REVEAL!! 2018 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Longlist!!

2018 THEAKSTON OLD PECULIER CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR LONGLIST REVEALED

Big hitters including Lee Child, Ian Rankin and Val McDermid, feature on this longlist. The prize was created to celebrate the very best in crime fiction and is open to UK and Irish crime authors whose novels were published in paperback from 1 May 2017 to 30 April 2018.

2018 marks the 14^th year of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year award. The winner is announced at the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, hosted in Harrogate each July. The festival was established in 2003 by Val McDermid, agent Jane Gregory, and arts charity Harrogate International Festivals.
The award is run in partnership with T&R Theakston Ltd, WHSmith, and The Mail on Sunday. The longlist of 18 titles were selected by an academy of crime writing authors, agents, editors, reviewers and members of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival Programming Committee.

Four previous winners of the award - Val McDermid (2006), Lee Child (2011), Denise Mina (2012 and 2013) and Chris Brookmyre (2017) - return on 2018’s longlist. The longlist also features some of the genre’s hottest new talent including the debut novels of Jane Harper, Emma Flint, Joseph Knox, Imran Mahmood and Abir Mukherjee.

Executive director of T&R Theakston, Simon Theakston, said: “2018’s longlist shows how strong and dynamic the genre is as it features so many debut novels, alongside established names. It shows how crime fiction not only dominates publishing but shapes our cultural landscape.”

The longlist in full:    

Want You Gone by Chris Brookmyre
The Midnight Line by Lee Child
The Seagull by Ann Cleeves
Little Deaths by Emma Flint
The Chalk Pit by Elly Griffiths
The Dry by Jane Harper
Spook Street by Mick Herron
A Death at Fountains Abbey by Antonia Hodgson
He Said/She Said by Erin Kelly
Sirens by Joseph Knox
The Accident on the A35 by Graeme Macrae Burnet
You Don't Know Me by Imran Mahmood
Insidious Intent by Val McDermid
The Long Drop by Denise Mina
A Rising Man by Abir Mukherjee
Rather Be the Devil by Ian Rankin
The Intrusions by Stav Sherez
Persons Unknown by Susie Steiner

The shortlist of six titles will be announced on 27 May, followed by a six-week promotion in libraries and in WHSmith stores nationwide. The overall winner will be decided by the panel of Judges, alongside a public vote. The public vote opens on 1 July and closes 14 July at www.theakstons.co.uk.

The winner will be announced at an award ceremony hosted by broadcaster Mark Lawson on 19 July on the opening night of the 16th Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate. They’ll receive a £3,000 cash prize, as well as a handmade, engraved beer barrel provided by Theakston Old Peculier.

The awards night will also feature the Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction Award, with past recipients over the years including PD James, Ruth Rendell, Reginald Hill and Colin Dexter.

Crimefest and my Crime Tribe!

If you were staying at the Bristol Marriott Hotel over the weekend, you could be forgiven for thinking you were a delegate at a Star Wars convention, such were the throngs of people bustling through the hotel, each armed with name badges and looking wildly enthusiastic. But it wasn’t Star Wars, it was Crimefest, the international crime fiction convention held in Bristol every May.

With record numbers this year, the festival attracted writers, readers, editors, agents, publishers and bloggers from all over the globe, and with a strong Irish contingent, it has become a date for the diary.

‘Crimefest is an event where I can have breakfast with an Australia author, coffee with an American reader, and at the Gala Dinner, present an award to a Scandinavian writer,’ says Sarah Ward, one of the judges of the Petrona Award. ‘It’s the highlight of my crime fiction year.’

But what actually happens at this festival over four days in May? You have the headline acts, internationally acclaimed writers like Ian Rankin, Anne Holt, Peter James and Hugh Fraser, all willing to share nuggets of their writing process and success, and also happy to chat with delegates during panel intervals, while copious amounts of tea and coffee are drunk.

(Ian Rankin with Patricia Gibney)

Ayo Onatade, Special Crime Reporter at Shots Ezine and associate member of The Crime Writers Association (CWA), puts the success of the convention down to the laid back and fun approach, as well as the panels being well organised. ‘It’s often difficult to decide which panel to attend. Everyone enjoys themselves and there is no demarcation between authors that are taking part, readers, fans, and bloggers who are there. It’s not elitist.’

And that’s the thing about Crimefest that makes it different. You could be chatting to a fellow writer or friend one moment, then find yourself talking all things crime fiction with publishers, agents and editors from around the world, and there are plenty of buzzing conversations with the sharing of contact details - another reason why so many delegates visit each year.

Author C. L. Taylor, familiar to many Irish readers agrees, describing Crimefest as an opportunity to connect with readers and her crime tribe. ‘Many of my friends live hundreds of miles away and it’s often the only chance I get to see them.’

But outside of the many conversations between readers, writers and publishing folk, lots happen here other than panels and headline acts. Along with panels covering everything from Creating Complex Characters to the Psychology of Thrills, there are workshops, quizzes, pitching an agent slots, and one off events - including the re-enactment of the Steve Avery trial (Making a Murder), with Irish author and lawyer, Steve Cavanagh, and Sophie Hannah as Judge.

The Crimefest Awards saw Stephen King, Ian Rankin, Paula Hawkins, Robert Galbraith and Linwood Barclay, compete for victory, whilst the longlists for the CWA Dagger Awards were also announced at the festival. Among them were Irish writers, John Connolly, Jax Miller, Adrian McKinty, William Shaw and yours truly.

Dublin-based crime authors, Paul Perry and Karen Gillece, writing under the pen name, Karen Perry, were both panel members and moderators. Paul says, ‘Crimefest is a great festival where crime writers from around the world meet. Karen and I were on a panel on Thursday called Writing Duos: How Not To Come To Blows When You’re Both Writing The Same Book. Then on Saturday, I moderated Sending Shivers Down The Spine with A.K. Benedict, Jenny Blackhurst, Mason Cross and Kate Ellis. I loved the easy going atmosphere, with time to discuss and share a love of crime writing.’

However, you can’t discuss Crimefest without talking about Bristol. A city, ranked fifth in the U.K., with its riverside cafes and bars, weekend markets and buzzing atmosphere (even on rainy afternoons). It has an appeal all of its own. As crime fiction enthusiasts gathered on the stone steps of the Marriot, amid stunning architecture and cathedrals, with the waterfront only metres away, teenagers played on skateboards in the communal areas, and you got the feeling you were in a city comfortable with itself. Early Banksy art can also be found in the city of his birth, pieces created when he was seen as another kid with a can of spray paint in his hand.

So whether you sign up for a one-day or full weekend pass at Crimefest, you will be transported into a hub of crime fiction, together with festival goody bag and mock syringe pen. Last word of advice, if the popularity of this festival continues – Book early!