The Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence
2023 SHORTLISTS
The Winners will be announced Thursday, 25 May 2023.
Best Crime Novel
sponsored by Rakuten Kobo, with a $1000 prize
Linwood Barclay, Take Your Breath Away, William Morrow
Anthony Bidulka, Going to Beautiful, Stonehouse Publishing
Nicole Lundrigan, An Unthinkable Thing, Viking Canada
Catherine McKenzie, Please Join Us, Simon & Schuster Canada
Shelly Sanders, Daughters of the Occupation, HarperCollins Canada
Best Crime First Novel
sponsored by Melodie Campbell, with a $1000 prize
T. Lawrence Davis, The Pale Horse, Friesen Press
Bill Edwards, Killer Time, Friesen Press
Adam Frost, The Damned Lovely, Down and Out Books
Sam Shelstad, Citizens of Light, TouchWood Editions
M.Z. Urlocker, The Man from Mittelwerk, Inkshares, Inc.
The Howard Engel Award for Best Crime Novel Set in Canada
sponsored by Charlotte Engel and CWC, with a $500 prize
A. J. Devlin, Five Moves of Doom, NeWest Press
S. M. Freedman, Blood Atonement, Dundurn Press
Joanne Jackson, A Snake in the Raspberry Patch, Stonehouse Publishing
Maureen Jennings, Cold Snap, Cormorant Books
Amy Tector, The Foulest Things, Keylight Books
The Whodunit Award for Best Traditional Mystery
sponsored by Jane Doe, with a $500 prize
Alice Bienia, Knight in the Museum, Cairn Press
Anne Emery, Fenian Street, ECW Press
Thomas King, Deep House, HarperCollins Canada
Mary Jane Maffini, Death Plans a Perfect Trip, Beyond the Page
Iona Whishaw, Framed in Fire, Touchwood Editions
Best Crime Novella
sponsored by Mystery Magazine, with a $200 prize
M.H. Callway, Amdur's Ghost, In the Spirit of 13,Carrick Publishing
Hilary Davidson, Dangerous to Know, A Grifter's Song Vol. 8, Down & Out Books
Julie Hiner, Dead End Track, Julie Hiner
Matt Hughes, The Emir's Falcon, Shadowpaw Press Premiere
Alexis Stefanovich-Thomson, The Man Who Went Down Under, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazines
Best Crime Short Story
sponsored by Mystery Magazine, with a $300 prize
Craig H. Bowlsby, The Girl Who Was Only Three Quarters Dead, Mystery Magazine
M.H. Callway, Must Love Dogs - or You're Gone, Gone, Red Dog Press
Blair Keetch, To Catch a Kumiho, In the Spirit of 13, Carrick Publishing
Sylvia Maultash Warsh, The Natural Order of Things, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine
donalee Moulton, Swan Song, Cold Canadian Crime, Crime Writers of Canada
Best French Crime Book (Fiction and Nonfiction)
Geneviève Blouin, Le Mouroir des anges, Éditions Alire
Isabelle Lafortune, Chaîne de glace, Éditions XYZ
Guillaume Morrissette, Le dernier manège, Saint-Jean éditeur
Suzan Payne, Modus operandi, Éditions Perce-Neige
Richard Ste-Marie, Monsieur Hämmerli, Éditions Alire
Best Juvenile or YA Crime Book (Fiction and Nonfiction)
sponsored by Shaftesbury, with a $500 prize
Natasha Deen, Lark Steals the Show, Orca Book Publisher
Marthe Jocelyn, Aggie Morton Mystery Queen: The Seaside Corpse, Tundra Books
H.N. Khan, Wrong Side of the Court, Penguin Teen
Wesley King, Butt Sandwich & Tree, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Jo Treggiari, Heartbreak Homes, Nimbus Publishing Limited
The Brass Knuckles Award for Best Nonfiction Crime Book
sponsored by David Reid Simpson Law Firm, Hamilton, with a $300 prize
Michael Arntfield, How to Solve a Cold Case: And Everything Else You Wanted to Know About Catching Killers, HarperCollins Canada
Sharon Anne Cook and Margaret Carson, The Castleton Massacre, Dundurn Press Ltd.
Harley Rustad, Lost in the Valley of Death, Knopf Canada - Penguin Random House Canada
Rosemary Sullivan, The Betrayal of Anne Frank: A Cold Case Investigation, HarperCollins Canada
Sarah Weinman, Scoundrel, Knopf Canada - Penguin Random House Canada
The Award for Best Unpublished Manuscript
sponsored by ECW Press, with a $500 prize
Jan Garnett, No Safe House
Mary Keenan, Snowed
Joanne Kormylo, Two Knots
Joel Nedecky, The Broken Detective
Michael Pennock, The Peaks
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.