2025 Premier’s Book Awards Shortlist

An independent judging panel of readers, writers, book sellers and story lovers have selected their top picks across six categories. Featuring graphic novels, cosy crime, high sea shenanigans and gothic coastal mysteries, the shortlist is a celebration of the breadth of talent in Western Australian storytelling. *Any missing titles from official list will be added as they are sourced*

Updated July 3, 2025
C
City of Belmont Ruth Faulkner Library
Drag items up and down to your preferred order then select the "Save Order" button.
Fragile creatures a memoir
Myint, Khin
Paper Book
Khin's sister Theda has a strange illness and a euthanasia drug locked in a box under her bed. Her doctor thinks her problem is purely physical, and so does she, but Khin is not so sure. He knows what they both went through growing up in Perth - it wasn't welcoming back then for a Burmese-Australian...
Cutler
Whish-Wilson, David
Paper Book
Paul Cutler is a former undercover operative, now working off the books for his handler, Malik Khalil. When Cutler is tasked with investigating the disappearance of an Australian marine scientist on a Taiwanese distant-water fishing vessel, Cutler realises that the apparent murder he's investigating...
Shadows of Winter Robins
Wolhuter, Louise.
Paper Book
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WA PREMIER'S BOOK AWARDS - FICTION  'a masterful mystery that keeps you guessing.' -The Guardian 'Wolhuter combines an entrancing and often startling plot--which interlaces multiple storylines--with memorable...
Anatomy of a secret one man's search for justice
McCann, Gerard
Paper Book
Raw and compelling, Anatomy of a Secret bravely shares longsilenced, unspoken truths. As a boy, Gerard was sexually abused by a Catholic priest at his local church. As a grown man, he confronts the trauma of what he suffered and the psychological aftermath of his experience, grappling...
How to Avoid a Happy Life: ; An uplifting novel of hope, family ties and motherhood
Lawrinson, Julia.
Paper Book
Some people are born into bad situations, some people have bad situations thrust upon them, and some people find bad situations through their dodgy choices, lack of information and personal idiosyncrasies. Julia's life sits at the intersection of all three. From high school dropout on a...
In Hot Water
Hardisty, Paul.
Paper Book
In the ongoing climate wars, the Great Barrier Reef has become a symbol of everything that we have to lose from global warming. For years, reports of the world-famous coral being irreversibly bleached have fuelled an ideological battle between those fighting to stop the damage and those who insist...
Jilya : How one Indigenous woman from the Pilbara transformed psychology
Westerman, Tracy
Paper Book
From humble beginnings in the remote Pilbara, psychologist and Nyamal woman Tracy Westerman has redefined what's possible at every turn. Despite neither of her parents progressing past primary school, and never having met a psychologist before attending university, Tracy went on to...
The Apprentice Witnesser
MacDibble, Bren
Paper Book
Bastienne Scull is nearly twelve years old and lives a simple life as an apprentice to the Witnesser of Miracles in a small village mostly populated by women and girls. Basti knows that miracle-hunting is a lot like mystery-solving, and her little world is full of wonder and intrigue and unexpected...
When the world was soft : Yindjibarndi creation stories
Juluwarlu Aboriginal Corporation; Mankiewicz, Alex
Paper Book
A ground-breaking graphic novel sharing the stories of Yindjibarndi Creation-times in an immediate and engaging way for a contemporary audience.
A wreck of seabirds
Olson, Karleah
Paper Book
Both grappling with grief and loss, Briony and Ren are brought together in their hometown, where Ren has returned to care for his dying father and Briony remains hopeful of finding her missing sister, Sarah. Meanwhile, Sarah and her best friend Aria are hopelessly trapped on a remote island off the...
My family and other suspects
Emery, Kate
Paper Book
Holly Jackson meets Agatha Christie in this cosy modern-day YA murder mystery where your closest family are your prime suspects.

Library staff! You can create and contribute to lists. Contact your catalog administrator or log in here.