The Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence, formerly known as the Arthur Ellis Awards, are a group of Canadian literary awards, presented annually by the Crime Writers of Canada for the best Canadian crime and mystery writing published in the previous year. The award is presented at a gala dinner in the year following publication. The awards were named for Arthur Ellis, the pseudonym of Canada's official hangman. In 2021 the Crime Writers of Canada announced that they were retiring Arthur Ellis's name from the awards, renaming them to their current name. Best Novel 1984 - Eric Wright, The Night the Gods Smiled 1985 - Howard Engel, Murder Sees the Light 1986 - Eric Wright, Death in the Old Country 1987 - Edward O. Phillips, Buried on Sunday 1988 - Carol Shields, Swann 1989 - Chris Scott, Jack 1990 - Laurence Gough, Hot Shots 1991 - L. R. Wright, A Chill Rain in January 1992 - Peter Robinson, Past Reason Hated 1993 - Carsten Stroud, Lizardskin 1994 - John Lawrence Reynolds, Gypsy Sins 1995 - Gail Bowen, A Colder Kind of Death 1996 - L.R. Wright, Mother Love 1997 - Peter Robinson, Innocent Graves 1998 - William Deverell, Trial of Passion 1999 - Nora Kelly, Old Wounds 2000 - Rosemary Aubert, The Feast of Stephen 2001 - Peter Robinson, Cold is the Grave 2002 - Michelle Spring, In the Midnight Hour 2003 - Rick Mofina, Blood of Others 2004 - Giles Blunt, The Delicate Storm 2005 - Barbara Fradkin, Fifth Son 2006 - William Deverell, April Fool 2007 - Barbara Fradkin, Honour Among Men 2008 - Jon Redfern, Trumpets Sound No More 2009 - Linwood Barclay, Too Close to Home 2010 - Howard Shrier, High Chicago 2011 - Louise Penny, Bury Your Dead 2012 - Peter Robinson, Before the Poison 2013 - Giles Blunt, Until the Night 2014 - Seán Haldane, The Devil's Making 2015 - C. C. Humphreys, Plague: Murder Has a New Friend 2016 - Peter Kirby, Open Season 2017 - Donna Morrissey, The Fortunate Brother 2018 - Peter Robinson, Sleeping in the Ground 2019 - Anne Emery, Though the Heavens Fall 2020 - Michael Christie, Greenwood 2021 - Will Ferguson, The Finder Best First Novel 1987 - Medora Sale, Murder on the Run 1988 - Laurence Gough, The Goldfish Bowl 1989 - John Brady, A Stone of the Heart 1990 - John Lawrence Reynolds, The Man