The shortlists for the 2025 Ned Kelly Awards have been announced, recognising the best Australian crime fiction and true crime writing from the past year.
Each year the Australian Crime Writers Association recognises and celebrates the achievements and continuing strength of Australian authors. The Ned Kelly Awards for crime writing are among Australia’s oldest and most recognised awards. They are a highlight of the Australian publishing and literary calendar.
Australia’s love affair with crime books continued this year with 137 books entered for the 2025 Ned Kelly Awards. The majority of those entries were for the Best Crime category with 90 books.
The judging panel commented that the 2025 entries offered a large range of sub-genre within the crime fiction category, including humour, horror, futuristic, historic and rural crime as well as a book of connected short stories. Settings, too, ranged across several international locations in addition to Australia’s inner city, farmlands and much loved outback.
The shortlisted books for each category are below. The winners will be announced in September – join us at Readings Hawthorn to celebrate!
Best Crime Fiction
Shadow City by Natalie Conyer
Sanctuary by Garry Disher
Unbury the Dead by Fiona Hardy
The Creeper by Margaret Hickey
Cold Truth by Ashley Kalagian Blunt
Highway 13 by Fiona McFarlane
17 Years Later by JP Pomare
Storm Child by Michael Robotham
Best International Crime Fiction (published in Australia)
Return to Blood by Michael Bennett
Leave the Girls Behind by Jacqueline Bublitz
The Waiting by Michael Connelly
A Case of Matricide by Graeme Macrae Burnet
Moscow X by David McCloskey
Home Truths by Charity Norman
Best Debut Crime Fiction
Down the Rabbit Hole by Shaeden Berry
A Town Called Treachery by Mitch Jennings
The Chilling by Riley James
All You Took From Me by Lisa Kenway
Everywhere We Look by Martine Kropkowski
The Crag by Claire Sutherland
Best True Crime
They’ll Never Hold Me by Michael Adams
A Thousand Miles from Care by Steve Johnson
The Kingpin and the Crooked Cop by Neil Mercer
Meadow’s Law by Quentin McDermott
The Lasting Harm by Lucia Osborne-Crowley
You can find more information about this year's shortlists here.
