Voting for Sisters in Crime’s Davitt Readers’ Choice Award is now open to financial members.
An impressive 144 books are competing in Sisters in Crime’s 23nd Davitt Awards for the best crime and mystery books. A list of the books in contention is here as a pdf and is also pasted in below.
This year the Davitts are again supported by Swinburne University of Technology.
Six Davitt Awards will be presented at a gala dinner at South Melbourne’s Rising Sun Hotel on Saturday 2 September by Walkley-award winning investigative journalist and true-crime author, Debi Marshall: Best Adult Novel; Best Young Adult Novel; Best Children’s Novel; Best Non-fiction Book; Best Debut Book (any category); and Readers’ Choice (as voted the 600+ members of Sisters in Crime Australia). Prior to the awards presentation, Debi will be in conversation with true crime author and podcaster, Emily Webb.
Judge coordinator comments
Judging coordinator, Dr Philomena Horsley, said that the six Davitt judges were in awe of both the number of books in contention and their literary chops.
“It might be a truism but Australian crime writing is definitely experiencing a golden age – and it’s largely thanks to the endless creativity of women. The 101 adult crime books submitted to the Davitts are a case in point – a treasure trove of stories that traverse everything from women taking justice into their own hands to amateur sleuths tracking down killers in small towns on the coast and in the bush,” Dr Horsley said.
“It’s been a long time coming but finally we have swags of books which testify to the complexity of life in this country, and to the even more complex reality of male-female relationships. It is a revealing and enriching experience,” she said.
Readers’ Award Choice voting
Voting for the Readers’ Award Choice closes Friday 28 July, 11.59 pm. If you’re not a member, join now if you want to vote. Members are emailed a voting link. A longlist will be published within the next week. A shortlist comes out in July.
Media comment: Philomena Horsley on 0417 121 771; philomenah1@aol.com
More info: Carmel Shute, Secretary & National Co-convenor, Sisters in Crime Australia, on 0412 569 356; admin@sistersincrime.org.au.
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DAVITT BOOKS 2023 (144)
Adult novels (101)
Rachel Amphlett, A Lethal Deception (Saxon Publishing)
Rachel Amphlett, A Silent Truth (Detective Mark Turpin #4) (Saxon Publishing)
Rachel Amphlett, Case Files: Collected short crime stories (#1) (Saxon Publishing)
Mandy Beaumont, The Furies (Hachette Australia) Debut
Tamara M Bailey, The Other Olivia (Improbable Press)
Sarah Barrie, Retribution (HarperCollins Publishing Australia)
Sally Bothroyd, Brunswick Street Blues (HQ Fiction) Debut
Shelley Burr, Wake (Hachette Australia) Debut
Rae Cairns, The Good Mother (HarperCollins Publishing Australia) Debut
N D Campbell, Daughters of Eve (Allen & Unwin) Debut
Jane Caro, The Mother (Allen & Unwin) Debut
G C Chase, The Stain (Audrey Lord Mystery #2) (G C Chase)
Lee Christine, Dead Horse Gap (Allen & Unwin)
Lucy Christopher, Release (Text Publishing)
Sherryl Clark, Mad, Bad and Dead (Verve Books)
Aoife Clifford, When We Fall (Ultimo Press)
Tea Cooper, The Butterfly Collector (HarperCollins Publishing Australia)
Gaylene B Corben, A Date to Die For (AIA Publishing) Debut
Maryrose Cuskelly, The Cane (Allen & Unwin) Debut
Livia Day, Drop Dead in Red (Fashionably Late #2) (Tansy Rayner Roberts)
Marianne Delacourt, Razor Sharp (Twelfth Planet Press)
Franca Di Pietro, Life with a Psychopath (Sid Harta Publishers) Debut
Pip Drysdale, The Next Girl (Simon & Schuster)
Helen FitzGerald, Keep Her Sweet (Affirm Press)
Vanessa Garbin, Their Little Secrets (The Book Folks)
Sulari Gentill, The Woman in the Library (Ultimo Press)
Megan Goldin, Stay Awake (Penguin Random House Australia)
Toni Grant, The Trouble with Serpents (Brolga Publishing)
Kerry Greenwood, Murder in Williamstown (Allen & Unwin)
Bronwyn Hall, Gone to Ground (HarperCollins Publishing Australia)
Jane Harper, Exiles (Pan Macmillan Australia)
Pamela Hart, An A-List for Death (HQ Fiction)
Kelli Hawkins, All She Wants (HarperCollins Publishing Australia)
Eliza Henry-Jones, Salt and Skin (Ultimo Press)
Karen Herbert, The Cast Aways of Harewood Hall (Fremantle Press)
Diane Hester, Lying in Wait (HarperCollins Publishing Australia)
Margaret Hickey, Stone Town (Penguin Random House Australia)
D K Hood, Pray for Mercy (Bookouture Hachette UK)
Julie Janson, Madukka the River Serpent (UWA Publishing)
Kylie Kaden, One of Us (Pantera Press)
Jess Kitching, How to Destroy Your Husband (Kingsley Publishers)
Veronica Lando, The Whispering (HarperCollins Publishing Australia) Debut
Christina Larmer, Good Girls Don’t Drink Vodka (Larmer Media)
Christina Larmer, Smart Girls Don’t Trust Strangers (Larmer Media)
Tracey Lien, All That’s Left Unsaid (HQ Fiction) Debut
Ali Lowe, The Trivia Night (Hachette Australia) Debut
Kirsty Manning, The Paris Mystery (Allen & Unwin)
Megan Mayfair, The Perils of Poison (The Lemon Tree Bay Mysteries #3) (Montauk Bay)
Kate McCaffrey, Double Lives (Echo Publishing)
Kellie McCourt, Murder Most Fancy (HQ Fiction)
Fleur McDonald, Broad River Station (Allen & Unwin)
Fleur McDonald, Rising Dust (Allen & Unwin)
Fiona McFarlane, The Sun Walks Down (Allen & Unwin)
Jess McFarlane, Widow’s Flame Debut (Shawline Publishing Group)
Lyn McFarlane, The Scarlet Cross (Pantera Press) Debut
Kerry McGinnis, Gathering Storm (Penguin Random House Australia)
Petronella McGovern, The Liars (Allen & Unwin)
Fiona Kelly McGregor, Iris (Pan Macmillan Australia)
Dinuka McKenzie, The Torrent (HarperCollins Publishing Australia) Debut
Dervla McTiernan, The Murder Rule (HarperCollins Publishing Australia)
Mercedes Mercier, White Noise (HarperCollins Publishing Australia) Debut
Angela Meyer, Moon Sugar (Transit Lounge)
Joanna Morrison, The Ghost of Gracie Flynn (Fremantle Press) Debut
Dervla McTiernan, The Murder Rule (HarperCollins Publishing Australia)
Di Morrissey, The Night Tide (Pan Macmillan Australia)
Lucia Nardo, Messy Business (Clean Sweep Press) Debut
Tanya Nellestein, This Side of Fate (Wine & Words Publishing)
Kayte Nunn, The Only Child (Hachette Australia)
Paddy O’Reilly, Other Houses (Affirm Press)
Kylie Orr, Someone Else’s Child (HarperCollins Publishing Australia)
Bella Paige, Past Wounds (SPH #1) (Bookbub)
Judy Parkinson, Crystal (Judy Parkinson)
Mandy Partridge, Wizz Fizz (Mirella Castle Investigates #3) (Mandarella Productions)
Vikki Petraitis, The Unbelieved (Allen & Unwin) Debut
Polly Phillips, The Reunion (Simon & Schuster)
Nell Pierce, A Place Near Eden (Allen & Unwin) Debut
Sally Piper, Bone Memories (University of Queensland Press)
J P Powell, Deception Bay (Brio Books)FULL LIST
Beth Prentice, Tidal Wave (Gemma Halliday Publishing)
Allie Reynolds, The Bay (Hachette Australia)
Bronwyn Rodden, The Weaver of Blackheath (Megalong Books)
Annie Seaton, East of Alice (HarperCollins Publishing Australia)
Hayley Scrivenor, Dirt Town (Pan Macmillan Australia) Debut
Anna Snoekstra, Out of Breath (HarperCollins Publishing Australia)
Jessica Stanley, A Great Hope (Pan Macmillan Australia) Debut
Portia Stanton-Noble, Pretty Dead Ordinary (Austin Macauley)
Kimberley Starr, The Map of Night (Pantera Press)
Laraine Stephens, Deadly Intent (Level Best Books)
A M Stuart, Evil in Emerald (Harriet Gordon Mystery #3) (Berkley, an imprint of Penguin Random House USA)
Emma Styles, No Country for Girls (Sphere, an imprint of Hachette Australia) Debut
Kendall Talbot, Escape Mission (Alpha Tactical Ops #1) (Kendall Talbot Books)
Janna Thompson, Lockdown (Clan Destine Press) Debut
Holly Throsby, Clarke (Allen & Unwin)
Karen Thurecht, Murder at Frog’s Hollow (Shawline Publishing Group)
Emma Viskic, Those Who Perish (Echo Publishing)
Holly Wainwright, The Couple Upstairs (Pan Macmillan Australia)
Vikki Wakefield, After You Were Gone (Text Publishing)
M Q Webb, How to Spot a Psychopath (TBR Press) Debut
Susan White, Cut (Affirm Press)
Anna Willett, Lost to the Lake (The Book Folks)
Sue Williams, Death at the Belvedere (Text Publishing)
Louise Wolhuter, An Afterlife for Rosemary Lamb (Ultimo Press) Debut
Young Adult novels (11)
Louise Bassett, The Hidden Girl (Walker Books) Debut
Lauren Draper, The Museum of Broken Things (Text Publishing)
Sarah Epstein, Night Lights (Fourteen Press)
Ghis Gallo, The Jump (Nightstand Press) Debut
Jane Godwin, A Walk in the Dark (Hachette Australia)
Ellie Marney, The Killing Code (Allen & Unwin)
Amelia Mellor, The Bookseller’s Apprentice (Affirm Press)
Lystra Rose, The Upwelling (Hachette Australia) Debut
A J Rushby, The Stand In (Scholastic Australia)
Astrid Scholte, League of Liars (Allen & Unwin)
Rhiannon Wilde, Where You Left Us (University of Queensland Press)
Children’s novels (18)
Deborah Abela, The Book of Wondrous Possibilities (Puffin, an imprint of Penguin Random House Australia)
Charlie Archbold, The Sugarcane Kids and the Red-bottomed Boat (Text Publishing)
Anna Battese, The Puzzling Pet Parade (PD McPem’s Agency for Mysterious Mysteries #2) (Yellow Brick Books)
Anna Battese, The Recorder Racket (PD McPem’s Agency for Mysterious Mysteries #1) (Yellow Brick Books) Debut
Victoria Carless, Gus and the Starlight (HarperCollins Publishing Australia)
Fleur Ferris, Seven Days (Penguin Random House Australia)
Emily Gale, The Goodbye Year (Text Publishing)
Nicki Greenberg, The Detective’s Guide to New York City (Affirm Press)
Ash Harrier, The Deadly Daylight (Alice England Mystery #1) (Pantera Press)
Jacqueline Harvey, Chasing Danger (Kensy and Max #9) (Penguin Random House Australia)
Kelli Anne Hawkins, Birdbrain (HarperCollins Publishing Australia)
Sophie Masson, Australia’s Second World War: Sydney under attack! (Scholastic Australia)
Allison Rushby, The Ghost Locket (Walker Books)
R A Spratt, Undercover (Friday Barnes #10) (Penguin Random House Australia)
Lian Tanner, Rita’s Revenge (Allen & Unwin)
Kate Temple, The Dangerous Business of Being Trilby Moffat (Hachette Australia)
Renée Treml, Sherlock Bones and the Art and Science Alliance (Allen & Unwin)
Sue Whiting, Pearly and Pig and the Great Hairy Beast (Walker Books)
Non-fiction books (14)
Lily Arthur, Dirty Laundry (Ocean Reeve Publishing) Debut
Robin Bowles, Collateral Damage (Lake Press)
Kirsty Champion, Chasing Shadows (Allen & Unwin) Debut
Margaret Cunneen, The Boxing Butterfly: A life of conviction (Wilkinson Publishing) Debut
Wendy Davis, Don’t Make a Fuss: It’s only the Claremont Serial Killer (Fremantle Press) Debut
Meg Foster, Boundary Crossers: The hidden history of Australia’s other bushrangers (NewSouth Books) Debut
Rachel Franks, An Uncommon Hangman: The life and deaths of Robert ‘Nosey Bob’ Howard (NewSouth Books) Debut
Ellis Gunn, Rattled (Allen & Unwin) Debut
Melody Horrill, A Dolphin Called Jock (Allen & Unwin) Debut
Katrina Marson, Legitimate Sexpectations: The power of sex-ed (Scribe Publications)
Megan Norris, Out of the Ashes (Big Sky Publishing)
Emma Partridge, The Widow of Walcha (Simon & Schuster) Debut
Leigh Straw, The Ballroom Murder (Fremantle Press)
Sandra Willson (deceased), Between Me and Myself: A memoir of murder, desire and the struggle to be free (Text Publishing) Debut