Local author Dave Butler has been shortlisted for a couple of prestigious national writing awards for his recent release “Full Curl.”
“Full Curl,” released to the reading public last fall, is the first novel in a series that shows readers a dark, dangerous undercurrent running underneath a familiar landscape.
The book introduces Jenny Willson to the world, a tough, sharp-witted warden in Banff National Park. As animals begin to disappear from the park, Willson begins an investigation that follows a trail of deceit, distraction and murder. As the list of victims grows — animal and human — Willson finds herself in a dangerous, cross-border race for justice.
And now “Full Curl” is up for two awards: The 2018 Arthur Ellis Award for Excellence in Cranbrook Crime Writing (Best First Crime Novel Category), and the Kobo Emerging Writer Prize.
“It’s a real honour to be a finalist for these two awards,” Butler told the Townsman. “It reinforces the great feedback I’ve had from readers, near and far, of the Jenny Willson series.”
Annual Arthur Ellis Awards, by Crime Writers of Canada, recognizes the best in mystery, crime, and suspense writing in fiction and non-fiction by Canadian writers. Crime Writers of Canada was founded in 1982 as a professional organization designed to raise the profile of Canadian crime writers. Our members include authors, publishers, editors, booksellers, librarians, reviewers, and literary agents as well as many developing authors.
The winners to be announced on May 24 at the Arthur Ellis Awards Gala in Toronto.
The Kobo Emerging Writer Prize was created by Rakuten Kobo, a Canadian company which sells e-books, audiobooks, e-readers and tablet computers. The goat of the prize is to help kick-start the careers of debut authors, with a $10,000 CAD cash prize awarded to a book in each of three categories: Non-Fiction, Literary Fiction, and Genre Fiction (Mystery this year). In addition, each winning author will receive promotional, marketing, and communications support through 2018.
“Full Curl” has been nominated in the Mystery category.
The winners will be announced June 19.
“Full Curl” treks west and south through territory that will be very familiar to local readers. It starts and finishes in Banff, but a lot of it takes place in the East Kootenay — places like Invermere, Cranbrook and Kimberley .
“The second in the series — No Place for Wolverines — will be released this coming October,” Butler said. “And I’m working on number three — In Rhino We Trust — which will see Jenny head off for some adventures in Namibia.”
