The Shortlist for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, has been announced!!

 

Shortlist:

Belinda Bauer - Snap

Steve Cavanagh - Thirteen

Mick Herron - London Rules

Val McDermid - Broken Ground

Liam McIlvanney - The Quaker

Khurrum Rahman - East of Hounslow

The prize, now in its 15th year, was created to celebrate the very best in crime fiction.

Snap

Belinda Bauer, a previous winner of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award, is shortlisted with her 2018 Man Booker longlisted, Snap, which is inspired by the murder of a pregnant woman, Marie Wilks, on the M50 in 1988. The judges described it as “an acute, stylish, intelligent novel about how we survive trauma.”

Thirteen

Thirteen, by Steve Cavanagh, hailed by Ian Rankin for “plotting that takes the breath away.” Thirteen offers an original twist on the courtroom thriller, where the serial killer isn’t on trial - he’s on the jury.

London Rules

Mick Herron’s widely acclaimed Jackson Lamb novels have been shortlisted twice for the Crime Novel of the Year. London Rules is the fifth outing for the band of spies with the backdrop of Brexit Britain and a terror plot.

Broken Ground

This Karen Pirie thriller by Val McDermid, digs up a secret buried for 70 years in a Highland peat bog and has been praised for its ‘masterly handling of pace and plot.’

The Quaker

The Quaker by Liam McIllvanney is set in Glasgow in 1969 drawing on the real-life, never-caught serial murderer Bible John.

East of Hounslow

This is Khurrum Rahman first novel. East of Hounslow follows Jay, who ends up working undercover for MI5 while undergoing radical Islamist training.

The overall winner will be decided by the panel of Judges, alongside a public vote. The public vote opens on July 1 and closes July 14 at www.theakstons.co.uk.

Executive director of T&R Theakston, Simon Theakston, said: “All shortlisted authors are deserving of the title, but there’s only one Novel of the Year. The public vote will be invaluable, readers have real power, so I’d encourage everyone to make their voice heard - it’s free and simple to vote online. It will be fascinating to see which of these remarkable titles prevails, all are simply outstanding.”

The winner is announced on the opening night of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, on July 18, 2019

The winner will receive a £3,000 cash prize, as well as a handmade, engraved beer barrel provided by Theakston Old Peculier.

Murder & Mystery at Harrogate!!

This year sees a dazzling list crime writing stars taking part in the world’s biggest celebration of the crime writing genre. Lee Child author of the global bestselling Jack Reacher series will be chairing the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival which takes place 19-22 July.

Lee says: “I’ve been to all the festivals in the world and Harrogate is by far my favourite, so it’s a joy to be 2018’s chair."

Most importantly for readers and authors, it’s a great chance to hang out and socialise in beautiful Harrogate with each other. Blockbuster author, John Grisham, will be one of the headline writers. The lawyer-turned-author has had nine of his books adapted to film, including The Firm, The Pelican Brief and A Time to Kill.

Other American authors include Don Winslow, who has sold over 100 million books worldwide and Laura Lippman, a former journalist on the Baltimore Sun turned New York Times bestselling author, considered one of the most acclaimed novelists in America. There will also be husband and wife writing team known as Nicci French, and special guests also include Sophie Hannah, Linwood Barclay, Denise Mina, and Val McDermid. 

Val McDermid’s annual New Blood panel, will showcase four hand-picked debuts, one of which is Irish Crime Writer Dervla McTiernan for her novel The Ruin.

The festival opens with a day-long writing workshop, Creative Thursday, followed by the crime writing equivalent of The Oscars, the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award. The festival is well known for it's open approach, readers, fledgling writers, and established authors mingle in the hotel bar. Considered to be one of the most important events in the crime publishing calendar, agents, publishers, publicists, readers and authors attend from all over the world.

For more information, including tickets, visit HERE

Shortlist Announced for Crime Novel of the Year Old Theakston Festival 2018!!

THEAKSTON FESTIVAL ROUNDS UP SIX SUSPECTS ON CRIME NOVEL AWARD SHORTLIST

The shortlist for crime writing’s most wanted accolade, the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, has been announced.
The shortlisted six were whittled down from a longlist of 18 titles. The prize, created to celebrate the very best in crime fiction, was open to UK and Irish crime authors whose novels were published in paperback from 1 May 2017 to 30 April 2018.
The shortlist in full:

• Mick Herron, Spook Street
• Val McDermid, Insidious Intent
• Denise Mina, The Long Drop
• Abir Mukherjee, A Rising Man
• Stav Sherez, The Intrusions
• Susie Steiner, Persons Unknown

Val McDermid, Susie Steiner, and Mick Herron return as contenders after being shortlisted in 2017, the year Chris Brookmyre took the winning accolade.

Mick Herron’s espionage thriller, Spook Street, is the fourth in his award-winning Jackson Lamb series. His acclaimed series is based on an MI5 department of ‘rejects’ – intelligent services’ misfits and screw-ups. Herron’s writing was praised by critic Barry Forshaw for ‘the spycraft of le Carré refracted through the blackly comic vision of Joseph Heller’s Catch-22.’

Val McDermid’s Insidious Intent features DCI Carol Jordan and Tony Hill, two of the most iconic characters in crime fiction. The LA Times said it was a novel that ‘shows Val McDermid deserves her Queen of Crime crown’. McDermid last received the Novel of the Year accolade in 2006.

Denise Mina could make it a hat-trick after winning the award in 2012 and 2013, she is the only author to date to have won the Novel of the Year in two consecutive years.The Long Drop has already attracted a wealth of awards; Mina was the first woman to win The McIlvanney Prize for The Long Drop.

Abir Mukherjee is the only author on the shortlist for a debut novel. A Rising Man, saw Abir Mukherjee picked as a 2016 New Blood author by Val McDermid at the Festival. She hailed it as, ‘One of the most exciting debut novels I’ve read in years.’ It too has won awards, including the CWA Historical Dagger. His sequel in the Sam Wyndham series is A Necessary Evil.

The Intrusions by Stav Sherez was a 2017 Guardian and Sunday Times book of the year, dubbed ‘A Silence of the Lambs for the internet age’ by Ian Rankin. The book was acclaimed by critics for its echoes of Emile Zola and influences from Graham Greene to Dostoyevsky.

Former Guardian journalist Susie Steiner’s first crime novel introduced Detective Manon Bradshaw in Missing, Presumed, a Sunday Times bestseller. Her follow up,Persons Unknown, a Richard and Judy book club pick, has attracted huge critical acclaim.
The 2018 Award is run in partnership with title sponsor T&R Theakston Ltd, WHSmith, and The Mail on Sunday.

2018 marks the 14^th year of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year award.
Executive director of T&R Theakston, Simon Theakston, said: “The shortlisted authors are already rich in awards, but there’s only one Novel of the Year, so it will be fascinating to see which of these remarkable titles prevails - all are simply outstanding.”
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.

Helen Donkin, Literature Festival Manager at Harrogate International Festivals, said: “The public’s vote is incredibly important. It’s the readers that have real power when it comes to judging a book’s worth, so I’d encourage everyone to make their voice heard – it’s free and simple to vote online.”

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. The winner will receive a £3,000 cash prize, as well as a handmade, engraved beer barrel provided by Theakston Old Peculier.