The Crime Writer’s of Canada has been celebrating the best in Canadian crime writing since 1984.

The shortlist for the 2010 Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel have been announced.

Check out this year’s bumper crop:
(all descriptions are from the CWC site)

High Chicago, by Howard Shrier

“Toronto investigator Jonah Geller has opened his own agency, World Repairs, with best friend and partner Jenn Raudsepp. Asked to investigate the apparent suicide of a young woman, they’re drawn into the high-stakes world of construction and development on a long-neglected parcel of Toronto’s waterfront.“

Death Spiral, by James W. Nichol

“Returning home a hero, celebrated WWII fighter pilot Wilf McLauchlin is immediately plunged into a series of bizarre murders, which he tries to solve. But when the trail leads back to Wilf, he must face those last days of the war before he can make a shattering connection.”

The Finger’s Twist, by Lee Lamothe

“Charles and Elodie are hired to investigate a bombing attempt at the Ontario legislature, purportedly committed by an anarchist group called The Black Bloc. While the city drops into paranoia fuelled by the police and the mayor, Charlie and Elodie try to keep the black sheep daughter of a prominent family from a certain prison sentence.”

Arctic Blue Death, by R.J. Harlick

“Meg Harris’s father’s plane went missing in the Arctic. He was never seen again. Thirty-six years later, her mother receives strange Inuit drawings that suggest he might have survived. Meg travels to Iqaluit and soon finds herself sucked into the world of Inuit art forgery and murder.”

Aloha, Candy Hearts, by Anthony Bidulka

“From Pacific to Prairie, a teasing treasure hunt turns into a frightening game of cat and mouse. P.I. Russell Quant is plunged into the vagaries of a shocking hometown murder and the blasphemous blackmail of one of the literary world’s most esteemed writers.”