The Ned Kelly Awards winners 2019

Congratulations to the 2019 winners of the Ned Kelly Awards for the best in Australian crime writing. Now in its 24th year the Ned Kelly Awards are Australia’s oldest and most prestigious crime writing awards.


Best fiction

The Lost Man by Jane Harper

When Cameron Bright is found dead and burned from the heat in the middle of the desert, nine kilometres from his well-stocked, air-conditioned – and perfectly working – four-wheel-drive, no one can fathom what led to his death. In this remote corner of the Queensland outback neighbours live hundreds of kilometres apart and roads lie empty for days, the isolation can make people do crazy things to escape the world, but Cam’s oldest brother Nathan isn’t convinced. With few suspects at hand, dark family secrets unravel against the unforgiving landscape in this raw and unadulterated rural crime story.

You can read our review here.


Best first fiction

The Rúin by Dervla McTiernan

After moving from fast-paced Dublin to the much more sedate city of Galway (on the west coast of Ireland), Detective Cormac Reilly is handed a 20-year-old cold case from the beginning of his career. Reilly’s investigations intertwine with the story of talented young surgical resident Aisling Conroy, who is facing a difficult decision following a tragic and mysterious death. Internal police politics, intergenerational trauma, the Irish legal system, and the cutthroat world of surgery are explored in this elegantly crafted and utterly addictive novel.

You can read our review here.


Best true crime

Eggshell Skull by Bri Lee

Bri Lee began her first day of work at the Brisbane Magistrates Court as a bright-eyed judge’s associate. Eighteen months later she was back as the complainant in a sexual assault case. This is the story of Bri’s journey through the Australian legal system; first as the daughter of a policeman, then as a law student, and finally as a judge’s associate in both metropolitan and regional Queensland - where justice can look very different, especially for women. This fierce and eloquent memoir explores the injustices of the legal system, the obtuseness of its bureaucracies, the institutional violence it perpetrates against victims.

You can read our review here.


Find out more about the Ned Kelly Awards here.

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Cover image for Eggshell Skull

Eggshell Skull

Bri Lee

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