The Dead Good Reader Awards 2019 – winners

On Friday 19 July 2019, crime and thriller lovers came together at the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate to celebrate their favourite books and authors at the fifth annual Dead Good Reader Awards.

Here are the six authors you voted best in class!

The Nosy Parker Award for Best Amateur Detective:

The Suspect by Fiona Barton

The Jury’s Out Award for Most Gripping Courtroom Drama:

Thirteen by Steve Cavanagh

The Dish Served Cold Award for Best Revenge Thriller:

My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing

The Cancel All Plans Award for the Book You Can’t Put Down:

Skin Deep by Liz Nugent

The Cat and Mouse Award for Most Elusive Villain:

Last of the Magpies by Mark Edwards

The Dead Good Recommends Award for Most Recommended Book:

The Stone Circle by Elly Griffiths

Congratulations to all the winning authorsand those shortlisted for the Dead Good Reader Awards 2019!

Dead Good Award Short List

The Nosy Parker Award for Best Amateur Detective

Who's been sticking their nose in where it doesn't belong? This award is for the civvie who can't resist mystery

 A Clean Canvas by Elizabeth Mundy

The Brighton Mermaid by Dorothy Koomson

Red Snow by Will Dean

The Stone Circle by Elly Griffiths

The Suspect by Fiona Barton

The Taking of Annie Thorne by C J Tudor

The Jury's Out Award for Most Gripping Courtroom Drama

The stakes are high and the twists and turns are unpredictable. This award is for the book packed full of legal thrills.

Anatomy of a Scandal by Sarah Vaughan

Blood Orange by Harriet Tyce

Marked for Death by Tony Kent

No Further Questions by Gillian McAllister

Our Kind of Cruelty by Araminta Hall

Thirteen by Steve Cavanagh

The Dish Served Cold Award for Best Revenge Thriller

Retribution's the name of the game here. This award is for the book serving up just – or unjust – deserts.

Do No Harm by L V Hay

Final Betrayal by Patricia Gibney

Marked for Death by Tony Kent

My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing

The Puppet Show by M W Craven

Sticks and Stones by Jo Jakeman

The Cancel All Plans Award for the Book You Can't Put Down

Clear your diary. Switch off your phone. Call in sick. This award is for the book that demands you keep reading.

The Brighton Mermaid by Dorothy Koomson

Her Name Was Rose by Claire Allan

The Night Olivia Fell by Christina Mcdonald

The Passengers by John Marrs

Skin Deep by Liz Nugent

Sleep by C L Taylor

The Cat and Mouse Award for Most Elusive Villain

The hunt is on! This award is for those dastardly cunning criminals who are

particularly difficult to pin down.

Beautiful Liars by Isabel Ashdown

Do No Harm by L V Hay

The Infirmary by L J Ross

The Last of the Magpies by Mark Edwards

The Rumour by Lesley Kara

Twisted by Steve Cavanagh

The Dead Good Recommends Award for Most Recommended Book

Which book do you press into the hands of everyone you meet? This award is for the novel you recommend above all others.

The Death of Mrs Westaway by Ruth Ware

Now You See Her by Heidi Perks

The Passengers by John Marrs

Skin Deep by Liz Nugent

Sleep by C L Taylor

The Stone Circle by Elly Griffiths

Voting closes Wednesday 17 July 2019. Winners will be announced on Friday 19 July at the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate.

The link to voting can be found here.

Dead Good Reader Awards 2017

The winners of the Dead Good Reader Awards 2017 were announced at the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate,

At a ceremony presided by Mark Lawson with a guest appearance from Kathy Reichs, six authors were honoured with being best in class as voted for by crime readers. 

The winners were as follows -

The Kathy Reichs Award for Fearless Female Character:
Helen Grace, M J Arlidge

The Case Closed Award for Best Police Procedural:
The Wrong Side of Goodbye by Michael Connelly

The Hidden Depths Award for Most Unreliable Narrator:
The Escape by C L Taylor

The Page to Screen Award for Best Adapted Book:
Never Go Back by Lee Child

The Cat Amongst The Pigeons Award for Most Exceptional Debut:
Baby Doll by Hollie Overton

Inaugural Dead Good Reader Awards winners announced

On Friday 17^th July 2015, at the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate, six authors beat off stiff competition to be crowned the first ever winners of the Dead Good Reader Awards.

Dead Good Books launched the awards in April with six bespoke categories, and readers nominated and voted for their favourite books and authors. The awards were presented at the festival after over 4,000 votes had been received from online readers and festival-goers.

Each award category was created in collaboration with the Dead Good Facebook community and celebrates a unique element in crime writing.

Lee Child, Val McDermid and Mark Lawson presented the awards to the following winners:

Ann Cleeves for The Lee Child Award for Best Loner or Detective

Mark Billingham for The Val McDermid Award for Fiendish Forensics

Val McDermid for The Reichenbach Falls Award for Most Epic Ending

Peter James for The Dr Lecter Award for Scariest Villain

Marnie Riches for The Patricia Highsmith Award for Most Exotic Location

Paula Hawkins for The Dead Good Recommends Award for Most Recommended Book

Each winner received a specially designed magnifying glass trophy.

The winners and full shortlist can be seen below.

For more information on Val McDermid and her books please visit: http://www.valmcdermid.com/

For more information on Lee Child and his books please visit: http://leechild.com/

For more information please contact: Lynsey Dalladay, Senior Digital Marketing Manager, Penguin Random House. LDalladay@RandomHouse.co.uk or 02082316793

The Dead Good Recommends Award for Most Recommended Book

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins                                (Transworld)

I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes                                                    (Transworld)

The Defence by Steve Cavanagh                                               (Orion)

I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh                                           (Sphere)

The Lie by C L Taylor                                                                  (Avon)

No Other Darkness by Sarah Hilary                                        (Headline)

The Lee Child Award for Best Loner or Detective

Cormoran Strike, Robert Galbraith                                         (Little Brown)

John Rebus, Ian Rankin                                                             (Orion)

Harry Hole, Jo Nesbo                                                                  (Vintage)

Lacey Flint, Sharon Bolton                                                         (Transworld)

David Raker, Tim Weaver                                                           (Michael Joseph)

Vera Stanhope, Ann Cleeves                                                      (Pan Macmillan)

The Val McDermid Award for Fiendish Forensics

Bones are Forever by Kathy Reichs                                         (Cornerstone)

Die Again by Tess Gerritsen                                                       (Transworld)

The Ghost Fields by Elly Griffiths                                             (Quercus)

Flesh and Blood by Patricia Cornwell                                      (Harper)

Rubbernecker by Belinda Bauer                                               (Transworld)

Time of Death by Mark Billingham                                          (Sphere)

The Reichenbach Falls Award for Most Epic Ending

The Defence by Steve Cavanagh                                                (Orion)

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins                                  (Transworld)

The Nightmare Place by Steve Mosby                                       (Orion)

I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh                                              (Sphere)

Personal by Lee Child                                                                   (Transworld)

The Skeleton Road by Val McDermid                                       (Sphere)

The Dr Lecter Award for Scariest Villain

The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes                                       (Harper)

Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes                       (Myriad)

An Evil Mind by Chris Carter                                                   (Simon and Schuster)

The Stand by Stephen King                                                       (Hodder)

You are Dead by Peter James                                                    (Macmillan)

 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson              (Quercus)

The Patricia Highsmith Award for Most Exotic Location

Amsterdam, The Girl who wouldn’t Die by Marnie Riches          (Maze)

Bardsey Island, The Bones Beneath by Mark Billingham             (Sphere)

Boston, The Kind Worth Killing, Peter Swanson                            (Faber)

Greece, The Long Fall, Julia Crouch                                                  (Headline)

Nepal, The Lie, C L Taylor                                                                    (Avon)

Oslo, Police, Jo Nesbo                                                                           (Vintage