The longlist of the UK and Ireland’s prestigious crime novel award
is unveiled with literary legends and dynamic debuts in contention for the
Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year…
Now in its 16th year,
the most coveted prize in crime fiction, presented by Harrogate International
Festivals, received a record number of submissions and this highly anticipated
longlist of 18 titles – 10 of which by women – represents crime writing at its
best: celebrating four former winners, a Booker Prize contender, and the fresh
new voices taking the genre by storm.
The line-up of
returning champions is led by Scottish supernova Denise Mina, vying
to become the first author to complete a hat trick with the deeply unsettling
thriller Conviction. Mina is joined by fellow Glaswegian bestseller Chris
Brookmyre and his psychological suspense Fallen Angel,
‘Queen of Crime’ Val McDermid’s latest masterful Tony Hill and
Carol Jordan investigation, How the Dead Speak, and Lee
Child CBE, with the final Jack Reacher, Blue Moon, before
sharing authorship with his brother Andrew.
The longlist
also features several previously nominated authors hoping to go one step
further and claim the trophy with Mick Herron securing a fifth
pick for his much-lauded Slough House series with Joe
Country and a nod for Abir Mukherjee’s new Wyndham
& Banerjee instalment, Smoke and Ashes, and fan
favourite Vera and Shetland author Ann
Cleeves returns with The Long Call, marking the launch of
a new North Devon series. Further Theakston alumni in the running include Adrian
McKinty with his electrifying thriller The Chain, Helen
Fitzgerald and the darkly comic Worst Case Scenario, and
outback noir from Jane Harper in The Lost Man.
Rising stars of
the genre are celebrated with three debuts on the list. Oyinkan
Braithwaite, who was spotlighted in the Festival’s highly respected ‘New
Blood’ panel in 2019, has been recognised for her Booker longlisted My
Sister the Serial Killer. Harriet Tyce is in contention
for her electrifying domestic noir Blood Orange that draws on
her own experience as a criminal barrister, and Laura Shepherd-Robinson for
the deeply atmospheric Blood & Sugar, bringing the 1780s
Deptford Docks to life.
Established
voices joining the Theakston ranks for the first time include Jane
Casey and her latest Maeve Kerrigan instalment Cruel
Acts, Alex North with his chilling police
procedural The Whisper Man, Louise Doughty, who
is longlisted for the eerily unnerving Platform Seven, Will
Carver with the mesmerising thriller Nothing Important
Happened Today; and Val McDermid’s 2018 New Blood selection: Will
Dean and his eagerly awaited follow-up to Dark Pines, the
stunning Scandi noir Red Snow.
The full
longlist for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year
2020 is:
- My Sister the Serial
Killer by Oyinkan
Braithwaite (Atlantic Books)
- Fallen Angel by Chris
Brookmyre (Little, Brown Book Group, Abacus)
- Nothing Important Happened
Today by Will
Carver (Orenda Books)
- Cruel Acts by Jane
Casey (HarperCollins, Harper Fiction)
- Blue Moon by Lee Child (Transworld,
Bantam)
- The Long Call by Ann
Cleeves (Pan Macmillan, Macmillan/Pan)
- Red Snow by Will Dean (Oneworld,
Point Blank)
- Platform Seven by Louise
Doughty (Faber & Faber)
- Worst Case Scenario by Helen
Fitzgerald (Orenda Books)
- The Lost Man by Jane
Harper (Little, Brown Book Group, Little, Brown)
- Joe Country by Mick
Herron (John Murray Press)
- How the Dead Speak by Val
McDermid (Little, Brown Book Group, Little, Brown)
- The Chain by Adrian
McKinty (Orion Publishing Group, Orion Fiction)
- Conviction by Denise
Mina (VINTAGE, Harvill Secker)
- Smoke and Ashes by Abir
Mukherjee (VINTAGE, Harvill Secker)
- The Whisper Man by Alex
North (Penguin Random House, Michael Joseph)
- Blood & Sugar by Laura
Shepherd-Robinson (Headline Publishing Group, Wildfire)
- Blood Orange by Harriet
Tyce (Pan Macmillan, Mantle/Pan)
Executive
director of T&R Theakston, Simon Theakston, said: “Year on year, I’m
astounded and delighted by how this exceptional genre continues to excel – we
were deluged with record submissions and these 18 impressive titles demonstrate
the quality and power of contemporary crime fiction. From the familiar faces to
the new voices, we are immensely proud of this year's longlist and raise a virtual glass of
Old Peculier to all the authors, and what will be another fierce contest for
this much-wanted award.”
The award is
run by Harrogate International Festivals in partnership with T&R
Theakston Ltd, WHSmith and the Express, and is open to full length crime novels
published in paperback from 1 May 2018 to 30 April 2019 by UK and Irish
authors.
The longlist
was selected by an academy of crime writing authors, agents, editors, reviewers,
members of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival Programming
Committee, and representatives from T&R Theakston Ltd, the Express, and
WHSmith.
The 18 titles
will be promoted in a dedicated online campaign from WHSmith, digital
promotional materials will be made available for independent bookstores, and
the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival’s online community – You’re Booked – will raise a virtual
glass to the titles and authors through interviews, features and a variety of
further interactive content, as well as giving the opportunity to see a
selection of events from the Festival’s extensive archive. This forms part of
the Harrogate International Festival virtual season of events, which presents a
raft of live music, specially commissioned performances, literary events and
interviews to bring a free festival experience to your own digital
doorstep.
The public are
now invited to vote for a shortlist of six titles on www.
