CrimeFest has announced the shortlists for its annual awards!

The awards were due to be presented at a Gala Dinner during the convention at the Bristol Grand Mercure Hotel this June, but in light of Covid-19, the winners will be announced online at www.crimefest.com and via its social media pages on Tuesday 7 July.
CrimeFest was created following the hugely successful one-off visit to Bristol in 2006 of the American Left Coast Crime convention. It was established over ten years ago in 2008. It follows the egalitarian format of most US conventions, making it open to all authors and readers alike.
The convention has grown to become not only one of the biggest crime fiction events in Europe, but also one of the most popular dates in the international crime fiction calendar, with circa 60 panel events and 150 authors over four days.

The Shortlists

SPECSAVERS DEBUT CRIME NOVEL AWARD
- Fiona Erskine for The Chemical Detective (Point Blank)
- Katja Ivar for Evil Things (Bitter Lemon Press)
- Carolyn Kirby for The Conviction of Cora Burns (No Exit Press)
- Alex Michaelides for The Silent Patient (Orion Fiction)
- Laura Shepherd-Robinson for Blood & Sugar (Mantle)
- Holly Watt for To The Lions (Raven Books)

AUDIBLE SOUNDS OF CRIME AWARD
- Kate Atkinson for Big Sky narrated by Jason Isaacs (Penguin Random House Audio)
- Oyinkan Braithwaite for My Sister, the Serial Killer narrated by Weruche Opia (W F Howes)
- Alex Callister for Winter Dark narrated by Ell Potter (Audible Studios)
- Lee Child for Blue Moon narrated by Jeff Harding (Penguin Random House Audio)
- Lisa Jewell for The Family Upstairs narrated by Tamaryn Payne, Bea Holland, Dominic Thorburn (Penguin Random House Audio)
- T.M. Logan for The Holiday narrated by Laura Kirman (Zaffre)
- Peter May for The Man with No Face narrated by Peter Forbes (Quercus, Fiction)
- Alex Michaelides for The Silent Patient narrated by Louise Brealey, Jack Hawkins (Orion)

H.R.F. KEATING AWARD
- Ursula Buchan for Beyond The Thirty-Nine Steps (Bloomsbury Publishing)
- John Curran for The Hooded Gunman (HarperCollins Crime Club)
- Barry Forshaw for Crime Fiction: A Reader's Guide (No Exit Press)

LAST LAUGH AWARD
- William Boyle for A Friend is a Gift you Give Yourself (No Exit Press)
- Hannah Dennison for Tidings of Death at Honeychurch Hall (Constable)
- Helen FitzGerald for Worst Case Scenario (Orenda Books)
- Christopher Fowler for Bryant & May - The Lonely Hour (Transworld)
- Antti Tuomainen for Little Siberia (Orenda Books)
- L.C. Tyler for The Maltese Herring (Allison & Busby)


eDUNNIT AWARD
- Helen FitzGerald for Worst Case Scenario (Orenda Books)
- Sarah Hilary for Never Be Broken (Headline)
- Andrew Taylor for The King's Evil (HarperFiction)
- L.C. Tyler for The Maltese Herring (Allison & Busby)
- Holly Watt for To The Lions (Raven Books)
- Don Winslow for The Border (HarperFiction)

BEST CRIME FICTION NOVEL FOR CHILDREN (ages 8-12)
- P.G. Bell for The Great Brain Robbery (Usborne Publishing)
- Vivian French for The Steam Whistle Theatre Company (Walker Books)
- Sophie Green for Potkin and Stubbs (Bonnier Books)
- A.M. Howell for The Garden of Lost Secrets (Usborne Publishing)
- Simon Lelic for The Haven (Hodder Children's Books)
- Thomas Taylor for Malamander (Walker Books)

BEST CRIME FICTION NOVEL FOR YOUNG ADULTS (ages 12-16)
- Kathryn Evans for Beauty Sleep (Usborne Publishing)
- John Grisham for Theodore Boone: The Accomplice (Hodder & Stoughton)
- Samuel J. Halpin for The Peculiar Peggs of Riddling Woods (Usborne Publishing)
- Simon Mason for Hey Sherlock! (David Fickling Books)
- Tom Pollock for Heartstream (Walker Books)
- Nikesh Shukla for The Boxer (Hodder Children's Books)

Lynda La Plante, Laura Lippman and Robert Goddard to headline 2020 CrimeFest!

Lynda La Plante, Laura Lippman and Robert Goddard to headline 2020 CrimeFest.

Headline authors for CrimeFest - one of Europe’s biggest crime fiction conventions - have been announced. 

The 2020 convention sponsored by Specsavers is hosted from 4 to 7 June at the Mercure Bristol Grand Hotel and will feature icon of the genre, Lynda La Plante, the award-winning author of more than 30 internationally bestselling novels.

La Plante was a pioneer with her 1980’s series, Widows. The show received the Hollywood treatment with a movie adaptation by director Steve McQueen in 2018.

The BAFTA award winning screenwriter and former RADA trained actress went on to create one of television’s greatest characters, DI Jane Tennison in Prime Suspect. Played by Helen Mirren in a career-defining performance, the hugely influential character transformed the TV landscape.

She’ll be discussing her career in her debut appearance at CrimeFest alongside Buried - the first novel in her much-anticipated new series featuring DC Jack Warr.

Laura Lippman is one of America’s most admired crime writers. The New York Times bestselling author of acclaimed standalones and the award-winning Tess Monaghan series, is lauded by readers, critics and writers alike.

A reporter for twenty years, Laura worked with the Baltimore Sun before becoming a novelist, hailed by the Washington Post as, “one of the best novelists around, period.” Along with her fiction, Lippman will be discussing her latest book of essays, My Life As A Villainess.

Robert Goddard will also feature after the author was awarded the Crime Writers’ Association’s highest accolade in 2019, the Diamond Dagger, for a lifetime achievement in crime writing.

Goddard's first novel, Past Caring, was an instant bestseller and his books went on to captivate readers worldwide with their edge-of-the-seat pace and their labyrinthine plotting. His books have been translated into over thirty languages. His 28th novel, One False Move, was published last year.

Specsavers co-founder, Dame Mary Perkins, said: “As a personal fan of the crime genre and with my own personal connection to Bristol, it’s fantastic to be involved in this annual showcase of world-class crime fiction. It’s also great to see CrimeFest developing its community activity to help make reading accessible to everyone.”

CrimeFest, now in its 11^th year, is a hotbed for readers who dip into the occasional crime novel alongside die-hard fans, as well as drawing top crime novelists, editors, publishers and reviewers from around the world. It runs a series of educational and community outreach events alongside the convention.

Director and co-founder of CrimeFest, Adrian Muller, said: “CrimeFest is the most democratic of crime conventions as it’s open to all authors to take part. As such, it’s not just established names but offers an exciting and fertile ground for aspiring and new talent. There’s a friendly energy for readers and attendees, fitting the independent, vibrant spirit of our host town, Bristol.”

Up to 150 authors will descend on Bristol appearing in over 50 panels delving into diverse topics from politics to historical crime, the Golden Age of crime fiction to police procedurals, serial killers to cosy crime. There’ll also be a panel on crime fiction reviewers, honouring the late Marcel Berlins, and a ‘Ghost of Honour’ remembering Dick Francis.

Highlights include the coveted ‘Pitch an Agent’ for aspiring writers and the annual CrimeFest Awards featuring the inaugural Specsavers Debut Crime Novel Award.

Other big names include award-winning bestselling crime writer and broadcaster Dreda Say Mitchell, and Sarah Pinborough, the New York Times bestselling author of Behind Her Eyes, adapted by Netflix for broadcast this year.

The no. 1 bestselling Icelandic writer, Yrsa Sigurðardóttir also features with an appearance by the writer, broadcaster, dramatist and journalist Lynne Truss, famed for Eats, Shoots and Leaves alongside her comic crime novel, A Shot in the Dark.

Joining them as the Toastrix at the Gala Dinner is Zoë Sharp, creator of the Charlie Fox series of crime thrillers.

www.crimefest.com