Davitt Awards winners 2016
Congratulations to the 2016 winners of the Davitt Awards for the best crime books by Australian women.
Adult novels + Debut + Reader’s Choice Award
Resurrection Bay by Emma Viskic
Caleb Zelic, profoundly deaf since early childhood, has always lived on the outside – watching, picking up tell-tale signs people hide in a smile, a cough, a kiss. When a childhood friend is murdered, a sense of guilt and a determination to prove his own innocence sends Caleb on a hunt for the killer. But he can’t do it alone. This gripping, original and fast-paced crime thriller is set between a big city and a small coastal town, Resurrection Bay, where Caleb is forced to confront painful memories.
Non-fiction
Wild Man by Alecia Simmonds
In April 2012 a man was shot dead by police on a remote farm in New South Wales called the School of Happiness. The victim, who was high on a cocktail of drugs and who suffered from mental illness, had been threatening attendees of a hippie festival with a crossbow and hunting knife. When the police finally arrived, they tried to subdue him but, ultimately, fatal shots were fired. Alecia Simmonds unravels the web of issues entangled in this fascinating, bizarre and, undoubtedly, tragic case
Young adult novels
Risk by Fleur Ferris
Taylor and Sierra have been best friends for their whole lives. But Taylor’s fed up. Why does Sierra always get what – and who – she wants? From kissing Taylor’s crush to stealing the guy they both met online for herself, Sierra doesn’t seem to notice when she hurts her friends. So when Sierra says Jacob Jones is the one and asks her friends to cover for her while she goes to meet him for the first time, Taylor rolls her eyes. But then Sierra doesn’t come back when she said she would and Taylor starts to worry.
Children’s Novels
Friday Barnes 2: Under Suspicion by R.A. Spratt
When Friday Barnes cracked the case of Highcrest Academy’s mysterious swamp-yeti, the last thing she expected was to be placed under arrest. Now with the law on her back and Ian Wainscott in her face, Friday is not so sure boarding school was the smartest choice. From a missing or not-so-missing calculator to the appearance of strange holes in the school field, she is up to her pork-pie hat in crimes and she swears not all of them are hers.
This year’s judging panel comprises librarian Jacqui Horwood; booksellers Deborah Crabtree (from Readings Carlton!) and Deb Force; forensic scientists Maggie Baron and Debbie Stephens; and crime reader Michaela Lobb. And the Reader’s Choice Award is voted for by the members of Sisters in Crime Australia.
