Grand Master

I’ve been thrilled this week to hear it announced that I have been awarded the Grand Master Award 2020 by the Crime Writers of Canada. This is awarded to a “crime writer with a substantial body of work who has garnered national and international recognition.” There was supposed to be a gala Awards Dinner in late May, at which the winners of the Arthur Ellis awards would be announced, along with the Grand Master, but this has been cancelled. Any celebrations will have to be carried out online.

Here’s what the Crime Writes of Canada have to say:

Since Peter Robinson’s first mystery, Gallows View, appeared in 1987, his growing readership has eagerly waited for each encounter with Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks. Now with twenty-seven of these moody and layered police procedurals, fans around the world have become attached to the complex, music-loving DCI Banks and his always-intriguing colleagues in the fictional town of Eastvale in North Yorkshire. They’ve followed Banks, his twisty cases, his career challenges and the ups and downs of his personal life with interest and affection. The series has also been adapted to television by ITV.

Peter has a shelf full of Crime Writers of Canada Arthur Ellis Awards for both best novel and for best short story. Internationally he’s been honoured by Le Grand Prix de Littérature Policière (France), the Martin Beck Award (Sweden), the Palle Rosenkrantz (Denmark), the CWA Dagger in the Library (UK), and the American Macavity, Edgar and Barry awards. In 2010, he was presented with the Crime Writers of Canada Derrick Murdoch Award for contributions to the crime genre.