Harrogate International Festivals

is delighted to announce that 
The Frozen People by Elly Griffiths 
has won the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award 2026, the UK and Ireland’s most prestigious crime fiction award!

 

The Frozen People is the first book in a new series with a time-travelling spin, as an unsolved mystery takes cold cases investigator Ali Dawson back to the frozen Victorian London of January 1850. Crime fiction phenomenon Elly Griffiths has been shortlisted for the Award eight times and was Highly Commended in 2023 for The Locked Room. She is the author of the Dr Ruth Galloway Mysteries; the Brighton Mysteries and the Detective Harbinder Kaur series.

Two more winners were also announced:

 Frances Crawford from Glasgow won the McDermid Debut Award for her crime novel, A Bad, Bad Place, a gritty and atmospheric thriller set in 1970s Glasgow about a 12-year-old dog walker who discovers the body of a murdered woman - the daughter of a local gangster – and becomes irrevocably tangled up in the police investigation.

Bestselling US novelist, David Baldacci, received the Theakston Old Peculier Outstanding Contribution Award in recognition for his exceptional contribution to the crime thriller genre, honouring a remarkable career that has captivated millions of readers worldwide and helped shape modern suspense fiction.

The winners were revealed on the opening night of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, Thursday 23 July at an event hosted by broadcaster Steph McGovern.

Further information about all the winning titles and authors, including press releases and bios, is available to download HERE.