2021 Ned Kelly Awards shortlists announced

Here’s some good news for fans of crime writing: the 2021 Ned Kelly Awards for crime fiction and true crime writing have been announced.

Established in 1995, these awards are administered by the Australian Crime Writers Association (ACWA) and are named after Australia’s infamous 19th century bushranger Ned Kelly.

The awards are split into four separate categories as follows (hyperlinks take you to my reviews):

BEST CRIME FICTION

• Consolation by Garry Disher (Text) (on my TBR!)

• Gathering Dark by Candice Fox (Penguin Random House)

• A Testament of Character by Sulari Gentill (Pantera Press)

• The Survivors by Jane Harper (Pan Macmillan)

• The Good Turn by Dervla McTiernan (Harper Collins) (on my TBR!)

• Tell Me Lies by J.P. Pomare (Hachette) (on my TBR!)

• When She Was Good by Michael Robotham (Hachette)

• White Throat by Sarah Thornton (Text) (on my TBR!)

BEST DEBUT CRIME FICTION

• The Good Mother by Rae Cairns (Bandrui Publishing)

• The Second Son by Loraine Peck (Text)

• The Bluffs by Kyle Perry (Penguin Random House) (abandoned this one)

• The Night Whistler by Greg Woodland (Text)

BEST TRUE CRIME

• The Husband Poisoner by Tanya Bretherton (Hachette)

• Stalking Claremont: Inside the hunt for a serial killer by Bret Christian (Harper Collins) (on my TBR!)

• Public Enemies by Mark Dapin (Allen and Unwin)

• Hazelwood by Tom Doig (Penguin Random House)

• Witness by Louise Milligan (Hachette)

BEST INTERNATIONAL CRIME FICTION

• The Guest List by Lucy Foley (Harper Collins)

• The Secrets of Strangers by Charity Norman (Allen and Unwin)

• Take Me Apart by Sara Sligar (Text)

• We Begin at the End by Chris Whittaker (Allen and Unwin)

• Broken by Don Winslow (Harper Collins)

The winners will be announced at an award ceremony next month.

You can find out more about the Ned Kelly awards on the ACWA website. All previous category winners are listed on this Wikipedia page.