Crime Writers of Canada has announced the shortlists for its annual writing awards.

Established in 1984, the Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence recognize the best in mystery, crime, suspense fiction, and crime nonfiction by Canadian authors. Winners of the nine awards, some of which have prizes ranging from $300 to $1,000, will be announced on May 29.

In addition to the annual awards, Crime Writers of Canada also bestows an annual Grand Master award to a Canadian writer whose significant body of work has received national and international attention. This year’s Grand Master Award recipient is prolific mystery writer Maureen Jennings. A long-time member of the crime writers association, Jennings is perhaps best-known for her books featuring Detective William Murdoch, a series that was turned into the television series Murdoch Mysteries, which is aired in more than 120 countries.

“She is an exceptional talent, a generous mentor and strong supporter of Canadian crime and mystery writers,” Crime Writers of Canada said in a press release.

Peter Robinson Award for Best Crime Novel

• The Drowning Woman by Robyn Harding (Grand Central Publishing/Hachette)
• Everyone Here is Lying by Shari Lapena (Doubleday Canada/PRHC)
• Middlemen by Scott Thornley (Spiderline/House of Anansi Press)
• Sunset and Jericho by Sam Wiebe (Harbour Publishing)
• The Maid’s Diary by Loreth Anne White (Montlake/Amazon Publishing)

Best Crime First Novel

• The Bittlemores by Jann Arden (Random House Canada)
• Adrift by Lisa Brideau (Sourcebooks)
• The End Game by Charlotte Morganti (Halfdan Press)
• The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters (Harper Perennial/HarperCollins)
• Perfect Shot by Steve Urszenyi (Minotaur/Macmillan Publishers)

Howard Engel Award for Best Crime Novel Set in Canada

• The Almost Widow by Gail Anderson-Dargatz (Harper Avenue/HarperCollins)
• Elmington by Renee Lehnen (Storeyline Press)
• Cruel Light by Cyndi MacMillan (Crooked Lane Books)
• Wild Hope by Joan Thomas (Harper Perennial/HCP)
• Shapes of Wrath by Melissa Yi (Windtree Press)

Whodunit Award for Best Traditional Mystery

• The Legacy by Gail Bowen (ECW Press)
• Steeped in Malice by Vicki Delany (Kensington Books)
• The Game is a Footnote by Vicki Delany (Crooked Lane Books)
• The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose (Viking/PRHC)
• To Track a Traitor by Iona Whishaw (TouchWood Editions)

Best Crime Short Story

• “Wisteria Cottage” by M.H. Callway (Wildside Press (for Malice Domestic))
• “Reversion” by Marcelle Dubé (Mystery Magazine)
• “The Canadians (Killin’ Time in San Diego)” by Mary Keenan (Down & Out Books)
• “Troubled Water” by donalee Moulton (Black Cat Weekly (Wildside Press))
• “American Night” bvy Zandra Renwick (Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine)

The Best French Language Crime Book (Fiction and Nonfiction)

• La punition by Jean-Philippe Bernié (Glénat Québec)
• Le mois des morts by Chrystine Brouillet (Éditions Druide)
• Le dernier souffle est le plus lourd by Catherine Lafrance (Éditions Druide)
• La sainte paix by André Marois (Héliotrope)
• Rien by Jean-Jacques Pelletier (Alire)

Best Juvenile/YA Crime Book (Fiction and Nonfiction)

• Someone is Always Watching by Kelley Armstrong (Tundra Books/PRHC)
• Funeral Songs for Dying Girls by Cherie Dimaline (Tundra Books/PRHC)
• The Big Sting by Rachelle Delaney (Tundra Books/PRHC)
• Catfish Rolling by Clara Kumagai (Penguin Teen Canada/PRHC)
• Champions of the Fox by Kevin Sands (Puffin Canada/PRHC)

Brass Knuckles Award for Best Nonfiction Crime Book

• The Survivor: How I Survived Six Concentration Camps and Became a Nazi Hunter by Josef Lewkowicz and Michael Calvin (HarperCollins Publishers)
• The Human Scale: Murder, Mischief and Other Selected Mayhems by Michael Lista (Véhicule Press)
• Jukebox Empire: The Mob and the Dark Side of the American Dream by David Rabinovitch (Rowman & Littlefield)
• Cheated: The Laurier Liberals and the Theft of First Nations Reserve Land by Bill Waiser and Jennie Hansen (ECW Press)
• Clara at the Door with a Revolver: The Scandalous Black Suspect, the Exemplary White Son, and the Murder That Shocked Toronto by Carolyn Whitzman (On Point Press/UBC Press)

Best Unpublished Crime Novel manuscript written by an unpublished author

• The Patient by Tom Blackwell
• Requiem for a Lotus by Craig H. Bowlsby
• Murder on Richmond Road: An Enquiry Bureau Mystery by Sheilla Jones and James Burns
• The Forest Beyond by Nora Sellers
• Thirty Feet Under by William Wodhams