Capital Crime announces second-ever Fingerprint Awards

 

I'm thrilled to share this press release from Capital Crime today. 

CAPITAL CRIME ANNOUNCES THE SHORTLISTS FOR THE SECOND  FINGERPRINT AWARDS CELEBRATING THE BEST IN INTERNATIONAL  CRIME WRITING, WITH LISA JEWELL, VASEEM KHAN AND ELLY  GRIFFITHS AMONG SHORTLISTED 

Today Capital Crime launched the second ever Fingerprint Awards, designed to champion the very best in crime writing from across  the globe published in 2022, as voted for by readers. 

Authors both new and established are represented across the categories, which are Crime Novel of the Year, Thriller Novel of the Year,  Historical Crime Novel of the Year, Debut Novel of the Year, Audiobook of the Year and Genre-Busting Book of the Year.  

Readers can vote for their preferred winners in each category on the Capital Crime website by Monday 7th August. The winners will be  then announced from 7.30pm on Thursday 31st August, at a special ceremony as part of Capital Crime 2023, at the festival’s fantastic  new home at the Royal Leonardo Hotel, in the shadow of St Paul’s.  

Bestsellers Lisa Jewell and Elly Griffiths lead the Crime Book of the Year shortlist with The Family Remains and Bleeding Heart Yard  respectively. They are joined by M. W. Craven, author of The Botanist; Ruth Ware, author of The It Girl; and Anthony Horowitz, author of  The Twist of a Knife. 

On the Thriller Novel of the Year shortlist A Good Day to Die by Amen Alonge and Truly Darkly Deeply by Victoria Selman are up against  Kellye Garrett’s Like a Sister, Jack Jordan’s Do No Harm and Gillian McAllister’s British Book Award-shortlisted Wrong Place Wrong Time.  

CWA Dagger-shortlisted authors Vaseem Khan and Anna Mazzola are both shortlisted for the Historical Crime Novel of the Year for The  Lost Man of Bombay and The Clockwork Girl, alongside the critically acclaimed Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson. Also shortlisted are  Miss Aldridge Regrets by Louise Hare and A Fatal Crossing by Tom Hindle.  

A Fatal Crossing by Tom Hindle is also shortlisted for the Debut Crime Novel of the Year, alongside Death and the Conjuror by Tom Mead,  Wahala by Nikki May, That Green-Eyed Girl by Julie Owen-Moylan and The Maid by Nita Prose.  

The Genre-Busting Novel of the Year shortlist, set up to recognise a book that defies traditional genres and boundaries of crime fiction,  features Suicide Thursday by Will Carver, The Skeleton Key by Erin Kelly, Wild and Wicked Things by Francesca May, The Houses of Ashes by Stuart Neville and The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd.  

Leading the Audiobook of the Year shortlist is global bestselling sensation Robert Galbraith, for Ink Black Heart. Also shortlisted are the  critical successes The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett, Better the Blood by Michael Bennett, The Skeleton Key by Erin Kelly and One Last  Secret by Adele Parks. 

The advisory board, consisting of authors, bloggers, journalists and leading industry figures have chosen a shortlist of five nominees for  each category. Crime and thriller fans will now be given the power to decide who should be recognised for their work via the Capital  Crime website. 

In addition, two further categories will be selected solely by the Capital Crime Advisory Board; the Industry Award of the Year –  recognising the best marketing campaign, editorial work, or publishing strategy; and the Thalia Proctor Lifetime Achievement Award –  marking an outstanding contribution to the crime writing industry. 

Capital Crime co-founder and Goldsboro Books managing director, David Headley, said:  

‘We set up the Fingerprints Awards to celebrate the very best of international crime writing, and crucially, to celebrate the readers who  make everything we do worthwhile – and possible. 2022 saw some truly incredible, unique and enthralling crime fiction of all kinds  published, from Erin Kelly’s spellbinding The Skeleton Key to Vaseem Khan’s transporting The Lost Man of Bombay; and Lisa Jewell’s  gripping The Family Remains to the unstoppable debut The Maid by Nita Prose. What a spectacular year for crime fiction! We had some very lively discussions narrowing down the shortlists – now to the readers to pick the winners!’  

The inaugural Fingerprint Awards, hosted last year at Capital Crime, saw Sarah Pearse named Crime Book of the Year 2021 with The  Sanatorium, S.A Cosby named Thriller of the Year 2021 with Razorblade Tears and Laura Purcell named Historical Crime Book of the  Year 2021 with The Shape of Darkness. Abigail Dean was named Debut Book of the Year 2021 for Girl A and The Girl Who Died by  Ragnar Jónasson, narrated by Amanda Redman, won Audiobook Book of the Year 2021. The Industry Award of the Year was awarded to  HarperCollins for Girl A, and the Lifetime Achievement Award was awarded posthumously to Thalia Proctor. 

Across three days, Capital Crime 2023 promises a weekend full of fun, innovation and celebration of crime fiction, bringing together  readers, authors, industry figures and the local community for the first major literary festival held on the site. Over 100 leading voices  from crime fiction will be taking part in a range of panel events for attendees, including Richard Osman, Kate Atkinson, Richard  Armitage, Dorothy Koomson, Sally Wainwright, Yomi Adegoke, Peter James and Joanne Harris. The full programme was announced on  Tuesday 27th June, and can be found here. 

Congratulations to all the shortlisted authors, don't forget to vote for your favourites!