Best True Crime (2000-)
Subcategory of Ned Kelly Awards for Crime Writing
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Latest Winners / Recipients

Year: 2024

Indexed selectively.
winner y separately published work icon Crossing the Line Crossing the Line : The Inside Story of Murder, Lies and a Fallen Hero Nick McKenzie , Sydney : Hachette Australia , 2023 26999030 2023 single work autobiography

'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.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

Year: 2022

Indexed selectively.
winner Debi Marshall for Banquet: The Untold Story of Adelaide's Family Murders.

Year: 2021

winner Bret Christian for 'Stalking Claremont'.

Year: 2020

winner y separately published work icon Bowraville Dan Box , Melbourne : Viking , 2019 15449719 2019 single work prose crime

'From the creator of the Walkley Award-winning podcast comes the story of a small Australian town, the murders of three children and a desperate fight for justice.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

Year: 2019

winner y separately published work icon Eggshell Skull Bri Lee , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2018 13717214 2018 single work autobiography

'EGGSHELL SKULL: A well-established legal doctrine that a defendant must 'take their victim as they find them'. If a single punch kills someone because of their thin skull, that victim's weakness cannot mitigate the seriousness of the crime.

'But what if it also works the other way? What if a defendant on trial for sexual crimes has to accept his 'victim' as she comes: a strong, determined accuser who knows the legal system, who will not back down until justice is done?

'Bri Lee began her first day of work at the Queensland District Court as a bright-eyed judge's associate. Two years later she was back as the complainant in her own case.

'This is the story of Bri's journey through the Australian legal system; first as the daughter of a policeman, then as a law student, and finally as a judge's associate in both metropolitan and regional Queensland -- where justice can look very different, especially for women. The injustice Bri witnessed, mourned and raged over every day finally forced her to confront her own personal history, one she'd vowed never to tell. And this is how, after years of struggle, she found herself on the other side of the courtroom, telling her story.

'Bri Lee has written a fierce and eloquent memoir that addresses both her own reckoning with the past as well as with the stories around her, to speak the truth with wit, empathy and unflinching courage. Eggshell Skull is a haunting appraisal of modern Australia from a new and essential voice.' (Source: Publisher's blurb)

Works About this Award

Garner Gets Nod with Ned Jason Steger , 2015 single work column
— Appears in: The Sunday Age , 23 August 2015; (p. 19)
Helen Garner’s True Crime Award Jason Steger , 2015 single work column
— Appears in: The Sun-Herald , 23 August 2015; (p. 12)
Lauded for Work, Crime Writer Lord Cast the First Stein Jason Steger , 2012 single work column
— Appears in: The Age , 30 August 2012; (p. 14)
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