Big hitters including Lee Child, Ian Rankin and Val McDermid, feature on the longlist for the most prestigious crime
writing prize in the country.
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 14th
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 longlist will be promoted in a dedicated online campaign with WHSmith and a nationwide library promotion.
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.
For further media information please contact Ann Chadwick at Cause UK 07534892715 ann@causeuk.com
No comments:
Post a Comment