There are six categories for published books and stories:

· Best crime novel

· Best first crime novel

· Best non-fiction crime writing

· Best juvenile crime book

· Best crime short story

· Best crime book in the French language

We also have an Arthur Ellis award for best unpublished first crime novel (aka the Unhanged Arthur). Part of the CWC's mandate is to encourage developing new crime writing in Canada, and what better way to do it than to have an award for the best unpublished manuscript.

For a list of past winners, go to http://www.crimewriterscanada.com/awards/arthur-ellis-awards/past-winners.

The CWC would like to express our gratitude to Sleuth of Baker Street mystery book store in Toronto for donating the cash prize for best novel, to Book City in Toronto for donating the cash prize for best first novel, and to McArthur & Company for donating the cash prize for the Unhanged Arthur and for reading the winning manuscript with an eye to possibly publishing it.

And now the envelopes have been opened and we have our winners...

Best Novel
Linwood Barclay, Too Close to Home
In a quiet suburban neighborhood, in a house only one door away, a family is brutally murdered for no apparent reason. And you think to yourself: It could have been us. And you start to wonder: What if we’re next?

Promise Falls isn’t the kind of community where a family is shot to death in their own home. No one is more shocked than their next-door neighbours, Jim and Ellen Cutter. They visited for the occasional barbecue and their son, Derek, was friends with their boy, Adam. Suddenly, the Cutters must face the unthinkable: that a murderer isn’t just stalking too close to home...but is inside it already.

Best First Novel
Howard Shrier, Buffalo Jump
Toronto investigator Jonah Geller is at a low point in his life when contract killer Dante Ryan comes back into his life, this time pleading for his help. Ryan has been ordered to slaughter an entire Toronto family, including a five-year-old boy. With a son of his own that age, he can't bring himself to do it. When Jonah investigates the boy's father, a pharmacist who seems to lead a good life, he finds himself ducking bullets and dodging blades from all directions. When the case takes Jonah and Ryan over the river to Buffalo, unseen enemies move in for the kill.

Best Non-Fiction
Michael Calce & Craig Silverman, Mafiaboy: How I Cracked the Internet and Why It’s Still Broken
In early 2000, the Websites of CNN, Yahoo, E*Trade, Dell, Amazon, and eBay ground to a halt for several hours, causing panic everywhere from the White House to suburbia and around the world. After 2 months and hundreds of hours of wiretapping, the FBI and RCMP staged a late-night raid to apprehend the most wanted man in cyberspace -- a 15-year-old kid, Michael Calce, aka Mafiaboy.

Best Juvenile
Sharon E. McKay, War Brothers
War Brothers is set in Uganda, where Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has, since 1987, abducted up to 30,000 children from their villages and homes for use as soldiers and slaves. It is in these nightmarish times that the fates of 5 boys and a girl are entwined. Captured from their school by the LRA, the boys wait for rescue only to discover that if they are to survive they must rely on themselves. But friendship, courage, and resilience might not be enough to save them.

Best Crime Writing in French
Jacques Côté, Le Chemin des brumes

Pendant que Daniel Duval et son collègue Louis Harel participent aux Jeux mondiaux des policiers à Mexico, Gilles Hébert part en vacances avec ses petits-fils Sébastien, six ans, et Vincent, treize ans. Le vieil homme étrenne sa roulotte et il a la ferme intention de trouver un site enchanteur en pleine nature sauvage. Si les Jeux se terminent bien pour les deux policiers, il n'en va pas de même pour le voyage des campeurs...

De retour au boulot le lundi matin, Duval et son équipe sont affectés à la disparition de la famille Hébert. Tout ce qu'il a pour entamer les recherches, c'est une photo de la roulotte... et pas la moindre idée de la destination de Gilles Hébert!

Every Arthur is hand-carved from hard maple by artisan Barry Lambeck. The award is based on a design and prototype by artist Peter Blais.

These Arthur Ellis winners can usually be found at -- or ordered online from -- our Crime Writers of Canada member bookstores:

· As the Plot Thickens (Kingston, ON)
www.astheplotthickens.com
Phone: (613) 548-4664
E-mail:

· Prime Crime Books (Ottawa, ON)
www.primecrimebooks.com
Phone: (613) 238-CLUE
E-mail:

· Sleuth of Baker Street (Toronto, ON)
www.sleuthofbakerstreet.com
Phone: (416) 483-3111
E-mail: