The Australian Crime Writers Association (ACWA) has announced the winners of the 2024 Ned Kelly Awards. Here are the recipients for each category:

🏆 BEST CRIME FICTION

Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth

It's not just secrets buried at Wild Meadows. For as long as they can remember, Jessica, Norah and Alicia have been told how lucky they are. Rescued from family tragedies and raised by a loving foster mother on an idyllic farming estate, they were given an elusive second chance of a happy family life.

But their childhood wasn't the fairytale everyone thinks it was. And when a body is discovered under the home they grew up in, the foster sisters find themselves thrust into the spotlight as key witnesses. Or are they prime suspects?

A thrilling page-turner of sisterhood, secrets, love and murder by New York Times bestselling author Sally Hepworth.

🔍 The panel of judges praised Hepworth’s novel as a master read for all crime fiction lovers. Drawing on everyday characters and themes to create an absolutely compelling novel, Darling Girls is cleverly written and exquisitely plotted. This is Hepworth’s first Ned Kelly Award win. Her novel Soulmate was also shortlisted for best crime fiction in 2023.

🏆 BEST DEBUT CRIME FICTION

Murder in the Pacific: Ifira Point by Matt Francis

Esther Paul is 12 years old. She is reported missing on Vanuatu local radio. Two days later her body is found floating in the sea. Senior Constable George Wong of the Vanuatu National Police Force drops his current case to investigate her disappearance and tragic death. Limited forensics in Vanuatu means George and Probationary Constable Jayline Oli do not know if they are looking at a murder or an accident. The wound to Esther's head suggests the later.

Given the precarious state of the Vanuatu Police Force, George and Jayline have their work cut out. From Mele Beach at one end of Port Vila to Pango at the other, they experience Vanuatu's broken roads, empty restaurants, confusing cultural norms as well as the extravagances and corruption of foreign aid as they attempt to solve the mysterious death.

🔍 The judging panel described the first novel by Francis as complex and well written with a great sense of place and community. Set in Vanuatu the story is centred around two endearing characters with the potential to create a future series.

🏆 BEST TRUE CRIME

Crossing the Line by Nick McKenzie

War is brutal. But there are lines that should never be crossed. In mid-2017, whispers of executions, and cover-ups within Australia's most secretive and elite military unit, the SAS, reached Walkley Award-winning journalist Nick McKenzie. He and Chris Masters began an investigation that would not only reveal shocking truths about Ben Roberts-Smith VC but plunge the reporters into the defamation trial of the century. For five years, McKenzie led the investigation, waging an epic battle for the truth to be acknowledged. His fight to reveal the real face of Australia's most famous and revered SAS soldier and examine evidence of bullying, intimidation, war crimes and murder would take him across Australia and to Afghanistan.

As he unearthed the secrets Ben Roberts-Smith had thought he'd long ago buried, McKenzie had to deal with death threats, powerful forces intent on destroying his career and attempts to silence brave SAS soldiers, who had witnessed their famous comrade commit unspeakable acts. McKenzie would break the stories that proved the man idolised by the public, politicians, the media and leading business leaders was a myth. His efforts would help deliver justice to Roberts-Smith's victims and their families.

🔍 This book is an explosive investigation into one of Australia’s most highly decorated soldiers, and McKenzie’s dogged pursuit to uncover the truth, culminating in an epic legal battle. McKenzie is a highly awarded journalist; this is his first Ned Kelly Award win.

🏆 BEST INTERNATIONAL CRIME FICTION

The Only Suspect by Louise Candlish

Alex lives a comfortable life with his wife Beth in the leafy suburb of Silver Vale. Fine, so he’s not the most sociable guy on the street, he prefers to keep himself to himself, but he’s a good husband and an easy-going neighbour. That’s until Beth announces the creation of a nature trail on a local site that’s been disused for decades and suddenly Alex is a changed man. Now he’s always watching. Questioning. Struggling to hide his dread . . .

As the landscapers get to work, a secret threatens to surface from years ago, back in Alex’s twenties when he got entangled with a seductive young woman called Marina, who threw both their lives into turmoil. And who sparked a police hunt for a murder suspect that was never quite what it seemed. It still isn’t. No one else could have done it. Could they?

🔍 A twisty, past versus present psychological thriller with an everyday domestic setting that soon spins everyone’s lives upside down, as longstanding lies and relationships are unravelled. This is Candlish at her best, a deserved international best selling author.

For more information on the 2024 Ned Kelly Award winners, and what the judges had to say, visit the Australian Crime Writers Association website here.