Congratulations to the 2020 winners of the Ned Kelly Awards for the best in Australian crime writing.
Best crime fiction
The Wife and the Widow by Christian White
On a tourist island off the Victorian coast, two women come to slow realisations about the men they love. Kate’s husband has vanished, a body is found on the island, and Abby suspects her husband might be involved -– while the truth is a blistering twist that will knock you right out.
Best debut crime fiction
Present Tense by Natalie Conyer
Cape Town, South Africa: Retired police chief Piet Pieterse has been murdered. A tyre placed round his neck, doused with petrol, set alight – his death is a message. Veteran cop Schalk Lourens is trying to move on with his life but Pieterse was his old boss and when Schalk is put on the case, he finds the past has a way of infecting the present.
Best true crime
Bowraville by Dan Box
Based on Box’s Walkley Award-winning podcast of the same name, Bowraville addresses the true case of a small Australian town, the murders of three Aboriginal children and a desperate fight for justice. In the book, Box asks painful questions about what ‘justice’ means and how it is delivered, and reflects on what happened after the podcast ended.
Best international crime fiction
The Chain by Adrian McKinty
What lengths would you go to in order to protect your child? Rachel O’Neill receives the chain letter from hell: an untraceable phone call telling her that her daughter has been abducted and the only way to save her is to pay $25,000 and kidnap another child. Gripping, propulsive and at times darkly funny, this standalone is a true page-turner.
