Davitt Awards 2013 finalists announced

11 July 2013 Books+Publishing

The finalists for this year’s Davitt Awards, presented by Sisters in Crime Australia for the best crime and mystery books by Australian women in 2012, have been announced.

The finalists in each category are:

Adult Fiction

Fish-Hair Woman (Merlinda Bobis, Spinifex)
After the Darkness (Honey Brown, Viking)
A Stranger in My Street (Deborah Burrows, Pan)
The Price of Fame (R C Daniels, Clan Destine Press)
Stage Fright (Marianne Delacourt, A&U)
The Betrayal (Y A Erskine, Bantam)
Sufficient Grace (Amy Espeseth, Scribe)
Scared Yet? (Jaye Ford, Bantam)
Shallow Breath (Sara Foster, Bantam)
Cold Grave (Kathryn Fox, Pan)
Miles off Course (Sulari Gentill, Pantera Press)
Paving the New Road (Sulari Gentill, Pantera Press)
Unnatural Habits (Kerry Greenwood, A&U)
Mad Men, Bad Girls and the Guerilla Knitters Institute (Maggie Groff, Pan)
Walking Shadows (Narrelle M Harris, Clan Destine Press)
In Her Blood (Annie Hauxwell, Michael Joseph)
Silent Fear (Katherine Howell, Pan)
The Mistake (Wendy James, Michael Joseph)
Thirst (L A Larkin, Murdoch Books)
The Map (Tobsha Learner, HarperCollins)
Death by Beauty (Gabrielle Lord, Hachette)
Prodigal Son (Colleen McCullough, HarperCollins)
The Secret Keeper (Kate Morton, A&U)
Cyanide and Poppies (Carolyn Morwood, Pulp Fiction Press)
Assassin (Tara Moss, HarperCollins)
Running Dogs (Ruby J Murray, Scribe)
Silent Valley (Malla Nunn, Macmillan)
Sisters of Mercy (Caroline Overington, Bantam)
Dead Heat (Bronwyn Parry, Hachette)
The Poet’s Cottage (Josephine Pennicott, Macmillan)
Reflection of Evil (Bridgette Powell, MBS Press)
The Inheritance of Ivorie Hammer (Edwina Preston, UQP)
Hoodwink (Rhonda Roberts, HarperCollins)
The Innocent (Taylor Stevens, Bantam)
A Common Loss (Kirsten Tranter, Fourth Estate)
A Dissection of Murder (Felicity Young, HarperCollins)
Burning Lies (Helene Young, Michael Joseph)

Children’s/Young Adult

The New Kid: Ghost Club 1 (Deborah Abela, Random House)
The Colour of Trouble (Gerry Bobsien, Walker Books)
The Ghost at the Point (Charlotte Calder, Walker Books)
Dead, Actually (Kaz Delaney, A&U)
Night Beach (Kirsty Eagar, Penguin)
Bureau of Mysteries (H J Harper, Random House)
The Children of the King (Sonya Hartnett, Viking)
Riggs Crossing (Michelle Renee Heeter, Ford Street)
Witch (Fiona Horne, A&U)
Malice: Conspiracy 365 Book 14 (Gabrielle Lord, Scholastic)
Moonlight and Ashes (Sophie Masson, Random House)
Truly Tan (Jen Storer, ABC Books)
The Tunnels of Tarcoola (Jennifer Walsh, A&U)

True Crime

Snowing in Bali (Kathryn Bonella, Macmillan)
The Double Life of Herman Rockefeller (Hilary Bonney, Michael Joseph)
The Waterlow Killings (Pamela Burton, Victory)
Missing You (Justine Ford, Five Mile Press)
Taman Shud: The Somerton Man Mystery (Kerry Greenwood, NewSouth)
Partners and Crime (Rochelle Jackson, A&U)
Crimwife (Tan Levin, Black Inc.)
Perfect Stranger (Kay Schubach, Michael Joseph)
California P.I. (Rachel Sommerville, NewSouth)
Horrible Man (Leonie Wallace, Fontaine Press)
True True Blood (Megan Norris, Five Mile Press).

A shortlist will be released in late July, and the winners will be announced at a gala dinner in Melbourne on 31 August. As previously reported by Books+Publishing, a Lifetime Achievement Award will also be presented for the first time this year.

The judging panel for the awards includes forensic pathologist Shelley Robertson, retired bookseller Rosi Tovey, Sisters in Crime national co-convenors Tanya King-Carmichael and Jacqui Horwood, and former convenor Sylvia Loader.

‘The Davitts have played a key role in getting women’s crime books better recognised—and in encouraging Australian publishers to take a punt on crime books produced by women locally, instead of just importing the latest blockbusters from overseas. It’s a gamble that has paid off,’ said King-Carmichael in a statement.

More information is available on Sisters in Crime website here.

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