Thomas King among winners of 2023 Crime Writers of Canada Awards
10 Canadian authors, including Anthony Bidulka, Sam Shelstad and Jo Treggiari, received awards
Thomas King was among the winners of the Crime Writers of Canada Awards for his mystery novel Deep House.
The annual awards, created by the Crime Writers of Canada in 1984, uplifts the best in mystery, crime, suspense fiction and crime nonfiction by Canadian authors.
King's Deep House won the $500 Whodunit Award for best traditional mystery.
In Deep House, the follow-up novel to Obsidian, Thumps DreadfulWater settles in the small town of Chinook after the pandemic. In searching for normalcy, Thumps finds a body at the bottom of a canyon and is caught in the middle of another confounding mystery.
King is a Canadian-American writer of Cherokee and Greek ancestry. His books include Truth & Bright Water; Green Grass, Running Water, which was on Canada Reads in 2004; The Inconvenient Indian, which was on Canada Reads in 2015; and The Back of the Turtle, which won the Governor General's Literary Award for fiction in 2014. He also writes the DreadfulWater mystery series.
Anthony Bidulka won the $1,000 prize for best crime first novel for his book Going to Beautiful.
When thriving celebrity chef Jake Hardy has a horrible accident, his life is upended as he moves to a small snowy town in the Prairies. Going to Beautiful follows Hardy during his recovery in a scenic new environment as he befriends his 78 year old transgender neighbour. When Hardy begins to believe what happened to him might not have been an accident at all, he and his neighbour discover murder cases from decades ago.
"I really wanted to write a book that starts in this place of loss and struggle but is a journey to finding joy," Bidulka said in an interview with The Afternoon Edition Saskatoon's Garth Materie, "I really wanted to write a love letter to life on the Prairies."
Going to Beautiful was published by the Alberta-based publishers Stonehouse Publishing and was one of two books from Saskatchewan authors to win this year. A Snake in the Raspberry Patch by Joanne Jackson also won the Howard Engel Award for best crime novel set in Canada.
Bidulka is a crime and mystery writer from Saskatoon. He is also the author of the Adam Saint books, the Russell Quant Mysteries and Flight of Aquavit which was the first Canadian book to win the Lambda Literary Award in the men's mystery category. Going to Beautiful also won the Independent Publisher Book Award for Canada West Best Fiction.
Sam Shelstad won the $1,000 prize for best crime first novel for his book Citizens of Light.
Set in southern Ontario, Citizens of Light follows Colleen Weagle whose mundane life is upended when her husband is found dead in a bog. Colleen tries to distract herself with work but when mysterious clues begin to emerge she is set on discovering the truth behind his death and her own past.
Shelstad is a writer currently based in Toronto. He was formerly longlisted for the CBC Short Story Prize and a runner-up for the Thomas Morton Memorial Prize. He has previously published a short story collection called Cop House. Citizens of Light is his debut novel.
Novelist and independent bookseller Jo Treggiari also won for her book Heartbreak Homes in the $500 best juvenile or YA crime book category.
Heartbreak Homes is a young adult thriller following three teens who are forced to come together to find a killer the night of a house party gone horribly wrong. Frankie is not into the party scene but goes to support her best friend, Martin is avoiding problems at home and Cara has been squatting for her survival in a nearby home. Told through their very different perspectives, Heartbreak Homes is a murder mystery of unlikely friends.
Jo Treggiari was born in London, England, and raised in Canada. She is the author of the YA novels Blood Will Out, Ashes, Ashes and The Grey Sisters, which was a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award.
Canadians authors such as Linwood Barclay, Iona Whishaw and H.N. Khan were among the writer's on this year's shortlists.
This year's recipient of the 2023 Derrick Murdoch Award is Jack Batten.
The Derrick Murdoch Award recognizes a member of the Crime Writers of Canada who has made significant contributions to the crime and mystery genre. Batten is a journalist, radio personality and author of dozens of books. His book Straight No Chaser was a finalist in 1990 for the Crime Writers of Canada's Award for best crime novel.
The full list of winners is below:
- Best Crime Novel: Going to Beautiful by Anthony Bidulka
- Best Crime First Novel: Citizens of Light by Sam Shelstad
- Howard Engel Award for Best Crime Novel Set in Canada: A Snake in the Raspberry Patch by Joanne Jackson
- Whodunit Award for Best Traditional Mystery: Deep House by Thomas King
- Best Crime Novella: The Man Who Went Down Under by Alexis Stefanovich-Thomson
- Best Crime Short Story: The Girl Who Was Only Three Quarters Dead by Craig H. Bowlsby
- Best French Crime Book (Fiction and Nonfiction): Monsieur Hämmerli by Richard Ste-Marie
- Best Juvenile or YA Crime Book (Fiction and Nonfiction): Heartbreak Homes by Jo Treggiari
- Brass Knuckles Award for Best Nonfiction Crime Book: The Betrayal of Anne Frank by Rosemary Sullivan
- Best Unpublished Manuscript: Snowed by Mary Keenan
Previous award winners have included Canadian crime writers such as Gail Bowen, Will Ferguson, Stevie Cameron and Louise Penny.
