Mark
Billingham| Louise Candlish| Jane Casey | Steve Cavanagh |Will Dean| Eva Dolan|
Lucy Foley| Elly Griffiths| Doug Johnstone| Rosamund Lupton| Val McDermid| Brian
McGilloway| Abir Mukherjee| Liz Nugent| Ian Rankin| Susie Steiner| Chris
Whitaker| Trevor Wood
Harrogate,
5 May 2021: Today, the longlist of the UK and Ireland’s most prestigious crime
novel award is unveiled with literary legends and dynamic debuts in contention
for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year.
Now
in its 17th year, the most coveted prize in crime fiction, presented by
Harrogate International Festivals celebrates crime writing at its best. This
year’s longlist transports readers around the world from California to
Sweden and Calcutta to a remote Irish island and explores every subgenre from
Scandi noir to murderous families.
The
line-up of returning champions is led by crime fiction titan Ian Rankin,
who has received a nod for his A Song for The Dark Times, Mark
Billingham, hoping for a third win with his Cry Baby, and Steve
Cavanagh looking to beat the competition with Fifty Fifty.
This
year’s longlist recognises a number of authors who have previously never been
listed by the prize. Hoping to claim the trophy on their first appearance
are Lucy Foley with her No.1 Sunday Times Best Seller The
Guest List, Chris Whitaker with We Begin at The End, Scottish
author Doug Johnstone with The Big Chill and Liz
Nugent with Our Little Cruelties, and Jane Casey with
her latest Maeve Kerrigan instalment The Cutting Place.
The
longlist also features several previously nominated authors hoping to go one
step further and clinch the trophy with Elly Griffiths securing her
seventh pick for her much lauded The Lantern Men and Susie
Steiner getting her third nod for Remain Silent and Brian
McGilloway’s second nomination for The Last Crossing, and
best-selling author Louise Candlish hoping to win on her second pick
with The Other Passenger.
Joining
these outstanding names is the undisputed ‘Queen of Crime’ herself, Val
McDermid with her newest Karen Pirie novel Still Life.
Celebrated in the industry for her impeccable ability to select emerging talent
for the annual New Blood panel at Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing
Festival, McDermid find herself competing against many New Blood alumni
including: Will Dean for his latest Scandi noir Black River; Eva
Dolan for the newest instalment of her critically-acclaimed Zigic and
Ferreira series, Abir Mukherjee’s new Calcutta and Assam-inspired Death
in the East, and finally Trevor Wood – who has gone from the
2020 New Blood panel to longlisted for Crime’s biggest award.
The
full longlist for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2021
is:
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, HarperFiction)
Fifty
Fifty by Steve Cavanagh (The Orion Publishing Group, Orion
Fiction)
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, HarperFiction)
The
Lantern Men by Elly Griffiths (Quercus, Quercus Fiction)
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, Orion Fiction)
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)
Executive
director of T&R Theakston, Simon Theakston, said: “The way the
global obsession with the crime genre continues to grow year on year is simply
astonishing and this year’s longlist proves the remarkable talent on offer in
crime writing– from legends of the craft to eager-eyed newcomers. The shortlist
is already too close to call so we encourage all to get voting! A hearty toast
of Old Peculier to all longlisted authors for this coveted award – and we look
forward to what we know will be a fiercely fought competition!”
Run
by Harrogate International Festivals, the shortlist will be announced in June
and the winner on 22 July, at the opening evening of the Theakston Old Peculier
Crime Writing Festival – with the public able to vote for the winner on
harrogatetheakstoncrimeaward.com.
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.
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
public are now invited to vote for a shortlist of six titles on www.harrogatetheakstoncrimeaward.com,
which will be announced in June. The winner will be revealed on the
opening night of Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, Thursday 22
July, and will receive £3,000, and a handmade, engraved beer barrel provided by
Theakston Old Peculier.
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