Ned Kelly

Much to my amazement and delight my novel In The Morning I'll Be Gone has won the 2014 Ned Kelly Award. The award was announced at the Brisbane Writers Festival after a great evening hosted by the BWF and the Australian Crime Writers Association. I gave a speech but I have no idea what I said. (I have a vague recollection of doing a John Connolly impersonation and people laughing.) But I was happy. Many thanks to the Ned Kelly judges, to ACWA, to Michael Robotham who hosted the whole thing and to my British, Aussie and American publishers for steadfastly supporting me when nobody outside my immediate family (and not even many of them if I'm honest) was buying my books. Thank you Serpents Tail, Allen & Unwin, Seventh Street Books and Blackstone Audio who all had faith in me even though the numbers were telling a different story...
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The Ned Kelly is definitely the coolest of all the crime fiction awards and if you think about it, its only the one that's given for an entire continent. I mean how badass is that? Coincidentally Sidney Nolan who painted the iconic image of Ned Kelly below went to St Kilda Primary School where both my daughters went. Last night was my daughter Sophie's school concert and Sidney Nolan was one of the characters in the story and when the school time travellers meet him (dont ask) he's in right in the middle of painting his famous series of Ned Kelly pictures. 
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If you haven't read In The Morning I'll Be Gone, I reckon its a pretty good place to start if you're new to me and my books. Its set in Northern Ireland in 1984 but it isn't all depressing and everything. Parts of it are funny. And there's a locked room mystery. And Michael Forsythe makes an appearance. And Duffy burns down a drug den. Oh, and the IRA blow up Thatcher at the end. Spoiler alert. This is what the judges said about the book: “In his use of humour with the grim realities of Belfast in 1984, coupled with a wonderfully constructed locked room mystery, McKinty has produced something really quite extraordinary. There’s a fine line between social commentary and compelling mystery and not many writers, crime or literary, can do both.”

The Neddies

I'm very pleased to announce the fact that my novel, In The Morning I'll Be Gone, has been shortlisted for Crime Novel of the Year at the 2014 Ned Kelly Awards. In The Morning I'll Be Gone is the third book in the Sean Duffy series and is the one where Duffy gets mixed up in the plot to kill Mrs Thatcher at the 1984 Conservative Party Conservative Conference in Brighton. These are the what the Neddie judges said about it:

“In his use of humour with the grim realities of Belfast in 1984, coupled with a wonderfully constructed locked room mystery, McKinty has produced something really quite extraordinary. There’s a fine line between social commentary and compelling mystery and not many writers, crime or literary, can do both.”

Also on the 2014 shortlist are the excellent PM (Pam) Newton, Garry Disher, Kathryn Fox, Angela Savage & Stephen Orr. I know Garry, Angela & Pam personally and have read their wonderful books, and I'm looking forward to reading Kathryn and Stephen too. 
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This is the second time I've been up for the Ned Kelly Award. Last year I Hear The Sirens In The Street got shortlisted (Sean Duffy #2) for the big tin helmet. I think Sirens might be the more lyrical book (I love the opening page of that one) but I reckon Morning might be the better constructed novel. Anyway we'll see what the judges say in a month or so. Best of luck of course to my fellow shortlistees....
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If you want to get any of the Sean Duffy novels please try your local bookshop (and bug them if they dont have them) and you can of course get them on Amazon, B&N, Audible etc.

The Ned Kelly Awards

I'm really pleased to tell that you my book I Hear The Sirens In The Street has been shortlisted for Best Crime Novel at the 2013 Ned Kelly Awards. This is the Australian equivalent of the Edgars or the Daggers so it's a really big deal for me and I'm very honoured and excited. I've lived in Australia now for five years and this award nomination has really touched me and made me feel like a proper Aussie. Did I celebrate with a VB tinny in my backyard over a barbie? Well no it's too cold for a barbie here in St Kilda (4 degrees tonight) but I actually was drinking a Victoria Bitter as I got the news via twitter from the great Jon Page. VB is not normally my tipple of choice but I was watching the Ashes last night until 2.a.m. and I guess the subliminal messages finally kicked in and today I brought home an eskie full of tinnies from the aghast and disappointed beer snob bottle shop owner on Acland Street. (Its just occurred that no one in North America will understand most of that last sentence. The Ashes is a cricket match, tinnies are...oh forget it.) 
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In case you don't know I Hear The Sirens In The Street is the second novel in my series of books about Detective Inspector Sean Duffy of the RUC. This book takes place in 1982 in Belfast and involves the DeLorean scandal, the FBI, sex, violence, black Ulster humour and some other stuff. So thank you judges! Add here's to VB, The Ashes and Ned Kelly. Win or lose at the awards I'm really excited to be shortlisted with these great Australian crime writing legends.