The finalists for this year’s Arthur Ellis Awards, administered by the Crime Writers of Canada to recognize the country’s best crime writing in one French-language and seven English categories, have been announced. Digital versions of the shortlisted titles can be previewed or purchased via Kobo. The winners will be announced May 25.

Best Novel

• Kelley Armstrong, City of the Lost (Vintage Canada)
• Michael Helm, After James (McClelland & Stewart)
• Maureen Jennings, Dead Ground in Between (M&S)
• Janet Kellough, Wishful Seeing (Dundurn Press)
• Donna Morrissey, The Fortunate Brother (Viking Canada)

Best First Novel

• Ryan Aldred, Rum Luck (Five Star Publishing)
• R.M.Greenaway, Cold Girl (Dundurn)
• Mark Lisac, Where the Bodies Lie (NeWest Press)
• Amy Stuart, Still Mine (Simon & Schuster Canada)
• Elle Wild, Strange Things Done (Dundurn)

Best Novella The Lou Allin Memorial Award

• Rick Blechta, Rundown (Orca Book Publishers)
• Brenda Chapman, No Trace (Grass Roots Press)
• Jas. R. Petrin, “The Devil You Know” in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine (Dell Publishing)
• Linda L. Richards, When Blood Lies (Orca)
• Peter Robinson, “The Village That Lost Its Head” in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine (Dell)

Best Short Story

• Cathy Ace, “Steve’s Story” from The Whole She-Bang 3 (Toronto Sisters in Crime)
• Susan Daly, “A Death at the Parsonage” from The Whole She-Bang 3 (Toronto Sisters in Crime)
• Elizabeth Hosang, “Where There’s a Will” from The Whole She-Bang 3 (Toronto Sisters in Crime)
• Scott Mackay, “The Ascent” from Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine (Dell)
• David Morrell, “The Granite Kitchen” from, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine (Dell)

Best Juvenile/YA Book

• Gordon Korman, Masterminds: Criminal Destiny (HarperTrophy)
• Nora McClintock, Trial by Fire (Orca)
• John Moss, The Girl in a Coma (Poisoned Pen Press)
• Caroline Pignat, Shooter (Razorbill Canada)
• Eva Wiseman, Another Me (Tundra Books)

Best Non-fiction Book

• Christie Blatchford, Life Sentence: Stories from Four Decades of Court Reporting — or, How I Fell Out of Love with the Canadian Justice System (Doubleday Canada)
• Joe Friesen, The Ballad of Danny Wolfe: Life of a Modern Outlaw (Signal)
• Jeremy Grimaldi, A Daughter’s Deadly Deception: The Jennifer Pan Story (Dundurn)
• Debra Komar, Black River Road: An Unthinkable Crime, an Unlikely Suspect, and the Question of Character (Goose Lane Editions)
• Bobbi-Jean MacKinnon, Shadow of Doubt: The Trial of Dennis Oland (Goose Lane)

Unhanged Arthur for Best Unpublished First Crime Novel

• Mary Fernando, An Absence of Empathy
• S.J. Jennings, The Golkonda Project
• Charlotte Morganti, Concrete Becomes Her
• Ann Shortell, Celtic Knot
• Mark Thomas, The Last Dragon

Best Book in French

• Marie-Eve Bourassa, Red Light: Adieu, Mignonne (vlb éditeur)
• Chrystine Brouillet, Vrai ou faux (Éditions Druide)
• Guillaume Morrissette, Terreur domestique (Guy Saint-Jean Éditeur)
• Johanne Seymour, Rinzen et l’homme perdu (Expression Noire)
• Richard Ste-Marie, Le Blues des sacrifiés (Éditions Alire)