The Ned Kelly Awards aim to recognise and award crime writing in Australia. The shortlist of books has just been announced and the winners will be announced during the Melbourne Writers Festival. And just when the Underbelly buzz was quietening down. Here are the shortlists:

Best First Fiction

  • A Fraction of the Whole, Steve Toltz
  • Golden Serpent, Mark Abernethy
  • The Low Road, Chris Womersley

Best Fiction

  • Amongst The Dead, Robert Gott
  • El Dorado, Dorothy Porter
  • Shatter, Michael Robotham
  • Sucked In, Shane Maloney

Best Non-Fiction

  • Killing Jodie, Janet Fife-Yeomans
  • Red Centre, Dark Heart, Evan McHugh
  • Underbelly: The Gangland War, John Silvester & Andrew Rule

The Ned Kelly Award winners will be announced at a free event on the last weekend of the festival.