News – The Girl With All The Crime Books

Thursday 15 September, 2022 – The McIlvanney Prize winner is revealed

The winner of the 2022 Bloody Scotland McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year is Alan Parks, for May God Forgive, the fifth in his Harry McCoy series, published by Canongate. The winner of the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize for 2022 is Tariq Ashkanani for Welcome To Cooper, published by Thomas & Mercer. They were presented with the awards, created by sponsor Glencairn Glass, at a ceremony on the first night of the Bloody Scotland festival, after a reception and the now-traditional torchlight procession.

Ayo Onatade, chair of the McIlvanney Prize judges, said of May God Forgive: “A terrific continuation of Alan Parks’ police procedural ‘month’ series, May God Forgive is every bit as entertaining, gritty, darkly humorous and steeped in the grimy underbelly of Glasgow as the previous books. A fantastic book with an intriguing cast of characters that not only keeps to a tight timeframe, but is fast, hard, edgy and thought provoking. 1970s Glasgow has never been so thoroughly invoked. A truly gripping read.”

Arusa Qureshi, chair of the judges for the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize, said Welcome To Cooper is: “Well-structured, bleak and just the right amount of disturbing. Tariq Ashkanani has crafted a terrific debut that doesn’t provide an obvious hero but instead draws out the flaws and bad choices of its central characters. This provides a sense of discomfort that stays with you throughout – but that’s where the beauty lies. I found myself going back and re-reading once I’d finished to make sure I had every detail right, which I think is the mark of a really clever and riveting story.”

The Glencairn Glass, the world’s favourite whisky glass, again sponsored both awards. The winners were presented with their trophies by Kirsty Nicholson, design and marketing manager at Glencairn Crystal.

The McIlvanney Prize judges were Ayo Onatade, winner of the CWA Red Herring Award and freelance crime fiction critic, Ewan Wilson, crime fiction buyer from Waterstones Glasgow and Jacky Collins, the programmer of the Newcastle Noir festival. The Debut Prize judges were Arusa Qureshi, a former editor of The List, Kenny Tweeddale from sponsors The Glencairn Glass, and Simon Lloyd from Waterstones.

Wednesday 7 September, 2022 – The McIlvanney Prize shortlist is revealed

Today Bloody Scotland unveils the shortlisted authors in contention for the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year, sponsored by The Glencairn Glass. In the festival’s tenth anniversary year, four contenders made the list – three of them from independent Scottish publisher Canongate. They are:

The Heretic, Liam McIlvanney (HarperCollins)
May God Forgive, Alan Parks (Canongate)
A Corruption of Blood, Ambrose Parry (Canongate)
The Second Cut, Louise Welsh (Canongate)

The judges said of the novels:

Liam McIlvanney – The Heretic: “The masterful rendering of a richly layered plot makes you want to read this novel again as soon as you’ve finished it. It’s a warts and all tale with memorable characters and a great setting.”

Alan Parks – May God Forgive: “This expertly handled and morally ambiguous novel paints a dark and mesmerising portrait of 1970s Glasgow. The skillfully written and complex plot builds to a thrilling and highly unconventional denouement.”

Ambrose Parry – A Corruption of Blood: “A real slow burner of a novel which is a marvellous tale of murder and deception in Victorian Edinburgh. It handles some difficult subject matter with sensitivity and care and has a real feeling of authenticity.”

Louise Welsh – The Second Cut: “The raw, tight prose of this novel delivers an edgy glimpse into the underbelly of 21st century Glasgow. The novel features the welcome return of Rilke from Louise’s classic debut The Cutting room in a witty and sometimes sordid tale of a rank outsider.”

The McIlvanney Prize will be judged by Ayo Onatade (winner of the CWA Red Herring Award and freelance crime fiction critic), Janice Forsyth, (BBC Radio Scotland presenter) and Ewan Wilson (crime fiction buyer for Waterstones Glasgow).

The Glencairn Glass, the world’s favourite whisky glass, is again sponsoring both the McIlvanney Prize and the Bloody Scotland Debut Crime Novel of the Year for 2022. The winners of both awards will be revealed in Stirling on 15 September, at the start of this year’s festival.

The McIlvanney Prize includes £1,000 and nationwide promotion in Waterstones. The initial longlisting is handled by over 100 crime fiction readers from all over Scotland including booksellers, bloggers, librarians and festival-goers and the longlist is then handed to the team of judges to decide on the eventual winner.

Wednesday 29 June, 2022 – The CWA Dagger winners are announced

Diamond Dagger – for a crime-writing career marked by sustained excellence
CJ Sansom

Red Herring Award – a special award given in recognition of service to the Crime Writers’ Association and its activities
Awarded posthumously to the late Thalia Proctor (1970-2022), bookseller and publishing industry stalwart, latterly editorial manager at Little, Brown

Gold Dagger – for crime novel of the year
Ray Celestin – Sunset Swing (Pan Macmillan/Mantle)

Ian Fleming Steel Dagger – for thriller of the year
MW Craven – Dead Ground (Little, Brown/Constable)

John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger – for best debut novel
Janice Hallett – The Appeal (Profile Books/Viper Books)

Historical Dagger
Ray Celestin – Sunset Swing (Pan Macmillan/Mantle)

Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger
Simone Buchholz – Hotel Cartagena, trans Rachel Ward (Orenda Books)

Short Story Dagger
Paul Magrs – Flesh of a Fancy Woman (from Criminal Pursuits: Crime Through Time)

ALCS Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction
Julia Laite – The Disappearance of Lydia Harvey: A true story of sex, crime and the meaning of justice (Profile Books)

Dagger in the Library – voted for by librarians, celebrating the author’s body of work and support of libraries
Mark Billingham

Crime and Mystery Publisher of the Year Dagger
Faber & Faber

Debut Dagger – for unpublished authors
Anna Maloney – The 10:12

Margery Allingham Short Mystery Competition winner
Scott Hunter – Locked In

Tuesday 28 June, 2022 – Shortlist revealed for the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize

The Bloody Scotland Debut Prize was launched in 2019 – two of the early winners, Claire Askew and Deborah Masson have this year graduated to the longlist for the McIlvanney Prize. The shortlist for the 2022 Debut Prize features both a household name and Into Books, an indie publisher so small they haven’t yet published enough books to qualify for membership of Publishing Scotland.

The full shortlist is:
Tariq Ashkanani, Welcome to Cooper (Thomas & Mercer, Amazon).
A dark thriller set in small town America by an Edinburgh-based solicitor and podcaster.
Frankie Boyle, Meantime (John Murray).
A picaresque detective story set against the backdrop of post-referendum Scotland by one of Britain’s best-known comedians and writers.
Amanda Mitchison, The Wolf Hunters (Fledgling Press).
Set in a brutal, chaotic Scotland of the near future. The author is an award-winning journalist and author of several children’s books.
George Paterson, The Girl, The Crow, The Writer and The Fighter (Into Books).
An epistolary tale of murder and chicanery which spans continents and lifetime by a writer, DJ and musician.
Sarah Smith, Hear No Evil (Two Roads).
Based on a true case from Scottish legal history about a young Deaf woman accused of murder. Smith is a family history researcher and a creative writing tutor.

Arusa Qureshi, a former editor of The List, replaces Janice Forsyth as a judge for the Bloody Scotland Debut this year, joining Kenny Tweeddale from sponsors The Glencairn Glass, and Simon Lloyd from Waterstones. The winner will be announced on Thursday 15 September 2022, on the opening night of the Bloody Scotland festival.

14 June, 2022 – Theakstons Prize shortlist is announced

The shortlist for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2022 has been announced, with the titles showing the breadth of the genre. The award, now in its 18th year, is presented by Harrogate International Festivals and recognises the best crime novels published in the UK and Ireland in paperback over the past year.

The shortlist is:
The Last Thing to Burn by Will Dean (Hodder & Stoughton)
The Night Hawks by Elly Griffiths (Quercus Fiction)
Slough House by Mick Herron (Baskerville)
Midnight at Malabar House by Vaseem Khan (Hodder & Stoughton)
True Crime Story by Joseph Knox (Doubleday)
Daughters of Night by Laura Shepherd Robinson (Mantle/Pan)

The public are now invited to vote for their choice of winner at http://www.harrogatetheakstoncrimeaward.com. Voting closes on 8 July, with the winner of the Theakston Award revealed on the opening night of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, Thursday 21 July. They will receive £3,000 and a handmade, engraved beer barrel provided by T&R Theakston Ltd.

The longlist was selected by an academy of crime writing authors, agents, editors, reviewers and members of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival Programming Committee, along with media partners the Express. The shortlist was chosen by the academy plus a public vote. The award is run by Harrogate International Festivals sponsored by T&R Theakston Ltd, in partnership with Waterstones and the Express, and is open to full-length crime novels published in paperback 1 May, 2021 to 30 April, 2022 by UK and Irish authors.

Wednesday 8 June, 2022 – The McIlvanney Prize longlist is revealed

Today Bloody Scotland unveils the longlisted authors in contention for the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year, sponsored by The Glencairn Glass. In the festival’s tenth anniversary year, ten contenders made the list – six of them from independent Scottish publishers. They are:

A Matter of Time, Claire Askew (Hodder)
The Sound of Sirens, Ewan Galt (Leamington Books)
The Blood Tide, Neil Lancaster (HarperCollins)
From the Ashes, Deborah Masson (Transworld)
The Heretic, Liam McIlvanney (HarperCollins)
Rizzio, Denise Mina (Polygon)
May God Forgive, Alan Parks (Canongate)
A Corruption of Blood, Ambrose Parry (Canongate)
A Rattle of Bones, Douglas Skelton (Polygon)
The Second Cut, Louise Welsh (Canongate)

Some 2.5 of the authors have won the prize before: Liam McIlvanney (2018), Denise Mina (2017) and Chris Brookmyre (2016) who continues his lucky streak as 50 per cent of Ambrose Parry. He has appeared on every longlist either as himself or his alter ego. Meanwhile, Claire Askew was the inaugural winner of the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize in 2019 and Deborah Masson won it in 2020.

The Glencairn Glass, the world’s favourite whisky glass, is again sponsoring both the McIlvanney Prize and the Bloody Scotland Debut Crime Novel of the Year for 2022. The Debut Prize shortlist will be revealed on 28 July and the McIlvanney Prize shortlist will be revealed at the beginning of September. The winners of both will be revealed in Stirling on 15 September, at the start of this year’s festival.

The McIlvanney Prize includes £1,000 and nationwide promotion in Waterstones. The initial longlisting is handled by more than 100 crime fiction readers from all over Scotland, including booksellers, bloggers, librarians and festival-goers. It is then handed to the judges, who decide on the eventual winner.

14 May, 2022 – The CWA Dagger longlists are announced

The 2022 shortlists for the prestigious Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) Dagger awards, which honour the very best in the crime-writing genre, have been announced. Created in 1955, the CWA Daggers are the oldest awards in the genre and have been synonymous with quality crime writing for over half a century.

Gold Dagger – for crime novel of the year
Jacqueline Bublitz – Before You Knew My Name (Little, Brown/Sphere)
Ray Celestin – Sunset Swing (Pan Macmillan/Mantle)
SA Cosby – Razorblade Tears (Headline Publishing Group/Headline)
John Hart – The Unwilling (Bonnier Books UK/Zaffre)
Abir Mukherjee – The Shadows of Men (Penguin Random House/Harvill Secker)
William Shaw – The Trawlerman (Quercus/riverrun)

Ian Fleming Steel Dagger – for thriller of the year
Linwood Barclay – Find You First (HarperCollins/HQ)
Sharon Bolton – The Pact (Orion Publishing Group)
Steve Cavanagh – The Devil’s Advocate (Orion Publishing Group)
SA Cosby – Razorblade Tears (Headline Publishing Group)
MW Craven – Dead Ground (Little, Brown/Constable)
Laura Lippman – Dream Girl (Faber)

John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger – for best debut novel
Tariq Ashkanani – Welcome to Cooper (Thomas & Mercer)
Eloísa Díaz – Repentance (Orion Publishing Group/Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
Alan Gillespie – The Mash House (Unbound/Unbound Digital)
Janice Hallett – The Appeal (Profile Books/Viper Books)
Karin Nordin – Where Ravens Roost (HarperCollins/HQ)
Rahul Raina – How to Kidnap the Rich (Little, Brown)
Mark Wightman -Waking the Tiger (Hobeck Books)

Historical Dagger
John Banville – April in Spain (Faber)
Ray Celestin – Sunset Swing (Pan Macmillan/Mantle)
Andy Charman – Crow Court (Unbound)
Alis Hawkins – Not One Of Us (Canelo)
Robbie Morrison – Edge of the Grave (Pan Macmillan/Macmillan)
Ambrose Parry – A Corruption of Blood (Canongate Books)

Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger
Simone Buchholz – Hotel Cartagena, trans Rachel Ward (Orenda Books)
Kōtarō Isaka – Bullet Train, trans Sam Malissa (Penguin Random House/Harvill Secker)
Sacha Naspini – Oxygen, trans Clarissa Botsford (Europa Editions UK)
Samira Sedira – People Like Them, trans Lara Vergnaud (Bloomsbury Publishing/Raven Books)
Antti Tuomainen – The Rabbit Factor, trans David Hackston (Orenda Books)

Short Story Dagger
Caroline England – Blindsided (from Criminal Pursuits: Crime Through Time, edited by Samantha Lee )
Jo Nesbⱷ – London (from The Jealousy Man and other stories, ed Robert Ferguson)
TM Logan – With the Others (from Afraid of the Shadows, ed Miranda Jewess)
Paul Magrs – Flesh of a Fancy Woman (from Criminal Pursuits: Crime Through Time)
Bryony Pearce – Changeling (from Criminal Pursuits: Crime Through Time)
Raven Dane – The Way Of All Flesh (from Criminal Pursuits: Crime Through Time)
Robert Scragg – When I Grow Up (from Afraid of the Shadows)

ALS Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction
Gwen Adshead & Eileen Horne – The Devil You Know: Stories of Human Cruelty and Compassion (Faber)
Patrick Radden Keefe – Empire of Pain (Pan Macmillan/Picador)
Julia Laite – The Disappearance of Lydia Harvey: A true story of sex, crime and the meaning of justice (Profile Books)
Ben Machell – The Unusual Suspect (Canongate Books)
Thomas Morris – The Dublin Railway Murder (Penguin Random House/Harvill Secker)
Julie Kavanagh – The Irish Assassins: Conspiracy, Revenge and the Murders that Stunned an Empire (Atlantic Books/Grove Press UK)

Dagger in the Library – voted for by librarians, celebrating the author’s body of work and support of libraries
Lin Anderson
Mark Billingham
Susan Hill
Edward Marston
Cath Staincliffe

Crime and Mystery Publisher of the Year Dagger
Faber & Faber
HarperCollins (Harper Fiction)
Penguin Random House (Michael Joseph)
Pushkin Press (Pushkin Vertigo)
Titan Books
Profile Books (Viper)

Debut Dagger – for unpublished authors
Kevin Bartlett – Henry’s Bomb
Laura Ashton Hill – Holloway Castle
Anna Maloney – The 10:12
David Smith – The Dead of Egypt
Liz Rachel Walker – The Dieppe Letters

Margery Allingham Short Mystery Competition winner
Scott Hunter – Locked In

The CWA Dagger winners will be announced at an awards ceremony and gala dinner in London on 29 June.

5 May, 2022 – Theakstons Prize longlist is announced

The longlist for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2022 has been announced, with debut authors and literary icons vying for the UK and Ireland’s most coveted crime fiction writing award. The award, now in its 18th year, is presented by Harrogate International Festivals and recognises the best crime novels published in the UK and Ireland in paperback over the past year.

The full longlist is:
Tall Bones by Anna Bailey (Doubleday)
Rabbit Hole by Mark Billingham (Little, Brown)
The Cut by Chris Brookmyre (Little, Brown)
The Heron’s Cry by Ann Cleeves (Pan Macmillan)
Dead Ground by MW Craven (Constable)
Girl A by Abigail Dean (HarperFiction)
The Last Thing to Burn by Will Dean (Hodder & Stoughton)
The Night Hawks by Elly Griffiths (Quercus Fiction)
Slough House by Mick Herron (Baskerville)
Watch Her Fall by Erin Kelly (Hodder & Stoughton)
Midnight at Malabar House by Vaseem Khan (Hodder & Stoughton)
True Crime Story by Joseph Knox (Doubleday)
I Know What I Saw by Imran Mahmood (Raven Books)
Blood Ties by Brian McGilloway (Constable)
The Less Dead by Denise Mina (Harvill Secker)
The Trawlerman by William Shaw (riverrun)
Daughters of Night by Laura Shepherd Robinson (Mantle/Pan)
The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton (Raven Books)

The longlist was selected by an academy of crime writing authors, agents, editors, reviewers and members of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival Programming Committee, along with media partners the Express. The award is run by Harrogate International Festivals sponsored by T&R Theakston Ltd, in partnership with Waterstones and the Express, and is open to full-length crime novels published in paperback 1 May, 2021 to 30 April, 2022 by UK and Irish authors.

The public are now invited to vote for a shortlist of six titles at http://www.harrogatetheakstoncrimeaward.com. Voting closes on 26 May, with the shortlist announced and winner voting opening on 14 June. The winner of the Theakston Award will be revealed on the opening night of our Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, Thursday 21 July. They will receive £3,000 and a handmade, engraved beer barrel provided by T&R Theakston Ltd.

23 April, 2022 – The CWA Dagger longlists are announced

The 2022 longlists for the prestigious Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) Dagger awards, which honour the very best in the crime-writing genre, have been announced. Created in 1955, the CWA Daggers are the oldest awards in the genre and have been synonymous with quality crime writing for over half a century.

Diamond Dagger – for a crime-writing career marked by sustained excellence
CJ Sansom

CJ Sansom

Gold Dagger – for crime novel of the year
Kia Abdullah – Next of Kin (HarperCollins/HQ)
Alexandra Benedict – The Christmas Murder Game (Bonnier Books UK/Zaffre)
Mark Billingham – Rabbit Hole (Little, Brown/Sphere)
DV Bishop – City of Vengeance (Pan Macmillan/Macmillan)
Jacqueline Bublitz – Before You Knew My Name (Little, Brown/Sphere)
Ray Celestin – Sunset Swing (Pan Macmillan/Mantle)
SA Cosby – Razorblade Tears (Headline Publishing Group/Headline)
Will Dean – The Last Thing to Burn (Hodder & Stoughton)
Melissa Ginsburg – The House Uptown (Faber)
John Hart – The Unwilling (Bonnier Books UK/Zaffre)
Paula Hawkins – A Slow Fire Burning (Transworld/Doubleday)
Femi Kayode – Lightseekers (Bloomsbury Publishing/Raven)
Imran Mahmood – I Know What I Saw (Bloomsbury Publishing/Raven)
Abir Mukherjee – The Shadows of Men (Penguin Random House/Harvill Secker)
Chris Offutt – The Killing Hills (No Exit Press)
Peter Papathanasiou – The Stoning (Quercus/MacLehose)
William Shaw – The Trawlerman (Quercus/riverrun)
Laura Shepherd-Robinson – Daughters of Night (Pan Macmillan/Mantle)
Rosalind Stopps – A Beginner’s Guide to Murder (HarperCollins/HQ)
Joe Thomas – Brazilian Psycho (Quercus/Arcadia)

Ian Fleming Steel Dagger – for thriller of the year
Jonathan Ames – A Man Named Doll (Pushkin/Vertigo)
Linwood Barclay – Find You First (HarperCollins/HQ)
Belinda Bauer – Exit (Transworld Publishers/Bantam Press)
Sharon Bolton – The Pact (Orion Publishing Group)
Steve Cavanagh – The Devil’s Advocate (Orion Publishing Group)
Ray Celestin – Sunset Swing (Pan Macmillan/Mantle)
SA Cosby – Razorblade Tears (Headline Publishing Group)
MW Craven – Dead Ground (Little, Brown/Constable)
Jean Hanff Korelitz – The Plot (Faber)
Laura Lippman – Dream Girl (Faber)
Denise Mina – Rizzio (Birlinn/Polygon)
Håkan Nesser – The Lonely Ones (Pan Macmillan/Mantle)

John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger – for best debut novel
Tariq Ashkanani – Welcome to Cooper (Thomas & Mercer)
Greg Buchanan – Sixteen Horses (Pan Macmillan/Mantle)
Eloísa Díaz – Repentance (Orion Publishing Group/Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
Antony Dunford – Hunted (Hobeck Books)
Alan Gillespie – The Mash House (Unbound/Unbound Digital)
Andrew J Graff – Raft of Stars (HarperCollins/HQ)
Janice Hallett – The Appeal (Profile Books/Viper Books)
TJ Newman – Falling (Simon & Schuster)
Karin Nordin – Where Ravens Roost (HarperCollins/HQ)
Peter Papathanasiou – The Stoning (Quercus/MacLehose Press)
Rahul Raina – How to Kidnap the Rich (Little, Brown)
Meeti Shroff-Shah – A Mumbai Murder Mystery (Joffe Books)
Sarah Sultoon – The Source (Orenda Books)
Mark Wightman -Waking the Tiger (Hobeck Books)

Historical Dagger
John Banville – April in Spain (Faber)
DV Bishop – City of Vengeance (Pan Macmillan/Macmillan)
Ray Celestin – Sunset Swing (Pan Macmillan/Mantle)
Andy Charman – Crow Court (Unbound)
Alis Hawkins – Not One Of Us (Canelo)
KJ Maitland – The Drowned City (Headline)
Luke McCallin – Where God Does Not Walk (No Exit Press)
Robbie Morrison – Edge of the Grave (Pan Macmillan/Macmillan)
Ambrose Parry – A Corruption of Blood (Canongate Books)
Simon Scarrow – Blackout (Headline)
Andrew Taylor – The Royal Secret (HarperCollins/Harper Fiction)
Ovidia Yu – The Cannonball Tree Mystery (Little, Brown/Constable)

Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger
Eva Björg Ægisdóttir – Girls Who Lie, translated by Victoria Cribb (Orenda Books)
Simone Buchholz – Hotel Cartagena, trans Rachel Ward (Orenda Books)
Andrea Camilleri – Riccardino, trans Stephen Sartarelli (Pan Macmillan/Mantle)
Sebastian Fitzek – Seat 7a, trans Steve Anderson (Head of Zeus)
Kōtarō Isaka – Bullet Train, trans Sam Malissa (Penguin Random House/Harvill Secker)
Victor Jestin – Heatwave, trans Sam Taylor (Simon & Schuster/Scribner)
Sacha Naspini – Oxygen, trans Clarissa Botsford (Europa Editions UK)
Samira Sedira – People Like Them, trans Lara Vergnaud (Bloomsbury Publishing/Raven Books)
Antti Tuomainen – The Rabbit Factor, trans David Hackston (Orenda Books)
Hilde Vandermeeren – The Scorpion’s Head, trans Laura Watkinson (Pushkin Press/Pushkin Vertigo)

Short Story Dagger
Caroline England – Blindsided (from Criminal Pursuits: Crime Through Time, edited by Samantha Lee )
Awais Khan – The Victim (from Criminal Pursuits: Crime Through Time)
Matt Wesolowski – New Tricks (from Afraid of the Shadows, ed Miranda Jewess) Criminal Minds
Jo Nesbⱷ – London (from The Jealousy Man and other stories, ed Robert Ferguson)
TE Kinsey – The Clifton Vampire (from Afraid of the Shadows)
TM Logan – With the Others (from Afraid of the Shadows)
Paul Magrs – Flesh of a Fancy Woman (from Criminal Pursuits: Crime Through Time)
Bryony Pearce – Changeling (from Criminal Pursuits: Crime Through Time)
Raven Dane – The Way Of All Flesh (from Criminal Pursuits: Crime Through Time)
Robert Scragg – When I Grow Up (from Afraid of the Shadows)

ALCS Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction
Gwen Adshead & Eileen Horne – The Devil You Know: Stories of Human Cruelty and Compassion (Faber)
Jeremy Craddock – The Jigsaw Murders (The History Press)
Kerry Daynes – What Lies Buried (Hachette UK/Octopus)
Sonia Faleiro – The Good Girls (Bloomsbury Publishing/Bloomsbury Circus)
Eliot Higgins – We Are Bellingcat (Bloomsbury Publishing)
Julie Kavanagh – The Irish Assassins: Conspiracy, Revenge and the Murders that Stunned an Empire (Atlantic Books/Grove Press UK)
Patrick Radden Keefe – Empire of Pain (Pan Macmillan/Picador)
Julia Laite – The Disappearance of Lydia Harvey: A true story of sex, crime and the meaning of justice (Profile Books)
Ben Machell – The Unusual Suspect (Canongate Books)
Thomas Morris – The Dublin Railway Murder (Penguin Random House/Harvill Secker)
Dr Richard Shepherd – The Seven Ages of Death (Penguin Random House/Michael Joseph)

Dagger in the Library – voted for by librarians, celebrating an author’s body of work and support of libraries
Ben Aaronovitch
Lin Anderson
Mark Billingham
Susan Hill
Edward Marston
Kate Rhodes
Sara Sheridan
Cath Staincliffe
Rebecca Tope

Crime and Mystery Publisher of the Year Dagger
Faber & Faber
HarperCollins (Harper Fiction)
Pan Macmillan (Mantle)
Penguin Random House (Michael Joseph)
OneWorld Publications (Point Blank)
Pushkin Press (Pushkin Vertigo)
Hachette UK (Quercus)
Bloomsbury (Raven Books)
Amazon (Thomas & Mercer)
Titan Books
Profile Books (Viper)

Debut Dagger – for unpublished authors
Kevin Bartlett – Henry’s Bomb
Katherine Futers – Lufkin, Texas
Laura Ashton Hill – Holloway Castle
Anna Maloney – The 10:12
Rachel Nixon – The Mercy Seat
Elizabeth Opalka – The Two Murders at Manor Park
Shylashri Shankar – Blood Caste
Jennifer Slee & Jessica Slee – Dead Reckoning
David Smith – The Dead of Egypt
Liz Rachel Walker – The Dieppe Letters

Margery Allingham Short Mystery Competition shortlist
Scott Hunter – Locked In
Judith O’Reilly – A Face for Murder
Alexandre Sadeghi – Weights and Biases
Mark Thielman – Boxed In

longlist:
Craig Bowlsby – Black Tie for Murder
Hannah Brown – Secrets in the Family Attic
Carey Coombs – Wheeling and Dealing
William Crotty – Say Cheese
Mary-Jane Harbottle – Unfound
Tom Holroyd – The Exceptional Death of Sir Thaddeus Parker
Scott Hunter – Locked In
Deborah Mantle – The Missing Piece
Judith O’Reilly – A Face for Murder
Alexandre Sadeghi – Weights and Biases
Paul Spencer – Bad Timing
Mark Thielman – Boxed In

The CWA Dagger shortlists will be announced on 13 May at CrimeFest in Bristol, along with the winner of the Margery Allingham Short Mystery Competition. The Dagger awards ceremony will be held in London on 29 June.

17 September, 2021 – The winner of the McIlvanney Prize is unveiled

Bloody Scotland has announced the winners of the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year 2021 and the debut prize at an event on the first night of this year’s hybrid festival, which also marks its tenth anniversary. The awards were presented by BBC Radio Scotland’s Janice Forsyth (a debut award judge), and crime critic Ayo Onatade (a McIlvanney Prize judge).

The debut prize was won by Robbie Morrison for Edge Of The Grave. The judges said: “A terrific debut novel, with a memorable cast of characters, which impressed the judges with its ambitious, authentic, deep dive into the Glasgow gangland and class divides of the 1930s.” On receiving the prize, a clearly shocked Morrison said “Ya dancer!” and after thanking those who helped him on the road to publication, spoke of an editor who turned down the novel as it was “too Glasgow” – the audience seemed to agree with his claim “there’s no such thing as ‘too Glasgow'”.

The McIlvanney Prize went to Craig Russell for Hyde, making the author the first person to win the prize twice – he also took home the title in 2015 for The Ghosts Of Altona. Russell, clearly surprised and delighted, joked as he received the Glencairn Glass trophy that now he was going to be “very smug” about it all.

The judges said of Hyde that it is “a fantastic book with a gothic background that draws you in and brings the reader back to the Scottish origins of Jekyll and Hyde’s creator, Robert Louis Stevenson. A dark tale that was a delight and a thoroughly entertaining read. It shows that Scottish crime writing is amongst the best in the world.”

The Glencairn Glass, the world’s favourite whisky glass, has again sponsored both The McIlvanney Prize and The Bloody Scotland Debut Crime Novel of the Year. Culture & Business Fund Scotland have given matched funding. The winners were presented with a trophy by Raymond Davidson, chief executive and founder of Glencairn Crystal

31 August, 2021 – The shortlist for the McIlvanney Prize is revealed

Today Bloody Scotland unveils the shortlisted authors in contention for the 2021 McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year, sponsored by the Glencairn Glass. It includes previous nominees and winners, and covers a mix of large and small publishers:

The Silent Daughter, Emma Christie (Wellbeck)
The Coffinmaker’s Garden, Stuart MacBride (HarperCollins)
Edge of the Grave, Robbie Morrison (Macmillan)
The April Dead, Alan Parks (Canongate)
Hyde, Craig Russell (Constable)

The prize – with £1,000 and nationwide promotion in Waterstones for the winner – will be judged by Karen Robinson, formerly of The Times Crime Club and a Crime Writers’ Association judge; Ayo Onatade, winner of the CWA Red Herring Award and freelance crime fiction critic (Twitter @Shotsblog) and Ewan Wilson, crime fiction buyer from Waterstones Glasgow. The winner will be revealed in Stirling and online on Friday 17 September, the first night of this year’s hybrid Bloody Scotland festival.

22 July, 2021 – The Theakstons Prize winner is announced

Chris Whitaker’s We Begin at the End has been crowned Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2021 at the opening night ceremony for Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, presented by Harrogate International Festivals at the Old Swan Hotel. A powerful story of crime, punishment, love and redemption set in coastal California, We Begin at The End is credited by Whitaker as saving his life after being brutally mugged and stabbed as a teenager. Whitaker receives £3,000 and an engraved oak beer cask, hand-carved by one of Britain’s last coopers from Theakstons Brewery.

It was also decided for the first time to name a Highly Commended novel, which went to Northern Irish author Brian McGilloway for his exceptional political thriller The Last Crossing. McGilloway will also receive a handmade, engraved beer barrel provided by Theakston Old Peculier.

Special presentations were also made to Mark Billingham and Ian Rankin, as the winners of the Theakston Old Peculier Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction Award for 2020 and 2021 respectively.

The award is run by Harrogate International Festivals sponsored by T&R Theakston Ltd, in partnership with WHSmith and the Express. The longlist was selected by an academy of crime writing authors, agents, editors, reviewers, members of the festival’s programming committee, and representatives from T&R Theakston Ltd, the Express, and WHSmith.

1 July, 2021 – The CWA Daggers winners are revealed

The UK Crime Writers’ Association has revealed the winners of its prestigious series of awards, the Daggers. For more information, visit the CWA website: https://thecwa.co.uk/the-daggers

The 2021 Diamond Dagger for lifetime achievement was presented to Martina Cole.
GOLD DAGGER – Crime Novel Of The Year – Chris Whitaker: We Begin at the End (Zaffre/Bonnier Books)
JOHN CREASEY (NEW BLOOD) DAGGER – Debut Novel Of The Year – Eva Björg Ægisdóttir: The Creak on the Stairs (Orenda), Translator: Victoria Cribb
CWA SAPERE BOOKS HISTORICAL DAGGER – Vaseem Khan: Midnight at Malabar House (Hodder & Stoughton)
SHORT STORY DAGGER – Clare Mackintosh: ‘Monsters’ in First Edition: Celebrating 21 Years of Goldsboro Books (The Dome Press)
CWA PUBLISHERS DAGGER – Head of Zeus
CWA DEBUT DAGGER – For an unpublished novel – Hannah Redding – Deception

28 June, 2021 – Shortlist for the Bloody Scotland Debut Novel Award announced

Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival has revealed the shortlist for this year’s Bloody Scotland Scottish Crime Debut of the Year – including three books that also made this year’s McIlvanney Prize longlist. The winner will be unveiled on Friday 17 September, the opening night of the festival.

The Silent Daughter by Emma Christie (Wellbeck)
No Harm Done by Alistair Liddle (Self Published)
Edge of the Grave by Robbie Morrison (Macmillan)
Waking the Tiger by Mark Wightman (Hobeck Books)

Emma Christie appeared on Crime in the Spotlight 2020, and Mark Wightman was the Pitch Perfect winner from 2017.

Bob McDevitt, director of the festival said: “Once again, I’ve been blown away by the quality of the debut novels submitted this year. The fact that three of them also feature on the McIlvanney Prize longlist gives you some idea of just how high the standard was this year.”

The shortlist is based on points received by a team of readers, largely made up of bloggers and booksellers. The winner will be judged by Janice Forysth from BBC Radio Scotland, Simon Lloyd from Waterstones and Kenny Tweeddale from sponsors the Glencairn Glass. The winner will receive a cheque for £500, a trophy and nationwide promotion through Waterstones.

15 June, 2021 – Longlist for the McIlvanney Prize announced

Today Bloody Scotland unveils the longlisted authors in contention for the 2021 McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year, sponsored by the Glencairn Glass.

The longlist includes several previous nominees and winners, and covers a mix of large and small publishers. :
The Cut, Chris Brookmyre (Little,Brown)
The Silent Daughter, Emma Christie (Wellbeck)
Before the Storm, Alex Gray (Little, Brown)
Dead Man’s Grave, Neil Lancaster (HarperCollins, HQ)
The Coffinmaker’s Garden, Stuart MacBride (HarperCollins)
Still Life, Val McDermid (Little,Brown)
Bad Debt, William McIntyre (Sandstone)
The Less Dead, Denise Mina (Vintage)
How To Survive Everything, Ewan Morrison (Saraband)
Edge of the Grave, Robbie Morrison (Macmillan)
The April Dead, Alan Parks (Canongate)
Hyde, Craig Russell (Constable)
Waking the Tiger, Mark Wightman (Hobeck Books)

Five years ago, the Scottish Crime Book of the Year Award was renamed the McIlvanney Prize in memory of author William McIlvanney, who has become known as “the godfather of Tartan Noir”. This year his book, The Dark Remains, completed with the help of Ian Rankin, will be published on 2 September, which is also when the McIlvanney Prize shortlist will be revealed. The prize’s winner will be revealed in Stirling and online on Friday 17 September, the first night of this year’s Bloody Scotland festival.

The shortlist for the Bloody Scotland Debut Crime Novel of the Year, also sponsored by the Glencairn Glass, will be announced at the end of June.

Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival, scheduled to take place in Stirling from 17-19 September 2021, will this year be in hybrid form.

15 June, 2021 – Theakstons Prize shortlist is announced

Today, the shortlist of the 17th Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year award, presented by Harrogate International Festivals, is revealed:

The Lantern Men by Elly Griffiths (Quercus)
Three Hours by Rosamund Lupton (Penguin Random House / Viking)
The Last Crossing by Brian McGilloway (Little, Brown / Constable)
Death in the East by Abir Mukherjee (Vintage / Harvill Secker)
We Begin At The End by Chris Whitaker (Bonnier / Zaffre)
The Man on the Street by Trevor Wood (Quercus)

The winner will be announced on 22 July, at the opening evening of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival. They will receive £3,000, and a handmade, engraved beer barrel provided by Theakston Old Peculier.

The longlist was selected by an academy of crime fiction 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 shortlist was chosen by the academy and by votes from the public. The award is run by Harrogate International Festivals sponsored by T&R Theakston Ltd, in partnership with WHSmith and the Express.

20 May, 2021 – The CWA Daggers shortlists are revealed

The UK Crime Writers’ Association has revealed the shortlists for its prestigious series of awards, the Daggers. The 2021 Diamond Dagger for lifetime achievement is being awarded to Martina Cole.

The winners will be announced at Daggers Live!, the online CWA Dagger awards ceremony on 1 July at 7.30pm. Barry Forshaw will be Master of Ceremonies and Abir Mukherjee is the guest speaker. For more information, visit the CWA website: https://thecwa.co.uk/the-daggers

CWA GOLD DAGGER
S A Cosby: Blacktop Wasteland (Headline)
Ben Creed: City of Ghosts (Welbeck Fiction)
Nicci French: House of Correction (Simon & Schuster)
Robert Galbraith: Troubled Blood (Sphere/Little, Brown)
Elly Griffiths: The Postscript Murders (Quercus)
Thomas Mullen: Midnight Atlanta (Little, Brown)
Chris Whitaker: We Begin at the End (Zaffre/Bonnier Books)

CWA IAN FLEMING STEEL DAGGER
Robert Galbraith: Troubled Blood (Sphere/Little, Brown)
Michael Robotham: When She Was Good (Sphere/Little, Brown)
Catherine Ryan Howard: The Nothing Man (Atlantic Books)
Stuart Turton: The Devil and the Dark Water (Raven Books/Bloomsbury)
Ruth Ware: One by One (Vintage/Harvill Secker)
Chris Whitaker: We Begin at the End (Zaffre/Bonnier Books)

CWA JOHN CREASEY (NEW BLOOD) DAGGER
Eva Björg Ægisdóttir: The Creak on the Stairs (Orenda), Translator: Victoria Cribb
Ben Creed: City of Ghosts (Welbeck Publishing)
Egan Hughes: The One That Got Away (Sphere/Little, Brown)
S W Kane: The Bone Jar (Thomas & Mercer)
Stephen Spotswood: Fortune Favours the Dead (Wildfire/Headline)
John Vercher: Three-Fifths (Pushkin Press)

CWA SAPERE BOOKS HISTORICAL DAGGER
John Banville: Snow (Faber)
Vaseem Khan: Midnight at Malabar House (Hodder & Stoughton)
Chris Lloyd: The Unwanted Dead (Orion)
Michael Russell: The City Under Siege (Constable/Little, Brown)
David Stafford: Skelton’s Guide to Domestic Poisons (Allison & Busby)
Ovidia Yu: The Mimosa Tree Mystery (Constable/Little, Brown)

CWA ALCS GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION
Sue Black: Written in Bone (Doubleday/Penguin)
Becky Cooper: We Keep the Dead Close (William Heinemann/Penguin)
Andrew Harding: These Are Not Gentle People (MacLehose Press/Quercus)
Debora Harding: Dancing with the Octopus (Profile Books)
Nick Hayes: The Book of Trespass (Bloomsbury Circus)
Ben MacIntyre: Agent Sonya (Viking/Penguin)

CWA CRIME FICTION IN TRANSLATION DAGGER
Fredrik Backman: Anxious People, translated by Neil Smith (Michael Joseph/Penguin)
Roxanne Bouchard: The Coral Bride, translated by David Warriner (Orenda Books)
Yun Ko-eun: The Disaster Tourist, translated by Lizzie Buehler (Serpent’s Tail)
D A Mishani: Three, translated by Jessica Cohen (Riverrun/Hachette)
Mikael Niemi: To Cook a Bear, translated by Deborah Bragan-Turner (MacLehose Press/Quercus)
Agnes Ravatn: The Seven Doors, translated by Rosie Hedger (Orenda Books)

CWA SHORT STORY DAGGER
Robert Scragg: ‘A Dog Is for Life, Not Just for Christmas’ in Afraid of the Christmas Lights, edited by Miranda Jewess (Criminal Minds Group)
Elle Croft: ‘Deathbed’ in Afraid of the Light, edited by Robert Scragg & Various (Criminal Minds Group)
Dominic Nolan: ‘Daddy Dearest’ in Afraid of the Light, edited by Robert Scragg & Various (Criminal Minds Group)
Victoria Selman: ‘Hunted’ in Afraid of the Christmas Lights, edited by Miranda Jewess (Criminal Minds Group)
Clare Mackintosh: ‘Monsters’ in First Edition: Celebrating 21 Years of Goldsboro Books (The Dome Press)
James Delargy: ‘Planting Nan’ in Afraid of the Light, edited by Robert Scragg & Various (Criminal Minds Group)

CWA PUBLISHERS DAGGER
Faber & Faber
Head of Zeus
Michael Joseph
No Exit Press
Raven
Viper

CWA DAGGER IN THE LIBRARY
C L Taylor
Peter May
Lisa Jewell
James Oswald
Denise Mina
L J Ross

CWA DEBUT DAGGER (For an unpublished novel)
Ashley Harrison – The Looking Glass Spy
Fiona McPhillips – Underwater
Biba Pearce – Rough Justice
Hannah Redding – Deception
Edward Regenye – Lightfoot
Jennifer Wilson O’Raghallaigh – Mandatory Reporting

5 April, 2021 – Theakstons Prize longlist is announced

Today, the longlist of the UK and Ireland’s most prestigious crime novel award is unveiled. Now in its 17th year, the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year award, presented by Harrogate International Festivals, celebrates crime writing at its best. This year’s longlist transports readers around the world, covers series and standalones and includes debuts and major names alike.

The full longlist:

Cry Baby by Mark Billingham (Little, Brown Book Group, Sphere)
The Other Passenger by Louise Candlish (Simon & Schuster)
The Cutting Place by Jane Casey (HarperCollins)
Fifty Fifty by Steve Cavanagh (The Orion Publishing Group)
Black River by Will Dean (Oneworld Publications, Point Blank)
Between Two Evils by Eva Dolan (Bloomsbury Publishing, Raven Books)
The Guest List by Lucy Foley (HarperCollins)
The Lantern Men by Elly Griffiths (Quercus)
The Big Chill by Doug Johnstone (Orenda Books)
Three Hours by Rosamund Lupton (Penguin Random House UK, Viking)
Still Life by Val McDermid (Little, Brown Book Group, Sphere)
The Last Crossing by Brian McGilloway (Little, Brown Book Group, Constable)
Death in the East by Abir Mukherjee (VINTAGE, Harvill Secker)
Our Little Cruelties by Liz Nugent (Penguin, Sandycove)
A Song For The Dark Times by Ian Rankin (Orion)
Remain Silent by Susie Steiner (HarperCollins Publishers, The Borough Press)
We Begin At The End by Chris Whitaker (Bonnier Books UK, Zaffre)
The Man on the Street by Trevor Wood (Quercus, Quercus Fiction)

The shortlist will be announced in June, and the winner will be revealed on 22 July, at the opening evening of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival. They will receive £3,000, and a handmade, engraved beer barrel provided by Theakston Old Peculier. The public can now vote for their favourites to help decide the shortlist at http://www.harrogatetheakstoncrimeaward.com.

The longlist was selected by an academy of crime fiction 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 award is run by Harrogate International Festivals sponsored by T&R Theakston Ltd, in partnership with WHSmith and the Express, and is open to full length crime novels published in paperback 1 May, 2020 to 30 April, 2021 by UK and Irish authors.

15 April, 2021 – The CWA Daggers longlists are revealed

The UK Crime Writers’ Association has revealed the longlists for its prestigious series of awards, the Daggers. The 2021 Diamond Dagger for lifetime achievement, the highest honour in British crime writing, is being awarded to Martina Cole. New writers and big names alike are included on the longlists for the awards for the best in crime writing, including short stories and non-fiction writing as well as novels.

Linda Stratmann, chairwoman of the Crime Writers’ Association, said: “The CWA Dagger awards are unparalleled for their reputation and longevity. The longlists showcase authors – established and new – at the top of their game. It’s not surprising that sales of crime fiction have been so strong during Covid-19. Both fiction and non-fiction have proven to be a great escape for many as we have been stuck at home. As our longlists show, these stories and insights take readers all over the world and through time, from Bombay of the 1950s to ancient Athens to modern-day California and many points between.

“Crime books can be thrilling mysteries, but they can also provide social commentary, insights into true crime, or explore big questions in life. The vast and diverse talent in these longlists show why it’s the UK’s most popular and enduring genre. We are proud to provide a platform for debut, emerging and established authors, and to honour the very best in crime writing.”

The 2021 shortlists will be announced at 9am Thursday 20 May online. The winners will be revealed on Thursday 1 July at a virtual Daggers Live ceremony. For more information, visit the CWA website: https://thecwa.co.uk/the-daggers

Entries to seven awards are nominated by publishers and judged by industry professionals. Four Daggers are slightly different: The Debut Dagger is for the opening of a crime novel by a writer who isn’t represented by an agent by the time the competition closes, and who has never had a traditional contract for a full-length novel. The judging panel includes agents and publishers. The Dagger in the Library is for an author who has been writing crime novels for over 10 years, is popular with library users and who in turn supports libraries. The winner is chosen by librarians. The Publishers’ Dagger is nominated by an industry committee in consultation with authors. The Diamond Dagger for lifetime contribution to crime writing is chosen by the CWA Board.

17 September, 2020 – The McIlvanney Prize winner is revealed

The 2020 McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Fiction winner was revealed to be debut author Francine Toon, for Pine. Judges Karen Robinson (Times Crime Club) and James Crawford (author, TV presenter and chairman of Publishing Scotland) were chaired by writer and broadcaster Stuart Cosgrove. He described Toon’s book as “an extraordinary novel which stood out because of the sheer quality of the writing and the dark brooding atmosphere of the remote rural Scottish village in which it is set. The book merges the supernatural with real crime in a very memorable way and brings an exciting new talent to Scottish crime writing.”

The Bloody Scotland Prize for Debut Novel of the Year was Deborah Masson with Hold Your Tongue. The prize was judged by Lin Anderson, author and co-founder of Bloody Scotland, Ewan Wilson from Waterstones and Kenny Tweedale from sponsors the Glencairn Glass. The judges described Hold Your Tongue as “a well written, fast paced and gritty thriller with a strong female protagonist, who will stop at nothing to find the killer”.

The shortlist for the McIlvanney Prize 2020 was: Ambrose Parry, The Art Of Dying (Canongate); Doug Johnstone, A Dark Matter (Orenda); Francine Toon, Pine (Doubleday/Transworld); Andrew James Greig, Whirligig (Fledgling Press).
The shortlist for the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize 2020 were: Deborah Masson, Hold Your Tongue (Corgi/Transworld); Stephen O’Rourke, The Crown Agent (Sandstone); Marion Todd, See Them Run (Canelo); Francine Toon, Pine (Doubleday/Transworld).

The McIlvanney Prize is awarded annually in memory of novelist William McIlvanney, known as “The Godfather of Tartan Noir”, and recognises excellence in Scottish crime writing. The winner receives a prize of £1,000, a Glencairn crystal decanter and nationwide promotion in Waterstones stores. The Bloody Scotland Debut Prize winner will receive £500 and a Glencairn Star trophy. The Glencairn Glass is sponsoring both prizes for the first time this year. Culture & Business Fund Scotland have generously given matched funding.

1 September, 2020 – The McIlvanney Prize shortlist is announced

Today Bloody Scotland unveils the shortlisted authors in contention for the 2020 McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year, sponsored by the Glencairn Glass.

The shortlist for the 2020 McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year:
Andrew James Greig, Whirligig (Fledgling)
Doug Johnstone, A Dark Matter (Orenda)
Ambrose Parry, The Art of Dying (Canongate)
Francine Toon, Pine (Doubleday)

Previous winners include Manda Scott with A Treachery Of Spies in 2019 (she shared the prize with fellow finalists Doug Johnstone, Denise Mina and Ambrose Parry), Liam McIlvanney, Chris Brookmyre, Craig Russell and Peter May.

The judges are Stuart Cosgrove, writer, broadcaster and former senior executive at Channel 4; James Crawford, chairman of Publishing Scotland and presenter of BBC series Scotland from the Sky, and Karen Robinson, editor of the Times Crime Club. The winner will be revealed on 18 September. The festival was due to take place in Stirling from 18-20 September, but due to the coronavirus crisis it will now take place online.

The longlist was:
Lin Anderson, Time for the Dead (Macmillan)
Lisa Gray, Bad Memory (Thomas & Mercer)
Andrew James Greig, Whirligig (Fledgling)
Doug Johnstone, A Dark Matter (Orenda)
Val McDermid, How the Dead Speak (Little, Brown)
Ben McPherson, The Island (HarperCollins)
James Oswald, Bury Them Deep (Headline)
Ambrose Parry, The Art of Dying (Canongate)
Mary Paulson-Ellis, The Inheritance of Solomon Farthing (Mantle)
Caro Ramsay, The Red, Red Snow (Severn House)
Craig Robertson, Watch Him Die (Simon & Schuster)
Francine Toon, Pine (Doubleday)

Keep up to date with the festival here: Twitter: @BloodyScotland #BloodyScotland Facebook: www.facebook.com/bloodyscotland/ Website: www.bloodyscotland.com/

7 August, 2020 – CWA Daggers shortlists announced

The Crime Writers Association Daggers are some of the most prestigious awards in the genre, and have been celebrating excellence for more than half a century. The shortlist includes previous nominees, debut appearances, high-profile names and less well-known writers across a host of categories, judged by industry professionals. The winners will be announced on 22 October at an event live online, hosted by Barry Forshaw.

GOLD DAGGER (for crime novel)
Claire Askew: What You Pay For (Hodder & Stoughton)
Lou Berney: November Road (Harper Fiction)
John Fairfax: Forced Confessions (Little, Brown)
Mick Herron: Joe Country (John Murray)
Abir Mukherjee: Death in the East (Harvill Secker)
Michael Robotham: Good Girl, Bad Girl (Sphere)

IAN FLEMING STEEL DAGGER (for thrillers)
Lou Berney: November Road (Harper Fiction)
Tom Chatfield: This is Gomorrah (Hodder & Stoughton)
AA Dhand: One Way Out (Bantam Press)
Eva Dolan: Between Two Evils (Raven Books)
David Koepp: Cold Storage (HQ)
Alex North: The Whisper Man (Michael Joseph)

JOHN CREASEY (NEW BLOOD) DAGGER (for published debuts)
Steph Cha: Your House Will Pay (Faber & Faber)
Samantha Downing: My Lovely Wife (Michael Joseph)
Philippa East: Little White Lies (HQ)
Robin Morgan-Bentley: The Wreckage (Trapeze)
Trevor Wood: The Man on the Street (Quercus Fiction)

SAPERE BOOKS HISTORICAL DAGGER
Alis Hawkins: In Two Minds (The Dome Press)
Philip Kerr: Metropolis (Quercus Fiction)
SG MacLean: The Bear Pit (Quercus Fiction)
Abir Mukherjee: Death in the East (Harvill Secker)
Alex Reeve: The Anarchists’ Club (Raven Books)
Ovidia Yu: The Paper Bark Tree Mystery (Constable)

CRIME FICTION IN TRANSLATION DAGGER
Marion Brunet: Summer of Reckoning, trans Katherine Gregor (Bitter Lemon Press)
Hannelore Cayre: The Godmother, trans Stephanie Smee (Old Street Publishing)
K Ferrari: Like Flies from Afar, trans Adrian Nathan West (Canongate Books)
Jorge Galán: November, trans Jason Wilson (Constable)
Sergio Olguín: The Fragility of Bodies, trans Miranda France (Bitter Lemon Press)
Antti Tuomainen: Little Siberia, trans David Hackston (Orenda Books)

SHORT STORY DAGGER
Jeffery Deaver: The Bully in Exit Wounds, ed Paul B Kane & Marie O’Regan (Titan Books)
Paul Finch: The New Lad in Exit Wounds, ed Paul B Kane & Marie O’Regan (Titan Books)
Christopher Fowler: The Washing in Invisible Blood, ed Maxim Jakubowski (Titan Books)
Lauren Henderson: #Me Too in Invisible Blood, ed Maxim Jakubowski (Titan Books)
Louise Jensen: The Recipe in Exit Wounds, ed Paul B Kane & Marie O’Regan (Titan Books)
Syd Moore: Easily Made in 12 Strange Days of Christmas (Point Blank Press)

ALCS GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION
Casey Cep: Furious Hours (William Heinemann)
Peter Everett: Corrupt Bodies (Icon Books)
Caroline Goode: Honour: Achieving Justice for Banaz Mahmod (Oneworld Publications)
Sean O’Connor: The Fatal Passion of Alma Rattenbury (Simon & Schuster)
Adam Sisman: The Professor and the Parson: A Story of Desire, Deceit and Defrocking (Profile Books)
Susannah Stapleton: The Adventures of Maud West, Lady Detective (Picador)

DAGGER IN THE LIBRARY
Christopher Brookmyre
Jane Casey
Alex Gray
Quintin Jardine
The Dagger in the Library is voted on exclusively by librarians, the author being chosen for a body of work and support of libraries

DEBUT DAGGER (for unknown, uncontracted writers)
Anna Caig: The Spae-Wife
Leanne Fry: Whipstick
Kim Hays: Pesticide
Nicholas Morrish: Emergency Drill
Josephine Moulds: Revolution Never Lies
Michael Munro: Bitter Lake

PUBLISHERS’ DAGGER
Bitter Lemon Press
Harvill Secker
Head of Zeus
HQ
Michael Joseph
Orenda Books
Raven Books
Severn House

As previously announced, this year’s recipient of the Diamond Dagger – for sustained excellence and making a significant contribution to the genre – is Martin Edwards.

23 July, 2020 – Theakstons winner announced

The winner of the 16th Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year is… Adrian McKinty for The Chain. Chosen from a longlist of 18 titles by a combination of votes from the public and the prize academy, the winner was announced by Simon Theakston during an online event after the shortlistees were interviewed by Mark Lawson. There may not be a real-life festival this year, so we can’t all celebrate in the famous tent outside the Old Swan Hotel, but the winner still receives their £3,000 and a handmade, engraved beer barrel provided by Theakston Old Peculier.

You can watch Mark Lawson chat with the shortlistees before revealing the winner here.

The award is produced and curated by arts charity Harrogate International Festivals and is presented in partnership with T&R Theakston Ltd, WHSmith and the Express. 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 shortlist was:

My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite (Atlantic Books)
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)
The Chain by Adrian McKinty (Orion Publishing Group, Orion Fiction)
Smoke and Ashes by Abir Mukherjee (Vintage, Harvill Secker)

29 June, 2020 – British Book Awards presented

The Bookseller British Book Awards, aka The Nibbies, moved online this year like so many other events, but still celebrated books and publishing with a string of awards handed out. From a strong crime & thriller shortlist, Oyinkan Braithwaite’s darkly comic My Sister The Serial Killer took home the prize, adding to a series of wins and nominations it has collected since publication (Braithwaite was also part of Val McDermid’s New Blood panel at Harrogate last year). You can read my review of the novel over here. Read more about the winners online at: www.thebookseller.com/british-book-awards Twitter: @thebookseller

23 June, 2020 – Bloody Scotland reveals McIlvanney Prize longlist

Today Bloody Scotland unveils the longlisted authors in contention for the 2020 McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year, and the shortlist for the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize. One author appears on both lists. This year both awards are sponsored by the Glencairn Glass.

The shortlist for the second Bloody Scotland Debut Prize are: Deborah Masson for Hold Your Tongue (Transworld); Stephen O’Rourke for The Crown Agent (Sandstone); Marion Todd for See Them Run (Canelo) and Francine Toon for Pine (Doubleday), who also makes the McIlvanney Prize longlist.

The longlist for the 2020 McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year includes several previous nominees and covers a mix of large and small publishers:
Lin Anderson, Time for the Dead (Macmillan)
Lisa Gray, Bad Memory (Thomas & Mercer)
Andrew James Greig, Whirligig (Fledgling)
Doug Johnstone, A Dark Matter (Orenda)
Val McDermid, How the Dead Speak (Little, Brown)
Ben McPherson, The Island (HarperCollins)
James Oswald, Bury Them Deep (Headline)
Ambrose Parry, The Art of Dying (Canongate)
Mary Paulson-Ellis, The Inheritance of Solomon Farthing (Mantle)
Caro Ramsay, The Red, Red Snow (Severn House)
Craig Robertson, Watch Him Die (Simon & Schuster)
Francine Toon, Pine (Doubleday)

The judges – Stuart Cosgrove, writer, broadcaster and former senior executive at Channel 4; James Crawford, chairman of Publishing Scotland and presenter of BBC series Scotland from the Sky, and Karen Robinson, editor of the Times Crime Club – will select the McIlvanney Prize shortlist, to be revealed on 1 September, and the overall winner. The winner of the debut prize will be selected by a panel including Lin Anderson, author and a co-founder of Bloody Scotland, and representatives from Waterstones and Glencairn Crystal. The winners of both awards will be revealed on 18 September.

The authors shortlisted for the Debut Prize will also collaborate on a short story in the run-up to the Bloody Scotland festival, to be co-ordinated by author and board member, Gordon Brown (aka Morgan Cry), in association with the Glencairn Glass. The festival was due to take place in Stirling from 18-20 September, but due to the coronavirus crisis it will now take place online.

Keep up to date with the festival here: Twitter: @BloodyScotland #BloodyScotland Facebook: www.facebook.com/bloodyscotland/ Website: www.bloodyscotland.com/

31 May, 2020 – Theakstons shortlist announced

The shortlist for the 16th Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year has been announced, taking the reader on an international crime spree from New York to Calcutta, London to Lagos via Glasgow and the Australian outback. Chosen from a longlist of 18 titles by a combination of public vote and the prize Academy, the novels in contention showcase exceptional variety and originality, including spy espionage, historical crime, gallows humour, outback noir and serial killing siblings.

Marking a meteoric rise since being selected by Val McDermid for the 2019 Festival’s New Blood panel, Oyinkan Braithwaite makes the shortlist with the Booker-nominated My Sister, the Serial Killer (Atlantic Books). Based in Nigeria, Braithwaite is the only debut author in contention, and one of the youngest ever to be shortlisted.

The remaining five authors on the shortlist are all previous contenders. The legendary Mick Herron has picked up a fifth nomination with Joe Country (John Murray Press), the latest in his espionage masterclass Slough House series, which is currently being adapted for TV with Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb. Scottish-Bengali author Abir Mukherjee is listed for Smoke & Ashes (Vintage, Harvill Secker), the third in the Wyndham & Banerjee series set in Raj-era India.

Making it through to the shortlist for the first time is Australian (and now adopted Glaswegian) Helen Fitzgerald for Worst Case Scenario (Orenda Books), which marks her first appearance on the Theakston list since The Cry, adapted into a major BBC drama starting Jenna Colman, was longlisted in 2013. Belfast’s Adrian McKinty, creator of the Sean Duffy series set in his home city, is listed for The Chain (Orion Fiction), a terrifying thriller that sees parents forced to kidnap children to save their own, and for which Paramount Pictures has acquired the screen rights in a seven-figure film deal.

The final title on the shortlist is The Lost Man (Little, Brown) by former journalist Jane Harper, who was previously longlisted for her debut The Dry in 2018. The film adaption of that earlier novel, starring Eric Bana, is due to be released this year.

The winner would normally be crowned on the opening evening of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, but as the festival has sadly been cancelled. this year, the winner will be revealed at a virtual awards ceremony on 23 July. They will receive £3,000, and a handmade, engraved beer barrel provided by Theakston Old Peculier.

15 May, 2020 – Theakstons longlist announced

Now in its 16^th year, the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, presented by Harrogate International Festivals, reveals its longlist of 18 titles in contention for the 2020 award. A record number of submissions were received, and the longlist includes four former winners – Denise Mina, Chris Brookmyre, Val McDermid and Lee Child – a Booker Prize contender, and three debut authors taking the genre by storm, Oyinkan Braithwaite, Harriet Tyce and Laura Shepherd-Robinson.

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 (Pan Macmillan, Mantle/Pan)
Blood Orange by Harriet Tyce (Headline Publishing Group, Wildfire)

The winner will be revealed at a virtual awards ceremony on 23 July. They will receive £3,000, and a handmade, engraved beer barrel provided by Theakston Old Peculier.

15 April, 2020 – Bloody Scotland announces new sponsor for McIlvanney Prize

Bloody Scotland has confirmed that the annual McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year, and the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize, will both have a new sponsor for 2020, the Glencairn Glass. Award-winning Scottish family business Glencairn Crystal, creators of the Glencairn Glass, has always produced the decanter given to the winner of the McIlvanney Prize, so it was a natural partnership for them to come on board as sponsors of the prizes in their entirety.

More than 60 entries have been received for the 2020 award. The longlist will be announced on 23 June, after which a panel of judges including Karen Robinson, editor of the Times Crime Club; James Crawford, chairman of Publishing Scotland and presenter of BBC series Scotland from the Sky, and Stuart Cosgrove, writer, broadcaster and former senior executive at Channel 4, will select the finalists and the overall winner. The winner of the debut prize will be selected by a panel including Lin Anderson, author and a co-founder of Bloody Scotland, and representatives from Waterstones and Glencairn Crystal.

The McIlvanney Prize is awarded annually in memory of novelist William McIlvanney, known as “The Godfather of Tartan Noir”, and recognises excellence in Scottish crime writing. The winner receives a prize of £1,000, a Glencairn crystal decanter and nationwide promotion in Waterstones stores. The Bloody Scotland Debut Prize winner will receive £500 and a Glencairn Star trophy. The shortlists will be announced on 1 September and the winners will be revealed on 18 September.

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