This award is for any crime short story first published in the UK in English in a publication that pays for contributions, or broadcast in the UK in return for payment, during the Judging Period. The term short story refers to a work of fiction no shorter than 1,000 and no longer than 15,000 words.
| Title | Author | Collection | Publisher |
| Room Number Two | Andrea Camilleri, tr. Stephen Sartarelli | Death at Sea | Pan Macmillan – Mantle |
| How Many Cats Have You Killed? | Mick Herron | Ten Year Stretch – Edited by Martin Edwards and Adrian Muller | No Exit Press |
| Death Becomes Her | Syd Moore | The Strange Casebook | Point Blank |
| I Detest Mozart | Teresa Solana, tr. Peter Bush | The First Prehistoric Serial Killer and Other Stories | Bitter Lemon Press |
| Paradise Gained | Teresa Solana, tr. Peter Bush | The First Prehistoric Serial Killer and other Stories | Bitter Lemon Press |
| The Dummies’ Guide to Serial Killing | Danuta Reah | The Dummies’ Guide to Serial Killing and other fantastic Female Fables | Fantastic Books Publishing |
| Strangers in a Pub | Martin Edwards | Ten Year Stretch – Edited by Martin Edwards and Adrian Muller | No Exit Press |
| Bag Man | Lavie Tidhar | The Outcast Hours – Edited by Mahvesh Murad & Jared Shurin | Solaris |
Ayo Onatade (Chair)When not working at the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom she can be found doing interviews, writing (including giving conference papers) and reviewing on all things crime fiction related for a number of crime fiction websites including Shotsmag.co.uk and Crimespree Magazine. Ayo can also be found blogging at Shotsmag Confidential.
Sophie GoodfellowSophie is an Account Executive at ed public relations, a boutique publishing and lifestyle PR agency where she works to spread the word on books of all genres. An avid reader of crime, historical and literary fiction, she blogs at Back to the Books Blog, and can be found tweeting about her latest reads on @sophieglorita. Two little-known facts about her are that she speaks fluent French and fainted on a train while reading The Shining Girls.
Gaynor CoulesGaynor writes short stories and articles, being first published in Ellery Queen MM. Her day job is with the Authors’ Licensing & Collecting Society Ltd, a society all writers should consider joining, where she helps short list entries to the children’s writing competitions sponsored by ALCS.
In this sinister tale of a vindictive child, the dread builds, pulling you in so that you can’t look away. Its ending will stay with you for some time.
