THE DANGER PRIZE 2021
Danger Prize 2021 shortlist:
BOOKS – FICTION
The Second Son by Loraine Peck
Trust by Chris Hammer
BOOKS – NON-FICTION
The Husband Poisoner by Tanya Bretherton
Barrenjoey Road by Neil Mercer and Ruby Jones
I Catch Killers by Gary Jubelin
TV SERIES (FICTION)
Mr Inbetween, Season Three (Foxtel)
The judging panel said of this short list, “As always, the true crime presence is strong. What stands out this year is the welcome appearance of some fine crime fiction, in novels and on TV.”
The 2021 Winners
The overall quality was exceptionally high this year. We had to make a choice, but even so, for the first time the judges were split between two works, Gary Jubelin’s revealing autobiography I Catch Killers, written with journalist Dan Box, and Chris Hammer’s fine Sydney-based crime novel Trust. We resolved this by giving the prize to both books.
The judges found Trust to be “another fine outing about journalist Martin Scarsden, this time making a welcome appearance in Sydney. The book displays Hammer’s baroque energy in fine form, and manages to make some sly reflections on the harbour city along the way. It is highly entertaining.”
Gary Jubelin’s I Catch Killers is an extraordinary book, the finest depiction of a detective’s life, his motivations and frustrations, ever published in this country. The judges said, “Jubelin became unpopular with some colleagues because of his raw honesty with the general public. Whatever the effect of this on his career, it has produced a gripping and insightful account of the detective’s life. This has been acknowledged by the book’s commercial and critical success.”
This year the judges decided not to make a Danger Lifetime Achievement Award.