Scottish writer Stef Penney has won the first-novel prize in the Costa Book Awards for The Tenderness of Wolves. Set in the Canadian North during the late 19th century, the story centers on a murder in the small settlement of Dove River. (It was published here by Penguin Canada)

The Costa Book Awards (originally the Whitbread Book Awards) were established in Britain in 1971, and hand out awards for novel, biography, poetry, children’s book, and the book of the year. The category winners receive a cash prize of £5, 000, around $11, 400. The overall winner, chosen from those, receives an additional £25, 000, or $57, 000.

This year’s other winners are:

Restless – William Boyd (novel)
Keeping Mum – Brian Thompson (biography)
Letter to Patience – John Haynes (poetry)
Set in Stone – Linda Newbery (children’s book)
(Besides Penney’s novel, the only other winner at a Canadian publisher is Restless, issued here by Random House Canada)

While the category winners have all been chosen, the book of the year will be announced Feb. 7 at an awards ceremony in London.