Sisters in Crime has announced a shortlist of 25 books for its 19th Davitt Awards for best crime books written by Australian women.

The shortlist comprises of nine adult novels, five Young Adult (YA) novels, five children’s novels, and six non-fiction books. A remarkable 11 of these books are debut crime novels and will be battling it out for the best debut crime book award.

Here are the shortlisted books in each category:

Adult crime novels

• This I Would Kill For by Anne Buist
• Second Sight by Aoife Clifford
• Redemption Point by Candice Fox
• Mine by Susi Fox Debut
• The Lost Man by Jane Harper
• Wintering by Krissy Kneen Debut
• The Killing of Louisa by Janet Lee Debut
• The Ruin by Dervla McTiernan
• Live and Let Fry by Sue Williams

Young adult crime novels

• Small Spaces by Sarah Epstein Debut
• Found by Fleur Ferris
• The Finder by Kate Hendrick Debut
• White Night by Ellie Marney
• After the Lights Go Out by Lili Wilkinson

Children’s crime novels

• The Relic of the Blue Dragon by Rebecca Lim
• The Peacock Detectives by Carly Nugent Debut
• His Name Was Walter by Emily Rodda
• Wakestone Hall by Judith Rossell
• The Mystery of the Squashed Cockroach (The Peski Kids, Book 1) by R. A. Spratt

Non-fiction crime books

• Trace: Who Killed Maria James? by Rachael Brown Debut
• The Arsonist by Chloe Hooper
• Eggshell Skull by Bri Lee Debut
• Gorgeous Girl by Mary K Pershall Debut
• Siege: Inside the Lindt Cafe by Deborah Snow Debut
• Waiting for Elijah by Kate Wild Debut

Debut titles

• Trace: Who Killed Maria James? by Rachael Brown
• Small Spaces by Sarah Epstein
• Mine by Susi Fox
• Wintering by Krissy Kneen
• The Finder by Kate Hendrick
• Eggshell Skull by Bri Lee
• The Killing of Louisa by Janet Lee
• The Peacock Detectives by Carly Nugent
• Gorgeous Girl by Mary K Pershall
• Siege: Inside the Lindt Cafe by Deborah Snow
• Waiting for Elijah by Kate Wild

The Davitt Awards will be announced at a gala dinner at Saturday 31 August. The Davitts are named after Ellen Davitt, author of Australia’s first mystery novel Force and Fraud (1865) and in 2019, are sponsored by Swinburne University of Technology. Read more about the shortlist here.