FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (April 24, 2010) – Thursday night, april 22, the shortlist nominees for the Arthur Ellis Awards were announced simultaneously in venues across Canada. These nominees will vie for the top awards in mystery and crime writing in six categories. The winners will be announced at the annual Arthur Ellis Dinner on May 27, 2010, in Toronto.

The finalists were chosen from a superb collection of writers and the decisions were not easy. “It’s always a difficult choice,” said Cathy Astolfo, NVP for Crime Writers of Canada. “We have many talented Canadian authors writing in this genre.” The categories are Best Novel, Best First Novel, Best Unpublished First Crime Novel (or “Unhanged Arthur”), Best Juvenile, Best Crime Writing in French, and Best Short Story. “Winning the Unhanged Arthur [2008] directly resulted in my obtaining an agent, which led to a book contract,” Dorothy McIntosh told the crowd in Toronto Thursday night. The shortlist for Best Juvenile is listed below.

Not Suitable for Family Viewing
Written by Vicki Grant
Published by HarperTrophyCanada

Haunted
Written by Barbara Haworth-Attard
Published by HarperTrophyCanada

Homicide Related
Written by Norah McClintock
Published by Red Deer Press

The Hunchback Assignments
Written by Arthur Slade
Published by HarperCollins Publishers

The Uninvited
Written by Tim Wynne-Jones
Published by Candlewick Press

The Arthur Ellis Awards were named after the pseudonym of Canada’s last hangman.

Peter Robinson, one of the most prominent Canadian crime writers, will also be honoured at this year’s Arthur Ellis Dinner. He is the recipient of the prestigious Derrick Murdoch Award, the Crime Writers of Canada’s Presidential prize for outstanding contributions to crime writing.

For more information, please contact:
Melodie Campbell
info@crimewriterscanada.com

About Crime Writers of Canada:
The Crime Writers of Canada is a national organization for Canadian crime writers, associated professionals, and anyone else with a serious interest in Canadian crime writing. Its mission is to promote Canadian crime writing and to raise the profile of Canadian crime writers from coast to coast.