Canadian writer Brad Smith is one of five authors shortlisted for the 2022 Dashiell Hammett Prize for Literary Excellence in Crime Writing. His novel, Copperhead Road, is published by Winnipeg-based press At Bay Press.

The award, granted annually by the International Association of Crime Writers North American Branch, is given to a book by a Canadian or American writer that best exemplifies literary excellence in crime writing.

This year’s shortlisted books are:

• Copperhead Road by Brad Smith (At Bay Press)
• Gangland by Chuck Hogan (Grand Central)
• Don’t Know Tough by Eli Cranors (Soho Crime)
• Pay Dirt Road by Samantha Jayne Allen (Minotaur)
• What Happened to the Bennetts by Lisa Scottoline (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)

The winner will be announced in the summer.

This year’s shortlisted books were chosen from nearly 300 submitted titles by a reading committee comprised of Caro Soles, James McCrone, Christina Hoag, Ann Romeo, and T. C. Rice. The prize was established in 1991, and past winners include Elmore Leonard, Margaret Atwood, and Gil Adamson.