The Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence
2022 SHORTLISTS
Best Crime Novel
sponsored by Rakuten Kobo, with a $1000 prize
Linwood Barclay, Find You First, William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
Daniel Kalla, Lost Immunity, Simon & Schuster
Dietrich Kalteis, Under the Outlaw Moon, ECW Press
Shari Lapena, Not a Happy Family, Doubleday Canada
Roz Nay, The Hunted, Simon & Schuster
Best Crime First Novel
sponsored by Writers First, with a $500 prize
Ashley Audrain, The Push, Viking Canada
Fiona King Foster, The Captive, HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
Byron TD Smith, Windfall: A Henry Lysyk Mystery, Shima Kun Press
Katherine Walker, All Is Well, Thistledown Press
David Whitton, Seven Down, Rare Machines an imprint of Dundurn Press
The Whodunit Award for Best Traditional Mystery
sponsored by Jane Doe, with a $500 prize
Candas Jane Dorsey, What’s the Matter with Mary Jane?, ECW Press
Alice Bienia, Three Dog Knight, Cairn Press
Jackie Elliott, Hell's Half Acre, Joffe Books
Catherine Macdonald, So Many Windings, At Bay Press
Vicki Delany, Murder in a Teacup, Kensington Publishing Corp
The Howard Engel Award for Best Crime Novel Set in Canada
sponsored by The Engel Family, with a $500 prize
C. S. Porter, Beneath Her Skin, Vagrant Press / Nimbus Publishing Inc.
Cathy Ace, Corpse with an Iron Will, Four Tails Publishing Inc.
Alice Walsh, Death on Darby’s Island, Vagrant Press / Nimbus Publishing Inc.
Sam Wiebe, Hell and Gone, Harbour Publishing Co. Inc.
Kevin Major, Three for Trinity, Breakwater Books
Best Crime Novella
sponsored by Mystery Magazine, with a $200 prize
Marcelle Dubé, Identity Withheld, Falcon Ridge Publishing
Brenda Gayle, Murder in Abstract (A Charly Hall Mystery, book 6), Bowstring Books
Wayne Ng, Letters From Johnny, Guernica Editions
Elvie Simons, Not So Fast, Dr. Quick, Dell Magazines
Best Crime Short Story
sponsored by Mystery Magazine, with a $300 prize
Pam Barnsley, What can You Do?, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine
Hilary Davidson, Weed Man, Dell Magazines
Elizabeth Elwood, Number 10 Marlborough Place, Dell Magazines
Charlotte Morganti, All My Darlings, Die Laughing: An Anthology of Humorous Mysteries
Melissa Yi, Dead Man's Hand, Dell Magazines
Best French Crime Book (Fiction and Nonfiction)
Roxanne Bouchard, Le murmure des hakapiks, Libre Expression
Marc-André Chabot, Dis-moi qui doit vivre… Libre Expression
Guillaume Morrissette, Conduite dangereuse, Saint-Jean
Patrick Senécal, Flots, Editions Alire
Richard Ste-Marie, Stigmates, Editions Alire
Best Juvenile or YA Crime Book (Fiction and Nonfiction)
sponsored by Shaftesbury, with a $500 prize
Karen Bass, Blood Donor, Orca Book Publishers
Rachelle Delaney, Alice Fleck's Recipes for Disaster, Puffin Canada
Cherie Dimaline, Hunting By Stars, Penguin Teen
Kevin Sands, The Traitor's Blade, Aladdin (Simon & Schuster)
Jordyn Taylor, Don't Breathe a Word, HarperTeen (HarperCollins Publishers)
The Brass Knuckles Award for Best Nonfiction Crime Book
sponsored by Simpson & Wellenreiter LLP, Hamilton, with a $300 prize
Sarah Berman, Don't Call it a Cult, Viking Canada
Aaron Chapman, Vancouver Vice: Crime and Spectacle in the City's West End, Arsenal Pulp Press
Catherine Fogarty, Murder on the Inside: The True Story of the Deadly Riot at Kingston Penitentiary, Biblioasis
Nate Hendley, The Beatle Bandit, Dundurn Press
Lorna Poplak, The Don: The Story of Toronto's Infamous Jail, Dundurn Press
The Award for Best Unpublished Manuscript sponsored by ECW Press, with a $500 prize
Delee Fromm, The Strength to Rise
Pam Isfeld, Captives
Renee Lehnen, Elmington
Katie Mac, Ken's Corner
Mark Thomas, Part Time Crazy
Sincere thanks to our sponsors.
And thank you to the publishers and authors that support the
CWC Awards of Excellence.
Click here for past finalists and winners
View the Shortlist Presentation on YouTube.