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The CrimeFest convention is one of the biggest crime fiction events in Europe, with the 2024 CrimeFest Awards presented on 11 May, 2024! There are so many exciting reads on the nominee lists to add to your TBR!
In this post we’ll break down a few of the fiction categories to see what’s on offer. How many books on this list have you read? We’re always looking for new mystery and crime thrillers to read, and what better place to find them than on a nominee list!
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Happy Reading, Friends!
The Specsavers Debut Crime Novel Award is for debut authors first published in the United Kingdom in 2023.
For years, Jake Jackson has been a high-flying detective in London. But then one day he receives a letter from his reclusive uncle – he has left Jake his property in the middle of the countryside. For Jake, it is the perfect opportunity for a fresh start. At first, life in the middle of nowhere is everything Jake could wish for. His new home is beautiful, his surroundings are stunning, and he enjoys getting back to nature. But then, what starts as a fun village treasure hunt turns deadly, when a young woman’s bones are discovered. And Jake is thrust once again into the role of detective, as he tries to unearth a dangerous killer in this most unlikely of settings. This is Book One in the ‘Jake Jackson’ Series.
DCS Kat Frank knows all about loss. A widowed single mother, Kat is a cop who trusts her instincts. Picked to lead a pilot programme that has her paired with AIDE (Artificially Intelligent Detective Entity) Lock, Kat’s instincts come up against Lock’s logic. But when the two missing person’s cold cases they are reviewing suddenly become active, Lock is the only one who can help Kat when the case gets personal. AI versus human experience. Logic versus instinct. With lives on the line can the pair work together before someone else becomes another statistic? This is Book One in the ‘Kat & Lock’ Series.
Wealthy and privileged, Alex has an easy path to success in the Parisian elite his father mingles with. But the two have never seen eye to eye. Desperate to escape the increasingly suffocating atmosphere of their apartment, Alex seeks freedom on the streets of Paris where his new-found friend Sami teaches him how to survive. But everything has a price – and one night of rebellion changes their lives forever. A simple plan to steal money takes a sinister turn when Alex’s father is found dead. Despite protesting their innocence, both boys are imprisoned for murder. Seven years later Alex is released from prison with a single purpose: to discover who really killed his father. Yet as he searches for answers and atones for the sins of his past, Alex uncovers a disturbing truth with far-reaching consequences. This is a stand-alone novel.
Copenhagen author Hannah is the darling of the literary community and her novels have achieved massive critical acclaim. But nobody actually reads them, and frustrated by writer’ s block, Hannah has the feeling that she’ s doing something wrong. When she expresses her contempt for genre fiction, Hanna is publicly challenged to write a crime novel in 30 days. Scared that she will lose face, she accepts, and her editor sends her to Hú safjö ð ur – a quiet, tight-knit village in Iceland, filled with colourful local characters – for inspiration. But two days after her arrival, the body of a fisherman’ s young son is pulled from the water, and what begins as a search for plot material quickly turns into a messy and dangerous investigation that threatens to uncover secrets that put everything at risk … including Hannah. This is a stand-alone novel.
Birmingham, 1933. Private enquiry agent William Garrett, a man damaged by a dark childhood spent on Birmingham’s canals, specialises in facilitating divorces for the city’s male elite. With the help of his best friend -charming, out-of-work actor Ronnie Edgerton – William sets up honey traps. But photographing unsuspecting women in flagrante plagues his conscience and William heaves up his guts with remorse after every job. However, William’s life changes when he accidentally meets the beautiful Clara Morton and falls in love. Little does he know she is the wife of a client – a leading fascist with a dangerous obsession. And what should have been another straightforward job turns into something far more deadly. This is a stand-alone novel.
Roach would rather be listening to the latest episode of her favorite true crime podcast than assisting the boring and predictable customers at her local branch of the bookstore Spines, where she’s worked her entire adult life. A serious true crime junkie, Roach looks down her nose at the pumpkin-spice-latte-drinking casual fans who only became interested in the genre once it got trendy. But when Laura, a pretty and charismatic children’s bookseller, arrives to help rejuvenate the struggling bookstore branch, Roach recognizes in her an unexpected kindred spirit. Despite their common interest in true crime, Laura keeps her distance from Roach, resisting the other woman’s overtures of friendship. Undeterred, Roach learns everything she can about her new colleague, eventually uncovering Laura’s traumatic family history. When Roach realises that she may have come across her very own true crime story, interest swiftly blooms into a dangerous obsession. This is a stand-alone novel.
The eDUNNIT Award is for the best crime fiction ebook first published in both hardcopy and in electronic format in the United Kingdom in 2023.
She never wanted to come back. Now she’ll never leave. Nancy Holland’s sister disappeared on a holiday in Cornwall eleven years ago. She hasn’t been seen since, and Nancy never returned. Until now. Life has pulled her back to the seaside village and cottage where young Lola was last seen. Back then, Nancy couldn’t see what was right in front of her eyes. Can she now finally uncover what happened to her sister? But somebody doesn’t want her here, digging into the past. If she discovers the truth at last, they’ll never let her leave again. This is Book 3 in the ‘Stephanie King’ Series. Check out Book One – ‘And So It Begins’.
At first glance, Jellicoe Close seems to be a perfect suburban street – well-kept houses with pristine lawns, neighbours chatting over garden fences, children playing together. But there are dark secrets behind the neat front doors, hidden dangers that include a ruthless criminal who will stop at nothing. It’s up to DS Maeve Kerrigan and DI Josh Derwent to uncover the truth. Posing as a couple, they move into the Close, blurring the lines between professional and personal as never before. And while Maeve and Josh try to gather the evidence they need, they have no idea of the danger they face – because someone in Jellicoe Close has murder on their mind. This is Book 10 in the ‘Maeve Kerrigan’ Series. Check out Book One – ‘The Burning’.
London, 1930s: Rachel Savernake has been invited to a private view of an art exhibition at a fashionable gallery. The artist, Damaris Gethin, known as ‘the Queen of Surrealism’, is debuting a show featuring live models pretending to be waxworks of famous killers. Before her welcoming speech, Damaris asks a haunting favour of the amateur sleuth: she wants Rachel to solve her murder. As Damaris takes to a stage set with a guillotine, the lights go out. There is a cry and the blade falls. Damaris has executed herself. While Rachel questions why Damaris would take her own life – and just what she meant by ‘solve my murder’ – fellow party guest Jacob Flint is chasing a lead on a glamorous socialite with a sordid background. As their paths merge, this case of false identities, blackmail, and fedora-adorned doppelgängers, will descend upon a grand home on Sepulchre Street, where nothing – and no one – is quite what it seems. This is Book 4 in the ‘Rachel Savernake’ Series. Check out Book One – ‘Gallows Court’.
Spring, 1941. The Second World War has entered a dangerous phase, with British ships being torpedoed in the Atlantic and nightly bombing raids on major ports. At Bletchley Park, top secret home of the nation’s code-breakers, the race is on to crack the German Enigma code and thus prevent further naval and military losses. This endeavour is suddenly very close to home for Frederick Rowlands, blind veteran of the Great War, when his daughter, Margaret, who works at ‘the Park’ as a cryptographer, is arrested on suspicion of betraying secrets to the enemy. Then a young woman is found murdered, and Rowlands is drawn into a deadly battle of wits where he must decode a series of clues that will lead him to the killer and enable him to discover the real traitor at Bletchley Park. This is Book 8 in the ‘Blind Detective’ Series. Check out Book One – ‘The Blind Detective’.
Amber Glass has spent her entire adult life putting as much distance as possible between her and her hometown of Baltimore, where she fears she will forever be known as “Prom Mom”–the girl who allegedly killed her baby on the night of the prom after her date, Joe Simpson, abandoned her to pursue the girl he really liked. But when circumstances bring Amber back to the city, she realises she can have a second chance–as long as she stays away from Joe, now a successful commercial real estate developer, married to a plastic surgeon, Meredith, to whom he is devoted. The problem is, Amber can’t stay away from Joe. And Joe finds that it’s increasingly hard for him to ignore Amber, if only because she remembers the boy he was and the man he said he was going to be. Against the surreal backdrop of 2020 and early 2021, the two are slowly drawn to each other and eventually cross the line they’ve been trying not to cross. And then Joe asks Amber to help him do the unthinkable. This is a stand-alone novel.
1927: Mary Rourke—a Hollywood studio fixer—is called urgently to the palatial home of Norma Carlton, one of the most recognisable stars in American silent film. Norma has been working on the secret film everyone is openly talking about – a terrifying horror picture called The Devil’s Playground that is rumoured to have unleashed a curse on everyone involved in the production. Mary finds Norma’s cold, dead body, and she wonders for just a moment if these dark rumours could be true. 1967: Paul Conway, a journalist and self-professed film aficionado, is on the trail of a tantalising rumour. He has heard that a single copy of The Devil’s Playground —a Holy Grail for film buffs—may exist. He knows his Hollywood history and he knows the film endured myriad tragedies and ended up lost to time. This is a stand-alone novel.
The Last Laugh Award is for the best humorous crime novel first published in the United Kingdom in 2023.
Maverick sleuth Declan Miller is back at work following the murder of his wife (and amateur ballroom dancing partner) Alex. Working with new partner and heavy metal enthusiast DS Sara Xiu, he is tasked with investigating the double killing of gangland family scion Adrian Cutler and IT consultant Barry Shepherd at the Sands Hotel. Initial evidence suggests a hired gun and a botched job. The search for the hitman begins and Miller begins to reconnect with his old network–his ballroom dancing friends, homeless informant Finn, and even the ghost of his wife who keeps showing up in his kitchen. The fact Alex had been investigating the Cutler family prior to her death complicates things, and as Miller gets closer to the truth, he realises the danger is walking right up to his doorstep. This is Book One in the ‘Detective Miller’ Series.
Magician Max Mephisto, now divorced and living in London, is on his way to visit daughter Ruby and her new-born baby when he is hailed by a voice from the past, fellow performer Ted English, aka the Great Deceiver. Ted’s assistant, Cherry, has been found dead in her Brighton boarding house and he’s convinced that he’ll be accused of her murder. Max agrees to talk to his friend, Superintendent Edgar Stephens, who is investigating the case. What Max doesn’t know is that the girl’s family have hired private detective duo Emma Holmes (aka Mrs Stephens) and Sam Collins to do some digging of their own. When a second magician’s assistant is killed, Edgar suspects a serial killer. He persuades Max to come out of semi-retirement and take part in a summer show. But who can pose as his assistant? This is Book 7 in the ‘Brighton Mysteries’ Series. Check out Book One – ‘The Zig Zag Girl’.
This award is for the best crime novel for children (aged 8-12) first published in the United Kingdom in 2023.
July, 1936. As the Queen Mary sets sail across the Atlantic, Alice can’t wait for the summer of adventure that lies ahead. She’s excited to explore the huge ship, with its shops, animals and even celebrities on board. But while Alice’s sailor father focuses on winning a prestigious race, she witnesses a shocking attack. Alice and her new friend Sonny start to uncover a dark sabotage plot, and as they investigate gold bars, anonymous notes and lost silk gloves, secrets in their own lives come to the surface. When fog threatens the boat’s journey, and dangerous enemies show themselves, Alice and Sonny are in their own race to solve all the mysteries unfolding. But what they discover might change both their lives forever. This is Book One in the ‘Mysteries at Sea’ Series.
Finding a dead body at my new school was a pretty rubbish way to start. But actually getting mixed up in the case? I was bound to get into deep, deep trouble for that! Murder comes to Hanbridge High, and three Year Seven misfits want to solve the New boy Jonno hopes playing detective will convince his parents that moving to Hanbridge was a big mistake. School reporter Lydia thinks her news story will sweep everything else off the front page. And young carer Daniel needs the police to arrest the right culprit – for his mum’s sake. They may not be friends, but they’re about to become – The Detention Detectives. This is Book One in the ‘Detention Detectives’ Series.
On the day they are born, every Swift child is brought before the sacred family dictionary. They are given a name and a definition, one it’s assumed they will grow up to match. Unfortunately, Shenanigan Swift doesn’t much like being told what to do. Troublemaker and mischief enthusiast Shenanigan rattles around the grand old Swift house rehearsing Arch-Aunt Schadenfreude’s funeral with her older sisters Phenomena and Felicity, plotting future crimes, and wondering whether she is herself by choice or design. When the Family Reunion floods the house with people, Shenanigan is excited to meet her rogue’s gallery of relatives–until one of them gives Schadenfreude a deadly shove down the stairs. Shenanigan had planned to spend the reunion hunting for Grand-Uncle Vile’s hidden treasure. But more murders and an awful lot of suspects–from newcomers Daisy and Atrocious to beloved Uncle Maelstrom–keep complicating Shenanigans plans. This is Book One in ‘The Swifts’ Series.
There’s something strange going on at school. The Breakfast Club Investigators haven’t managed to solve a mystery in months and Marcus is worried that the group is going to break up! So when the captain of the school basketball team comes to ask for their help Marcus knows this might just be the Investigator’s last chance to prove themselves.The basketball team have had a streak of bad luck, and Marcus and his mates are sure there’s more going on than meets the eye. As the mystery deepens and they uncover one surprising clue after another, they discover that someone – or something – has cursed the basketball team! Can Marcus and his friends solve the mystery in time? This is Book 2 in ‘The Breakfast Club Adventures’ Series. Check out Book One – ‘The Beast Beyond the Fence’.
March 1941. Britain is at war, and a secret agency called the Ministry of Unladylike Activity is training up children as spies – because grown-ups always underestimate them. Enter May, Eric and Nuala: courageous, smart, and the Ministry’s newest recruits.May’s big sister Hazel has arranged for them to stay on a quiet street close to the Ministry, home to an unlikely collection of people thrown together by the war. And it is in the basement of the bombed-out house at the end of that street that they discover something mysterious. Something that was not there when the Blitz wreckage was first combed through. Something that has been placed there recently. A body. Could this be the missing Ministry spy that Daisy Wells is on a dangerous mission in France to find? Or could it be someone else – someone a resident of the street wanted silenced. This is Book 2 in ‘The Ministry of Unladylike Activity’ Series. Check out Book One – ‘The Ministry of Unladylike Activity’.
Twelve-year-olds Lizzie Sancho and Dido Belle are from different worlds – Lizzie lives in Westminster in her dad’s tea shop, while Belle is an heiress being brought up by her aunt and uncle at grand Kenwood House – but they both share a love of solving mysteries. And after saving Lizzie’s father from attempted murder surely there is no threat too challenging for this detective duo? It’s the summer of 1777, the night of the grand unveiling of the Sancho-Mansfields family portrait – and a celebration of friendship, family, and freedom! But all too soon things take a dark turn – the painting has been stolen! Now it is time for Lizzie and Belle to put their sleuthing skills to the ultimate test, following a trail of thefts, kidnappings and even poisonings that haunts the twisting London streets.
With a grand conspiracy afoot, and a mysterious organisation threatening their closest friends and family, who can Lizzie and Belle trust? Once again it is up to the two girls to unveil the truth and put an end to the villainy that plagues the city. This is Book 2 in the ‘Lizzie & Belle Mysteries’ Series. Check out Book One – ‘Drama & Danger’.
This award is for the best crime novel for young adults (aged 12-16) first published in the United Kingdom in 2023.
Grayson Hawthorne was raised as the heir apparent to his billionaire grandfather, taught from the cradle to put family first. Now the great Tobias Hawthorne is dead and his family disinherited, but some lessons linger. When Grayson’s half-sisters find themselves in trouble, he swoops in to do what he does best: take care of the problem—efficiently, effectively, mercilessly. And without getting bogged down in emotional entanglements. Jameson Hawthorne is a risk-taker, a sensation-seeker, a player of games. When his mysterious father appears and asks for a favour, Jameson can’t resist the challenge. Now he must infiltrate London’s most exclusive underground gambling club, which caters to the rich, the powerful, and the aristocratic, and win an impossible game of greatest stakes. Luckily, Jameson Hawthorne lives for impossible. This is Book 4 of ‘The Inheritance Games’ Series. Check out Book One – ‘The Inheritance Games’.
The prestigious Urban Promise Prep school might look pristine on the outside, but deadly secrets lurk within. When the principal ends up murdered on school premises and the cops come sniffing around, a trio of students―J.B., Ramón, and Trey―emerge as the prime suspects. They had the means, they had the motive – and they may have had the murder weapon. But with all three maintaining their innocence, they must band together to track down the real killer before they are arrested. Or is the true culprit hiding among them? This is a stand-alone novel.
When Hugh Henry Van Boren, one of the most popular and richest kids in Jess Choudhary’s school, is found dead, the student body is left reeling and wondering who the murderer could be – Jess, a student under strict instructions to keep her record clean or risk losing her scholarship, finds herself at the centre of the investigation when it’s revealed that Hugh died in the exact same way as a character in a short story she wrote. And then Jess receives an anonymous text thanking her for the inspiration. With time running out, Jess knows if she doesn’t solve this mystery she’ll finally have something in common with Hugh Henry. She’ll be dead too. This is a stand-alone novel.
When three girls are stranded at the grand Bramble Estate in the middle of a snowstorm, they stumble into a murder plot. Someone has poisoned wealthy Emily Vanforte in the middle of a family dinner – which means Devi, Lizzie and Jayne are trapped in the house with a killer and a mystery to solve. With knives under floorboards, vanishing guns and secret passages in the walls, no one is safe and everyone is a suspect. But in a house of liars and corruption, will the girls save themselves…or learn to fit in?This is a stand-alone novel.
Ever since Simon died in detention, life hasn’t been easy for the Bayview Crew. First the Bayview Four had to prove they weren’t killers. Then a new generation had to outwit a vengeful copycat. Now, it’s beginning again. At first the mysterious billboard seems like a bad joke: Time for a new game, Bayview. But when a member of the crew disappears, it’s clear this ‘game’ just got serious – and no one understands the rules. Everyone’s a target. And now that someone unexpected has returned to Bayview, things are starting to get deadly. The thing is, Simon was right about secrets – they all come out, eventually. And Bayview has a lot it’s still hiding. This is Book 3 in the ‘One of Us is Lying’ Series. Check out Book One – ‘One of Us is Lying’.
When Stella North is chosen to represent Britain in Europe’s first air race for young people, she knows all too well how high the stakes are. As the only participating female pilot, it’ll be a constant challenge to prove she’s a worthy competitor. But promoting peace in Europe feels empty to Stella when civil war is raging in Spain and the Nazis are gaining power—and when, right from the start, someone resorts to cutthroat sabotage to get ahead of the competition. The world is looking for inspiration in what’s meant to be a friendly sporting event. But each of the racers is hiding a turbulent and violent past, and any one of them might be capable of murder…including Stella herself. This is a stand-alone novel.
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