Ned Kelly Awards

The Ned Kelly Awards are awarded by the Australian Crime Writers Association to reward excellence in the field of crime fiction and true crime writing within Australia. The Neddies have been awarded since 1996.

Listed below are the winners and other shortlisted titles for each year with the winner in bold and positioned first.

2023

Best Crime Fiction

Exiles by Jane Harper
When We Fall by Aoife Clifford
The Tilt by Chris Hammer
Soulmate by Sally Hepworth
Seven Sisters by Katherine Kovacic
Lying Beside You by Michael Robotham
Those Who Perish by Emma Viskic
The Carnival Is Over by Greg Woodland

Best Debut Crime Fiction

Wake by Shelley Burr
The House of Now and Then by Jo Dixon
How To Kill A Client by Joanna Jenkins
Lenny Marks Gets Away With Murder by Kerryn Mayne
Denizen by James McKenzie Watson
Dirt Town by Hayley Scrivenor
Black River by Matthew Spencer
No Country For Girls by Emma Styles

Best True Crime

Betrayed by Sandi Logan
Rattled by Ellis Gunn
Out of the Ashes by Megan Norris
Tiger! Tiger! Tiger! by Officer A
Death Row At Truro by Geoff Plunkett

Best International Crime Fiction

The Lemon Man by Keith Bruton
Paper Cage by Tom Baragwanath
The Favour by Nicci French
The Hitchhiker by Gerwin van der Werf

2022

Best Crime Fiction

The Chase by Candice Fox
The Enemy Within by Tim Ayliffe
The Others by Mark Brandi
You Had it Coming by B M Carroll
Kill Your Brother by Jack Heath
The Family Doctor by Debra Oswald
The Deep by Kyle Perry

Best Debut Crime Fiction

Banjawarn by Josh Kemp
Sweet Jimmy by Bryan Brown
Shadow Over Edmund Street by Suzanne Frankham
Cutters End by Margaret Hickey

Best True Crime

Banquet: The untold story of Adelaide’s family murders by Debi Marshall
The Mother Wound by Amani Haydar
Larrimah by Caroline Graham & Kylie Stevenson
A Witness of Fact by Drew Rooke

Best International Crime Fiction

The Maid by Nita Prose
Case Study by Graeme Macrae Burnet
The Heron’s Cry by Ann Cleeves
Cry Wolf by Hans Rosenfeldt

2021

Best Crime Fiction

Consolation by Garry Disher
Gathering Dark by Candice Fox
A Testament of Character by Sulari Gentill
The Survivors by Jane Harper
The Good Turn by Dervla McTiernan
Tell Me Lies by J.P. Pomare
When She Was Good by Michael Robotham
White Throat by Sarah Thornton

Best Debut Crime Fiction

The Second Son by Loraine Peck
The Good Mother by Rae Cairns
The Bluffs by Kyle Perry
The Night Whistler by Greg Woodland

Best True Crime

Stalking Claremont: Inside the hunt for a serial killer by Bret Christian
The Husband Poisoner by Tanya Bretherton
Public Enemies: Ray Denning, Russell “Mad Dog” Cox and the Golden Age of Armed Robbery by Mark Dapin
Hazelwood by Tom Doig
Witness by Louise Milligan

2020

Best Crime Fiction

The Wife and the Widow by Christian White
The Strangers We Know by Pip Drysdale
Death of a Typographer by Nick Gadd
The Scholar by Dervla McTiernan
River of Salt by Dave Warner
True West by David Whish-Wilson

Best Debut Crime Fiction

Present Tense by Natalie Conyer
Eight Lives by Susan Hurley
Where the Truth Lies by Karina Kilmore
The Nancys by RWR McDonald
Six Minutes by Petronella McGovern
Lapse by Sarah Thornton

Best True Crime

Bowraville by Dan Box
Dead Man Walking: The Murky World of Michael McGurk and Ron Medich by Kate McClymont
Shark Arm: A Shark, a Tattooed Arm, and Two Unsolved Murders by Phillip Rooper & Kevin Meagher
Snakes and Ladders by Angela Williams

2019

Best Crime Fiction

The Lost Man by Jane Harper
Kill Shot by Garry Disher
Gone by Midnight by Candice Fox
The Spotted Dog by Kerry Greenwood
The Other Wife by Michael Robotham
Live and Let Fry by Sue Williams

Best Debut Crime Fiction

The Rúin by Dervla McTiernan
The Portrait of Molly Dean by Katherine Kovacic
The Yellow House by Emily O’Grady
Greenlight by Benjamin Stevenson

Best True Crime

Eggshell Skull by Bri Lee
The Arsonist by Chloe Hooper
Siege: Inside the Lindt Café by Deborah Snow
Waiting for Elijah by Kate Wild

2018

Lifetime Achievement: Garry Disher

Best Crime Fiction

Crossing the Lines by Sulari Gentill
Marlborough Man by Alan Carter
Under the Cold Bright Lights by Garry Disher
Redemption Point by Candice Fox
The Lone Child by Anna George
The Student by Iain Ryan

Best Debut Crime Fiction

The Dark Lake by Sarah Bailey
Wimmera by Mark Brandi
The Girl in Kellers Way by Megan Goldin
See What I Have Done by Sarah Schmidt

Best True Crime

Unmaking a Murder: The Mysterious Death of Anna-Jane Cheney by Graham Archer
The Contractor by Mark Abernethy
The Suitcase Baby by Tanya Bretherton
The Fatalist by Campbell McConachie

2017

Best Crime Fiction

Police at the Station and They Don’t Look Friendly by Adrian McKinty
Crimson Lake by Candice Fox
The Golden Child by Wendy James
An Isolated Incident by Emily Maquire
The Rules of Backyard Cricket by Jock Serong
Out of the Ice by Ann Turner

Best Debut Crime Fiction

The Dry by Jane Harper
Burn Patterns by Ron Elliott
Something for Nothing by Andy Muir
Only Daughter by Anna Snoekstra
Goodwood by Holly Throsby
The Love of a Bad Man by Laura Elizabeth Woollett

Best True Crime

Getting Away with Murder by Duncan McNab
The Drowned Man by Brendan James Murray

Code of Silence by Colin Dillon with Tom Gilling
Denny Day by Terry Smyth
Murder at Myall Creek by Mark Tedeschi

2016

Best Crime Fiction

Before It Breaks by Dave Warner
R&R by Mark Dapin
The Heat by Garry Disher
Fall by Candice Fox
Ash Island by Barry Maitland
Rain Dogs by Adrian McKinty

Best Debut Crime Fiction

Resurrection Bay by Emma Viskic
Please Don’t Leave Me Here by Tania Chandler
Good Money by J.M. Green
Amplify by Mark Hollands
Skin Deep by Gary Kemble
Four Days by Iain Ryan

Best True Crime

Certain Admissions: A Beach, a Body and a Lifetime of Secrets by Gideon Haigh
The Sting: The Undercover Operation that Caught Daniel Morcombe’s Killer by Kate Kyriacou
A Murder Without Motive: The Killing of Rebecca Ryle by Martin McKenzie-Murray
Killing Love by Rebecca Poulson
Kidnapped by Mark Tedeschi

2015

Best Crime Fiction

Eden by Candice Fox
Sweet One by Peter Docker
Murder Unmentioned by Sulari Gentill
Crucifixion Creek by Barry Maitland
Gun Street Girl by Adrian McKinty
Present Darkness by Malla Nunn

Best Debut Crime Fiction

Quota by Jock Serong
King of the Road by Nigel Bartlett
What Came Before by Anna George
Chasing the Ace by Nicholas J. Johnson

Best True Crime

This House of Grief: The Story of a Murder Trial by Helen Garner
The Fall by Amy Dale
The Family Court Murders by Debi Marshall
He Who Must Be Obeid by Kate McClymont & Linton Besser
The Murder of Allison Baden-Clay by David Murray
The Feel-Good Hit of the Year: A Memoir by Liam Pieper

Best Short Story

“Short Term People” by Andrea Gillum
“A Watched Pot” by Aoife Clifford
“Prisoner’s Dilemma” by Stephen Gray
“Sweetie” by Grace Heyer
“Daddy Played the Trumpet” by Adriane Howell
“Roux’s Sister” by Darcy-Lee Tindale

2014

Best Crime Fiction

In the Morning I’ll Be Gone by Adrian McKinty
Bitter Wash Road (Hell To Pay) by Garry Disher
Fatal Impact by Kathryn Fox
Beams Falling by P.M. Newton
One Boy Missing by Stephen Orr
The Dying Beach by Angela Savage

Best Debut Crime Fiction

Hades by Candice Fox
Dead Cat Bounce by Peter Cotton
Blood Witness by Alex Hammond
Every Breath by Ellie Marney

Best True Crime

Murder in Mississippi by John Safran
Disgraced? The Cop at the Centre of Melbourne’s Gangland Wars by Paul Dale
Forever Nine: The Untold Story of Bondi’s Missing Schoolgirl Samantha Knight by John Kidman & Denise Hofman
No Mercy: True Stories of Disaster, Survival and Brutality by Eleanor Learmonth & Jenny Tabakoff
JFK: The Smoking Gun by Colin McLaren
Outlaw Bikers in Australia by Duncan McNab

Best Short Story

“Web Design” by Emma Viskic
“Housewarming” by Louise Bassett
“The Scars of Noir” by Darcy-Lee Tindale
“Voices of SOI 22” by Roger Vicker
“Splinter” by Emma Viskic

2013

Best Crime Fiction

Blackwattle Creek by Geoffrey McGeachin
The Holiday Murders by Robert Gott
Web of Deceit by Katherine Howell
I Hear the Sirens in the Street by Adrian McKinty
Silent Valley (Blessed Are the Dead) by Malla Nunn

Best Debut Crime Fiction

The Midnight Promise by Zane Lovitt
The Robbers by Paul Anderson
The Richmond Conspiracy by Andrew Grimes
The Marmalade Files by Steve Lewis & Chris Uhlmann
Murder with the Lot by Sue Williams

Best True Crime

The People Smuggler by Robin de Crespigny
Every Parent’s Nightmare by Belinda Hawkins
The Devil’s Cinema by Steve Lillebuen
Dead by Friday by Derek Pedley
Eugenia by Mark Tedeschi

2012

Lifetime Achievement: Gabrielle Lord

Best Crime Fiction

Pig Boy by J.C. Burke
The Life by Malcolm Knox
Chelsea Mansions by Barry Maitland

Best Debut Crime Fiction

The Cartographer by Peter Twohig
When We Have Wings by Claire Corbett
The Courier’s New Bicycle by Kim Westwood

Best True Crime

Sins of the Father by Eamonn Duff
Call Me Cruel by Michael Duffy
Cold Case Files by Liz Porte

2011

Best Crime Fiction

The Diggers Rest Hotel by Geoffrey McGeachin
The Half-Child by Angela Savage
Bereft by Chris Womersley

Best Debut Crime Fiction

Prime Cut by Alan Carter
The Old School by P.M. Newton
Line of Sight by David Whish-Wilson

Best True Crime

Abandoned—The Sad Death of Dianne Brimble by Geesche Jacobson
Wasted by Ross Honeywill
Honeymoon Dive by Lindsay Simpson & Jennifer Cooke

Best Short Story

“Hemisphere Travel Guides: Las Vegas For Vegans” by A.S. Patric
“Southern Hemisphere Blues” by Robert Goodman

2010

Lifetime Achievement: Peter Doyle

Best Crime Fiction

Wyatt by Garry Disher
The Black Russian by Lenny Bartulin
Bleed for Me by Michael Robotham

Best Debut Crime Fiction

King of the Cross by Mark Dapin
Death and the Running Patterer by Robin Adair
Document Z by Andrew Croome

Best True Crime

Pitcairn: Paradise Lost by Kathy Marks
Crooks Like Us by Peter Doyle
Medical Murder: Disturbing Cases of Doctors Who Kill by Robert M. Kaplan

Best Short Story

“Leaving the Fountainhead” by Zane Lovitt
“The Travertine Fountain” by Robert Goodman
“The Fountain of Justice” by Lucy Sussex

2009

Lifetime Achievement: Shane Maloney

Best Crime Fiction

Deep Water by Peter Corris
Smoke & Mirrors by
Kel Robertson
Bright Air by Barry Maitland

Best Debut Crime Fiction

Ghostlines by Nick Gadd
The Build Up by Phillip Gwynne
Crooked by Camilla Nelson

2008

Lifetime Achievement: Marele Day

Best Crime Fiction

Shatter by Michael Robotham
Amongst the Dead by Robert Gott
Sucked In by Shane Maloney
El Dorado by Dorothy Porter

Best Debut Crime Fiction

The Low Road by Chris Womersley
Golden Serpent by Mark Abernethy
A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz

2007

Lifetime Achievement: Sandra Harvey & Lindsay Simpson

Best Crime Fiction

Chain of Evidence by Garry Disher
The Cleaner by Paul Cleave
The Undertow by Peter Corris
The Unknown Terrorist by Richard Flanagan
Spider Trap by Barry Maitland
The Night Ferry by Michael Robotham

Best Debut Crime Fiction

Diamond Dove by Adrian Hyland
Better Dead Than Never by Laurent Boulanger
The Betrayal of Bindy Mackenzie by Jaclyn Moriarty
Behind the Night Bazaar by Angela Savage

2006

Lifetime Achievement: Andrew Rule and John Silvester

Best Crime Fiction

Crook as Rookwood by Chris Nyst
The Broken Shore by
Peter Temple
Rendezvous at Kamakura Inn by Marshall Browne
Saving Billie by Peter Corris
Rubdown by Leigh Redhead
Five Oranges by Graham Reilly

Best Debut Crime Fiction

Out of the Silence: A Story of Love, Betrayal, Politics and Murder by Wendy James
Head Shot by Jarad Henry
Dead Set by Kel Robertson

2005

Lifetime Achievement: Stuart Coupe

Best Crime Fiction

Lost by Michael Robotham
The Happiness Punch by Kirsty Brooks
A Hand in the Bush by Jane Clifton
Private Dicks and Feisty Chicks by Cathy Cole
Dangerous Deception by Sandy Curtis
Heavenly Pleasures by Kerry Greenwood
Queen of the Flowers by Kerry Greenwood
Static by Randall Longmire
Spiking the Girl by Gabrielle Lord
No Trace by Barry Maitland
Covet by Tara Moss
Murder by Manuscript by Steve J. Spears
The Domino Game by Greg Wilson

Best Debut Crime Fiction

A Private Man by Malcolm Knox
Malicious Intent by Kathryn Fox
The Groundsman by William Youatt-Pine

2004

Lifetime Achievement: Bob Bottom

Best Crime Fiction

Degrees of Connection by Jon Cleary
The Wrong Door by Bunty Avieson
The Vodka Dialogue by Kirsty Brooks
Master’s Mates by Peter Corris
Until Death by Sandy Curtis
Who Killed Camilla? by Emma Darcy
The Castlemaine Murders by Kerry Greenwood
Earthly Delights by Kerry Greenwood

Best Debut Crime Fiction

The Walker by Jane R. Goodall
Junkie Pilgrim by
Wayne Grogan
Misconceptions by Terry McGee
Far Horizon by Tony Park
Rogue Element by David Rollins

2003

Lifetime Achievement: Kerry Greenwood

Best Crime Fiction

White Dog by Peter Temple
The Affair by Bunty Avieson
Open for Inspection by Carmel Bird
The Eye of the Abyss by Marshall Browne
Salt and Blood by Peter Corris
Deadly Tide by Sandy Curtis
Who Killed Bianca? by Emma Darcy
Kittyhawk Down by Garry Disher
Murder in Montparnasse by Kerry Greenwood
The Analyst by Fred Guilhaus
Breakfastinfur by Michael Herrmann
Baby Did a Bad Thing by Gabrielle Lord
Babel by Barry Maitland
Something Fishy by Shane Maloney
The Chance by Andy Shea
The Empty Bed by Paul Thomas
Evidence by Emma Tom

Best Debut Crime Fiction

Blood Redemption by Alex Palmer
Lady Luck by Kirsty Brooks
Half Past Dead by Jane Clifton
The Games by Peter de Vries
The Final Account by Greg Wilson

2002

Lifetime Achievement: Patrick Gallagher

Best Crime Fiction

Death Delights by Gabrielle Lord
Inspector Anders and the Ship of Fools by Marshall Browne
Crime of Silence by Patricia Carlon
Yesterday’s Shadow by Jon Cleary
Skin Deep by Cathy Cole
Lugarno by Peter Corris
Death of the Author by Andrew Masterson
Death Club by Claire McNab
A Simple Death by Carolyn Morwood
The Disciples by Andy Shea
In the Evil Day (Identity Theory) by Peter Temple

Best Debut Crime Fiction

Apartment 255 by Bunty Avieson
Who Killed Angelique? by
Emma Darcy
On Probation: Detective Ludowski’s Casebook by Margaret Bevege
Black Ice by Sandy Curtis
The Artist Is a Thief by Stephen Gray

2001

Lifetime Achievement: Stephen Knight

Best Crime Fiction

Dead Point by Peter Temple
The Second Coming: The Passion of Joe Panther by
Andrew Masterson

Best Debut Crime Fiction

Last Drinks by Andrew McGahan

2000

Best Crime Fiction

Shooting Star by Peter Temple
Dilemma by Jon Cleary
The Other Side of Sorrow by Peter Corris
The Dragon Man by Garry Disher
Death Before Wicket by Kerry Greenwood
Our Man K by Nicholas Hasluck
The Inquisitor by Catherine Jinks
The Chalon Heads by Barry Maitland
Silvermeadow by Barry Maitland
Set Up by Claire McNab
An Uncertain Death by Carolyn Morwood
Black Tide by Peter Temple
Final Cut by Paul Thomas
Exxxpresso: Too Much Coffee Can Kill by Dave Warner
Murder in the Frame by Dave Warner

Best Debut Crime Fiction

The Wooden Leg of Inspector Anders by Marshall Browne
Unholy Writ by Carmel Bird
Dry Dock by Cathy Cole
The Trojan Dog by Dorothy Johnston
Angels in the Architecture by Mary-Rose MacColl
Fetish by Tara Moss
Cop This! by Chris Nyst
Cat Catcher by Caroline Shaw

1999

Lifetime Achievement: Peter Corris

Best Crime Fiction

Amaze Your Friends by Peter Doyle
Cheaters by J.R. Carroll
The Black Prince by Peter Corris
The Dogs Are Barking by John Dale
The Sharp End by Gabrielle Lord

Best Debut Crime Fiction

1998

The Ned Kelly Awards were not held in 1998

1997

Lifetime Achievement: Alan Yates (aka Carter Brown)

Best Crime Fiction

Brush-Off by Shane Maloney
The Clan by J.R. Carroll
Endpeace by Jon Cleary

Best Debut Crime Fiction

Get Rich Quick by Peter Doyle
Bad Debts by
Peter Temple
Murder Seventies Style: The Final Dismissal by Anne Hawking
The Kokoda Club by Geoff Stewart
The Scarlet Rider by Lucy Sussex

1996

Lifetime Achievement: Jon Cleary

Best Crime Fiction

The Malcontenta by Barry Maitland
Inside Dope by Paul Thomas

Wildfire by Susan Geason
Scream Black Murder by Philip McLaren

Best Debut Crime Fiction

Dark Angel by John Dale
The Cross by Mandy Sayer