Lee Child Takes Helm of Theakson Crime Festival!!

The biggest celebration of the crime genre in the world has announced one of the biggest crime writers in the world will take the helm of its 2018 Festival.
Lee Child, author of the global bestselling Jack Reacher series, is Programming Chair of the 2018 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, which takes place 19-22 July in Harrogate.
Established in 2003 by crime author Val McDermid, agent Jane Gregory and arts charity Harrogate International Festivals, 2018 marks the 16^th Festival, held at Agatha Christie’s haunt, The Old Swan Hotel.
The Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival is regarded as the world’s best, achieving international acclaim for the programming, organisation and inclusive atmosphere. Over the years, it has hosted iconic names such as PD James, Jo Nesbo and JK Rowling (as Robert Galbraith).
Lee Child said: “It’s a challenge to follow in the footsteps of authors such as Peter James, Val McDermid and Ann Cleeves as previous Programming Chairs, but I guarantee I’ll be bringing some very special names to 2018’s Festival.”
“Harrogate is by far my favourite on the circuit, so it is a real honour – and a delight - to be taking the helm. My grandma lived in Otley so Harrogate is a place that has fond memories for me, and the Festival has a real warmth and laid back atmosphere. It’s a chance for readers and writers alike to hang out in a beautiful part of England. I’m looking forward to welcoming new and old friends.”
2017’s event sold out with 16,500 tickets over the four day festival. It is routinely cited as one of the UK’s top literary festivals. As well as over 90 authors, it attracts stars of stage and screen. Past events featured comedians Eddie Izzard, Susan Calman and Rory Bremner, actors Brenda Blethyn, Jodie Whittaker and Robson Green, alongside media heavyweights James Naughtie, Mark Lawson, and Jeremy Vine.
Lee Child, who resides in New York, launched his new Reacher thriller, The Midnight Line, on November 7 in the UK. It sees his iconic 6ft 5 inch hero on a quest for justice in the wilds of Wyoming. His last book, Night School, was the UK’s biggest selling hardback novel of 2016.
With over 100 million books sold, it is said a Reacher novel is sold somewhere in the world every nine seconds. As well as being published in over one hundred territories, the novels have been adapted to two Hollywood films starring Tom Cruise.
Lee Child won the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award in 2011 and received the Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction Award in 2017, joining the pantheon of Colin Dexter, Ruth Rendell, PD James, Reginald Hill, Lynda La Plante, Sara Paretsky and Val McDermid, who have received the honour.
Title sponsor and executive director of T&R Theakston, Simon Theakston, said: “Lee Child is nothing short of a phenomenon, and as a regular Special Guest at our festival, it’s wonderful that he’s now our next Programming Chair. He is an inspiration to his fellow writers, but most importantly a hero to his millions of readers. No doubt, he will make 2018 a very special year indeed.”
Sharon Canavar, CEO of Harrogate International Festivals, said: “It’s hard to top the success of the festival year-on-year, but with Lee as Chair it really electrifies the programme. He is a huge advocator and supporter of the genre.”
2018 Special Guests will be announced in the coming months. harrogateinternationalfestivals.com 

An Impressive Shortlist of Six for the Theakston Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year Award 2016!!

The shortlist for crime writing’s accolade, the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, has been announced.

Celebrating its twelfth year, the Awards feature six titles whittled down from a longlist of 18 crime novels published by British and Irish authors whose novels were published in paperback from 1 May 2015 to 18 April 2016.

The 2016 Award is run in partnership with T&R Theakston Ltd, WHSmith, and The Radio Times.

The shortlist in full:

• Time Of Death – Mark Billingham
• Career Of Evil – Robert Galbraith
• Tell No Tales – Eva Dolan
• Disclaimer – Renee Knight
• I Let You Go – Clare Mackintosh
• Rain Dogs – Adrian McKinty

The award ceremony will be hosted by broadcaster Mark Lawson on 21 July on the opening night of the 14th Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate.

Executive Director of T&R Theakston Ltd and Judge, Simon Theakston, said: “It’s a remarkable shortlist that shows the crime genre shapes our cultural landscape and dominates publishing.”

Congrats to all on the Shortlist, but special congrats to Irish author Adrian McKinty whose latest novel Rain Dogs has been receiving mighty accolades!!!

Rain Dogs has been shortlisted for the 2016 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award and longlisted for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award 2016. Previous books in the Duffy series have won or been shortlisted for the Ned Kelly Award, The Edgar Award, The Anthony Award, The Spinetingler Award and The Barry Award.

McKinty has all the virtues: smart dialogue, sharp plotting, great sense of place, well-rounded characters and a nice line in what might be called cynical lyricism ("Rain. Wind. The afternoon withering like a piece of fruit in an Ulster pantry.") If Duffy's relentless patter occasionally makes you feel like you're trapped in a lift with a stand-up comedian, well, those dreary steeples cry out for a little antic distraction. Be warned, though. Rain Dogs is Gateway
McKinty: you won't stop here.
- The Irish Times

Challenged with the second locked-room -- locked-castle really -- mystery of his career, Duffy pursues answers in his usual manner: resolute and incisive until every aspect and angle of the truth shakes out. He is pleasurably full of quips, wry and dry, observing his Daisy-Dukes-sporting neighbor "smoking Benson and Hedges in a way that would have cheered the heart of the head of marketing at Philip Morris," and telling Lawson that their aggravating colleague, Frank Payne, is "as fine an example of nominative determinism as you'll ever get." McKinty captures the mood and flavor of a city perpetually under siege, the life of a detective during wartime [and he] also excels at scene-grabbing set pieces: this novel opens on a terrific one with a massive crowd -- including Bono -- fixated on a visit from Muhammad Ali. McKinty's decision to expand the series beyond the original trilogy has breathed new energy and vigor into his novels: Duffy's not just growing naturally into this larger space, he's taking us right along with him.
- The Boston Globe 

Adrian McKinty is on a roll. His last novel in the Sean Duffy series set during the Troubles in Northern Ireland, Gun Street Girl, has been shortlisted for an Edgar award by the Mystery Writers of America. The latest, Rain Dogs, does not disappoint. The dark humour, the verbal jests, and the seamless insertion of real historical figures and events into the fictional narrative are all superbly sustained...This is clever historical fiction with the bite of social commentary and the joy of a crime series at its zenith.
- The Sydney Morning Herald 

The tension between McKinty's competing love of tight, formal puzzles and loose, riffing dialogue is what makes the Duffy novels such a tremendous joy.
- The Guardian

A classic plot with modern twists...[another] thoroughly engaging crime novel set in Northern Ireland
- The Sunday Times