Ned Kelly Awards 2023 shortlists announced

The Australian Crime Writers Association (ACWA) has announced the shortlisted titles for the 2023 Ned Kelly Awards.

The shortlists for the awards’ four categories include the following titles:

Best true crime

• Rattled (Ellis Gunn, A&U)
• Betrayed (Sandi Logan, Hachette)
• Out of the Ashes (Megan Norris, Big Sky Publishing)
• Tiger! Tiger! Tiger! (Officer A, The End Publishing)
• Death Row at Truro (Geoff Plunkett, Big Sky Publishing)

Best international crime fiction

• Paper Cage (Tom Baragwanath, Text)
• The Lemon Man (Keith Bruton, Cutting Edge)
• The Favour (Nicci French, S&S)
• The Hitchhiker (Gerwin van der Werf, Text)

Best debut crime fiction

• Wake (Shelley Burr, Hachette)
• The House of Now and Then (Jo Dixon, HarperCollins)
• How to Kill a Client (Joanna Jenkins, A&U)
• Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder (Kerryn Mayne, Bantam)
• Denizen (James McKenzie Watson, Viking)
• Dirt Town (Hayley Scrivenor, Macmillan)
• Black River (Matthew Spencer, A&U)
• No Country for Girls (Emma Styles, Sphere)

Best crime fiction

• When We Fall (Aoife Clifford, Ultimo)
• The Tilt (Chris Hammer, A&U)
• Exiles (Jane Harper, Macmillan)
• Soulmate (Sally Hepworth, Macmillan)
• Seven Sisters (Katherine Kovacic, HarperCollins)
• Lying Beside You (Michael Robotham, Hachette)
• Those Who Perish (Emma Viskic, Echo)
• The Carnival Is Over (Greg Woodland, Text).

The Ned Kelly Awards have been running since 1995, making them Australia’s oldest crime fiction and true crime awards. In its announcement, ACWA said that the shortlist highlights the ‘strength and identity’ of Australian crime writing.

‘It is particularly pleasing to see authors continuing to break away from some of the more common crime tropes, with an even larger variety of characters, settings and social diversity in this year’s entries than we have received before,’ ACWA said.

ACWA expects to announce the winners in about four weeks.

Category: Awards Local news