublished author  Tom Blackwell, The Patient 

Craig H. Bowlsby, Requiem for a Lotus 

Sheilla Jones and James Burns, Murder on Richmond Road: An Enquiry Bureau Mystery Nora Sellers, The Forest Beyond 

William Wodhams, Thirty Feet Under 

Winners will be announced on the Crime Writers of Canada website on May 29th, 2024.  CWC is grateful for the support of Our Award Sponsors

Toronto-based Rakuten Kobo Inc. is one of the world’s fastest-growing e-Reading services,  offering more than 5 million eBooks and magazines to millions of users around the world. It  also offers a variety of e-Readers and top-ranking apps, enabling people to read more—on any  device they choose. 

Shaftesbury is an award-winning creator and producer of original content for television, film,  and digital. Building on a library of award-winning children’s programs, Shaftesbury has an  extensive slate of new child and family programming.  

David Simpson, a lawyer in Hamilton and the Districts of Brant, Halton, Haldimand and  Niagara, has a tradition of over fifty years of legal services. He sponsors “The Brass Knuckle”  Award for Best Nonfiction Crime Book in memory of true-crime author Robert Gordon Knuckle  (1935-2019).  

Melodie Campbell is the author of 17 books, 60 short stories, and is the recipient of ten  awards, including the Crime Writers of Canada Award of Excellence. She has taught fiction  writing since 1992 and maintains a special interest in encouraging new writers.  

Jane Doe chooses to remain anonymous.