Thank you very very much to Perry from Matilda(link is external) who was at Friday night's Ned Kelly awards and kindly let me know the winners:
Non-Fiction
THE TALL MAN by Chloe Hooper
First Fiction
GHOSTLINES by Nick Gadd
Fiction
DEEP WATER by Peter Corris and
SMOKE & MIRRORS by Kel Robertson (tie)
S.D. Harvey Award
"Fidget's Farewell" by Scott McDermott
Lifetime Achievement
Shane Maloney
Thanks also to Craig Sisterson (whose name will be familiar to readers of GoodReading Magazine) for the heads up about the tie for the Fiction award. Given that these 2 were up against the wonderful Barry Maitland this was definitely an entry in the "I'm glad I'm not a judge of that one" category.
Having said that Kel's book is a second in his series, Peter is up to however many dozens in his series. Add to that Smoke & Mirrors was published in a very small run (paid for by the author himself!), and I really hope that Kel's savouring the moment.
Ghostlines is also a fantastic win - an unusual book, it was one of my favourites last year.
This is the story of Palm Island, the tropical paradise where one morning Cameron Doomadgee swore at a policeman and forty minutes later lay dead in a watch-house cell.
Ace detective Brad Chen is lured back to work by the double murder of a Whitlam government minister and the editor of his political memoirs. The body count rises as Chen uncovers the deadly secret behind the most momentous events in Australian political history. Smoke and Mirrors is the second Brad Chen novel.