Oyinkan Braithwaite’s comic crime thriller, My Sister, The Serial Killer (2018), has won the 2020 British Book Award for Crime Fiction Book of the Year.

The British Book Awards, also known as the Nibbies, are administered by the book trade magazine, The Bookseller. Each year, the magazine awards prizes for Books of the Year in several categories.

The Bookseller judges praised Braithwaite’s fresh take on the crime fiction genre in My Sister, The Serial Killer:

The comic writing and new approach to the crime and thriller genre ensured her first novel stood out in a crowded market. With a fascinating protagonist who is a brazen murderer but never gets caught, and no “whodunit” element, it is the story of one sister blindly protecting another because, as the tagline reads, “blood is thicker than water”.

Oyinka Braithwaite also wrote a heartfelt post thanking Atlantic Books, The Bookseller, and congratulating Candice E Fox Carty-Williams and Bernardine Evaristo for winning Best Overall Book of the Year and Author of the Year respectively.

I’m so pleased by this win. It has been a while now since I penned this story, and it makes my heart swell that people continue to receive it so completely. Thank you to the judges of the British Book Awards #nibbies @_bookseller for this incredible honour. I can’t wait to hold the trophy in my hands! Thank you to my British publishers @atlanticbooks. Thank you as always to my agents @aitkenalexander. Thank you to @Stylistmagazine for sponsoring this prize.

I learnt just moments ago that I am the first black author to win this category of the British Book Awards! I cannot put into words what this means to me. But I wasn’t alone, three black women made history today: @candicec_w crushed two categories, @bernardineevaristowriter crushed two categories. We owned our space and I’m glad to have won alongside women who have done so much for the industry. #blackrepresentation

And I’m always thankful to God. This period has been tough in so many ways. But we stand firm.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CCCDnQgAA6c/

After receiving news of the award, Atlantic Books proudly posted on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CCBy2EjAeEl/

The 2020 British Book Awards were broadcast on YouTube on June 29.