CRIMEFEST, one of Europe’s leading crime writing conventions, has announced the winners of its annual awards. Now in its 14th year, the awards honor the best crime books released in 2020 in the UK. The 2021 CRIMEFEST Awards were presented in an online video on 1 June, 2021.

SPECSAVERS CRIME FICTION DEBUT AWARD

Winner: Trevor Wood for The Man on the Street (Quercus)

Also nominated:

Eva Björg Aegisdóttir for The Creak on the Stairs (Orenda Books)
Marion Brunet for Summer of Reckoning (Bitter Lemon Press)
Robin Morgan-Bentley for The Wreckage (Trapeze)
Richard Osman for The Thursday Murder Club (Viking)
Mara Timon for City of Spies (Zaffre)

AUDIBLE SOUNDS OF CRIME AWARD

Winner:  Richard Osman for The Thursday Murder Club, reader Lesley Manville (Viking)  

Also nominated:

Lee & Andrew Child for The Sentinel, reader Jeff Harding (Transworld)
Lucy Foley for The Guest List, readers Olivia Dowd, Aoife McMahon, Chloe Massey, Sarah Ovens, Rich Keeble & Jot Davies (HarperFiction)
Robert Galbraith for Troubled Blood, reader Robert Glenister (Little, Brown Book Group)
Anthony Horowitz for Moonflower Murders, readers Lesley Manville & Allan Corduner (Penguin Random House Audio)
Peter James for Find Them Dead, reader Daniel Weyman (Pan Macmillan)
Lisa Jewell for Invisible Girl, reader Donna Banya, Rebekah Staton & Connor Swindells (Penguin Random House Audio)
Lynda La Plante for Buried, readers Alex Hassell & Annie Aldington (Zaffre)
T. M. Logan for The Catch, reader Philip Stevens (Zaffre)Ian Rankin for A Song for the Dark Times, reader James Macpherson (Orion)

eDUNNIT AWARD

Winner:  Ian Rankin for A Song for the Dark Times (Orion Fiction)  

Also nominated:

Gabriel Bergmoser for The Hunted (Faber)
Sharon Bolton for The Split (Trapeze)
J. P. Carter for Little Boy Lost (Avon)
Steve Cavanagh for Fifty-Fifty (Orion Fiction)
Michael Connelly for Fair Warning (Orion Fiction)
James Lee Burke for A Private Cathedral (Orion Fiction)Holly Watt for The Dead Line (Raven Books)

H.R.F. KEATING AWARD

Winner: Martin Edwards (editor) for Howdunit: A Masterclass in Crime Writing by Members of the Detection Club (Collins Crime Club)  

Also nominated:

Mark Aldridge for Agatha Christie’s Poirot: The Greatest Detective in the World (HarperCollins)
Colin Larkin for Cover Me: The Vintage Art of Pan Books: 1950-1965 (Telos Publishing)
Andrew Lycett for Conan Doyle’s Wide World (Tauris Parke)
Heather Martin for The Reacher Guy (Constable)
Sheila Mitchell for H. R. F. Keating: A Life of Crime (Level Best Books)
Craig Sisterson for Southern Cross Crime: The Pocket Essential Guide to the Crime Fiction, Film & TV of Australia and New Zealand (Oldcastle Books)
Peter Temple for The Red Hand: Stories, reflections and the last appearance of Jack Irish (riverrun)

 LAST LAUGH AWARD

Winner:  Carl Hiaasen for Squeeze Me (Sphere)  

Also nominated:

Ben Aaronovitch for False Value (Gollancz)
Christopher Fowler for Bryant & May Oranges and Lemons (Doubleday)
Elly Griffiths for The Postscript Murders (Quercus)
Richard Osman for The Thursday Murder Club (Viking)
Malcolm Pryce for The Corpse in the Garden of Perfect Brightness (Bloomsbury Publishing)
Khurrum Rahman for Ride or Die (HQ)
Olga Wojtas for Miss Blaine’s Prefect and the Vampire Menace (Contraband)

BEST CRIME NOVEL FOR CHILDREN

Winner: Serena Patel for Anisha, Accidental Detective (Usborne Publishing)

Also nominated:

Sophie Deen for Agent Asha: Mission Shark Bytes (Walker Books)
Elly Griffiths for A Girl Called Justice The Smugglers’ Secret (Quercus Children’s Group)
Anthony Horowitz for Nightshade (Walker Books)
Jack Noel for My Headteacher is an Evil Genius (Walker Books)
Serena Patel for School’s Cancelled (Usborne Publishing)
Onjali Q. Rauf for The Night Bus Hero (Orion Children’s Group)
Dave Shelton for The Pencil Case (David Fickling Books)

BEST CRIME NOVEL FOR YOUNG ADULTS

Winner: Patrice Lawrence for Eight Pieces of Silva (Hodder Children’s Group)

Also nominated:

William Hussey for Hideous Beauty (Usborne Publishing)
Lauren James for The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker (Walker Books)
Matt Killeen for Devil Darling Spy (Usborne Publishing)
Simon Lelic for Deadfall (Hodder Children’s Group)
Robert Muchamore for Hacking, Heists & Flaming Arrows (Hot Key Books)
Patrick Ness for Burn (Walker Books)
Nancy Springer for The Case of the Missing Marquess (Hot Key Books)