Reviews from this year’s AWW challenge participants are still coming in at a decent pace but for this round up I’m going to do something a little different. Over the past few weeks shortlists for Australia’s two major crime writing awards have been announced, with winners in both due to be revealed at the end of this month. Given that a majority of the eligible books for both awards have scored at least one review by an AWW Challenge participant I’ve highlighted my favourites among those reviews to tempt you to check out some great crime writing by Australian women writers. Or there are some books that haven’t been reviewed yet (particularly in the books-for-younger-people and non-fiction categories), perhaps you’d like to fill one of these gaps.
Sisters in Crime has announced shortlisted books in five categories for the 17th Davitt Awards focusing on crime writing by Australian women. Winners for these will be announced on 26 August
Adult novel
- Tania Chandler, Dead in the Water – reviewed by Robin Elizabeth at Newtown Review of Books
- Cath Ferla, Ghost Girls – reviewed by Carol at Reading, Writing and Riesling
- Jane Harper, The Dry – reviewed by Kim at Reading Matters
- Melina Marchetta, Tell the Truth, Shame the Devil – reviewed by Ashley Kalagian Blunt at Newtown Review of Books
- Holly Throsby, Goodwood – reviewed by Rebecca Bowyer at Books & Writing
Young Adult Novel
- Megan Jacobson, Yellow – reviewed by Nalini Haynes at Dark Matter Zine
- Shivaun Plozza, Frankie – reviewed by Jess at The Never Ending Bookshelf
- Nova Weetman, Everything is Changed
Children’s novels
- Catherine Jinks, Theophilus Grey and the Traitor’s Mask
- Jessica Miller, Elizabeth and Zenoba
- Judith Rossell, Wormwood Mire – reviewed by Brona at Brona’s Books
- Jen Storer, Truly Tan: Hoodwinked
Non-fiction books
- Robin Bowles, Into the Darkness: The mysterious death of Phoebe Handsjuk – reviewed by Tracey at Carpe Librum
- Rachel Landers, Who Bombed the Hilton?
- Megan Norris, Look What You Made Me Do: Fathers who kill – reviewed by me at Reactions to Reading
- Ruth Wykes and Kylie Fox, Invisible Women
Debut
- Cath Ferla, Ghost Girls – reviewed by Elizabeth Lhuede at Devoted Eclectic
- Jane Harper, The Dry – reviewed by Bree at All the Books I Can Read
- Megan Jacobson, Yellow – reviewed by Jess at The Never Ending Bookshelf
- Rachel Landers, Who Bombed the Hilton?
- Melina Marchetta, Tell the Truth, Shame the Devil – reviewed by Deborah at Debbish.com
- Jessica Miller, Elizabeth and Zenoba
- Shivaun Plozza, Frankie – reviewed by Amy at Lost in a Good Book
- Holly Throsby, Goodwood – reviewed by Tracey at Literary Brooding
The shortlists for the Ned Kelly Awards for Australian crime writing were announced last week by the Australian Crime Writers Association. In two of the three award categories women writers featured strongly. Winners of these awards, and one for Best Non Fiction which is not represented by any Aussie women writers this year, will be announced on 1 September.
Best Fiction
- Candice Fox, Crimson Lake – reviewed by Tien at Tien’s Blurb
- Wendy James, The Golden Child – reviewed by Michelle at Beauty and Lace
- Emily Maguire, An Isolated Incident – reviewed by Janine Rizzetti at The Resident Judge of Port Phillip
- Ann Turner, Out of the Ice – reviewed by Jennifer Cameron-Smith at Good Reads
Note: Adrian McKinty’s Police at the Station and They Don’t Look Friendly and Jock Serong’s The Rules of Backyard Cricket round out this shortlist
Best First Fiction
- Jane Harper, The Dry – reviewed by Karen Chisholm at Newtown Review of Books
- Anna Snoekstra, Only Daughter – reviewed by Veronica at Good Reads
- Holly Throsby, Goodwood – reviewed by Rosalie at Good Reads
- Laura Elizabeth Woollett, The Love of a Bad Man – reviewed by Carol at Reading, Writing and Riesling
Note: Ron Elliott’s Burn Pattern and Andy Muir’s Something for Nothing complete this category
About Me
I’m Bernadette Bean. I’ve been reading avidly for as long as I can remember, blathering about the subject since late 2008 at Reactions to Reading, am co-host of Fair Dinkum Crime, a site devoted to promoting and discussing Australian crime fiction, and have twice been a judge for a national crime fiction award.
