2015 Silver Falchion Awards: Killer Nashville Awards

* = winner

Best Attending Authors

Expedition Indigo by Stacy Allen
The Kennedy Connection by R.G. Belsky
Dark Road, Dead End by Philip Cioffari
*Palmetto Poison by C. Hope Clark
Unnatural Murder by Connie Dial
A Billion Ways to Die by Chris Knopf
Limestone Gumption by Bryan E. Robinson
Reckless Disregard: A Parker Stern Novel by Robert Rotstein
Swann’s Lake of Despair by Charles Salzberg
Last Words by Rich Zahradnik

Best Novel: Romantic Suspense

Judgment by Carey Baldwin
The Lost Key by Catherine Coulter and J.T. Ellison
Top Secret Twenty-One by Janet Evanovich
Sweet Damage by Rebecca James
*Truth Be Told by Hank Phillippi Ryan

Best Novel: Cozy/Traditional
Angelica’s Smile by Andrea Camilleri
The Question of the Missing Head by E. J. Copperman and Jeff Cohen
The Alpine Yeoman by Mary Daheim
Designated Daughters by Margaret Maron
*Hunting Shadows by Charles Todd

Best Novel: Historical

The Reckoning by Rennie Airth
An Air of Treason by P.F. Chisholm
The Johnstown Girls by Kathleen George
The Devil’s Workshop by Alex Grecian
Death on Blackheath by Anne Perry

Best Novel: Private Detective/Police Procedural

The Forsaken by Ace Atkins
The Hollow Girl by Reed Farrel Coleman
Bryant & May and the Bleeding Heart by Christopher Fowler
Sorrow Bound by David Mark
*Field of Prey by John Sandford

Best Novel: Speculative

The String Diaries by Stephen Lloyd Jones
Coldbrook by Tim Lebbon
Lock In by John Scalzi
*Fear City by F. Paul Wilson
Yesterday’s Hero by Jonathan Wood

Best Novel: Literary Suspense

The Dead Will Tell by Linda Castillo
Red 1-2-3 by John Katzenbach
Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King
*The Day She Died by Catriona McPherson
The Farm by Tom Rob Smith

Best Novel: Political Thriller/Adventure

Night Heron by Adam Brookes
Dark Spies: A Spycatcher Novel by Matthew Dunn
The Hilltop by Assaf Gavron
*I am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes
Assassin’s Game by Ward Larsen

Best Novel: Crime Thriller

The Bone Orchard by Paul Doiron
Dakota by Gwen Florio
Gangsterland by Tod Goldberg
The Keeper by John Lescroart
*In the Blood by Lisa Unger

Best First Novel: Cozy/Traditional/Historical

Honor Above All by J. Bard-Collins
To Fudge or Not to Fudge by Nancy Coco
Murder at Honeychurch Hall by Hannah Dennison
*The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens
Dying to Know by TJ O’Connor

Best First Novel: Literary Suspense

Dry Bones in the Valley by Tom Bouman
Wolf in White Van by John Darnielle
Deep Winter by Samuel W. Gailey
*The Weight of Blood by Laura McHugh
Forty Days Without Shadow by Oliver Truc
The Devil Takes Half by Leta Serafim

Best First Novel: Mystery/Thriller:

Someone Else’s Skin by Sarah Hilary
Hotlanta! By Mark Nielsen
The American Mission by Matthew Palmer
*The Black Hour by Lori Rader-Day
The Hawley Book of the Dead by Chrysler Szarlan
The Ways of the Dead by Neely Tucker
The Martian by Andy Weir

Best Children’s Picture Book

Nine Words Max by Dan Bar-El, Illustrated by David Huyck
The Bambino and Me by Zachary Hyman, Illustrated by Zachary Pullen
*An Armadillo in Paris by Julie Kraulis
Spic-and-Span! Lillian Gilbreth’s Wonder Kitchen by Monica Kulling, Illustrated by David Parkins
Hope Springs by Eric Walters, Illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes

Best Children’s Chapter Book

Range Riders: Cassie & Jasper to the Rescue by Bryn Fleming
The Milo & Jazz Mysteries: The Case of the Buried Bones by Lewis B. Montgomery, Illustrated by Amy Wummer
The Frankenstein Journals: Volume 1 by Scott Sonneborn, Illustrated by Timothy Banks
The Whodunit Detective Agency: The Diamond Mystery by Martin Widmark, Illustrated by Helena Willis
*The Haunted Library by Dori Hillestad Butler, Illustrated by Aurore Damant

Best Middle Grade

Audrey (Cow) by Dan Bar-El, Illustrated by Tatjana Mai-Wyss
The Swallow: A Ghost Story by Charis Cotter
The ACB with Honora Lee by Kate De Goldi, Illustrated by Gregory O’Brien
The One Safe Place by Tania Unsworth
*Still Life (The Books of Elsewhere, Book #5) by Jacqueline West

Best Young Adult

How We Fall by Kate Brauning
Nearly Gone by Elle Cosimano
*Grunge Gods and Graveyards by Kimberly G. Giarratano
Unaccompanied Minor by Hollis Gillespie
The Voice Inside My Head by S.J. Laidlaw

Best Nonfiction: Mainstream Crime Reference

*400 Things Cops Know by Adam Plantinga
The Art of the English Murder by Lucy Worsley

Best Single-Author Collection

Shots Fired: Stories from Joe Pickett Country by C.J. Box
Trouble in Mind: The Collected Stories, Volume 3 by Jeffery Deaver
Wait for Signs: Twelve Longmire Stories by Craig Johnson
High Crime Area: Tales of Darkness and Dread by Joyce Carol Oates
*Seeing Red: From the Case Files of Detective James T. Kirkland by Terry Odell

Best Multi-Author Anthology

Rogue Wave: Best New England Crime Stories - Edited by Mark Ammons, Katherine Fast, Barbara Ross, and Leslie Wheeler
Faceoff – Edited by David Baldacci
Ice Cold: Tales of Intrigue from the Cold War – Edited by Jeffery Deaver and Raymond Benson
*In the Company of Sherlock Holmes: Stories Inspired by the Holmes Canon – Edited by Laurie R. King and Leslie S. Klinger
Fiction River Special Edition: Crime – Edited by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Best Long-form Novelty Fiction/Poetry/Graphic/Experimental

Notes from the Cat House by Jack Ketchum (Poems)
*The Undertaking of Lily Chen by Danica Novgorodoff (Graphic Novel)

Best Nonfiction: Memoir/Biography

*Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War by Karen Abbott
The Good Spy: The Life and Death of Robert Ames by Kai Bird
Careless People: Murder, Mayhem, and the Invention of The Great Gatsby by Sarah Churchwell
The Other Side: A Memoir by Lacy M. Johnson
Poe-Land: The Hallowed Haunts of Edgar Allan Poe by J.W. Ocker

Best Nonfiction: Academic

*The Figure of the Detective: A Literary History and Analysis by Charles Brownson
Bloody Italy: Essays on Crime Writing in Italian Settings by Edited by Patricia Prandini Buckler
Mysteries Unlocked: Essays in Honor of Douglas G. Greene by Edited by Curtis Evans
Blood on the Stage 480 B.C. to 1600 A.D.: Milestone Plays on Murder, Mystery, and Mayhem by Amnon Kabatchnik
The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert
James Ellroy: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction by James Mancall

Best Nonfiction: True Crime

Kitty Genovese: The Murder, the Bystanders, The Crime that Changed America by Kevin Cook

*The Skeleton Crew: How Amateur Sleuths Are Solving America’s Coldest Cases by Deborah Halber
War of the Whales by Joshua Horwitz
Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood by William J. Mann
A Deadly Wandering: A Tale of Tragedy and Redemption in the Age of Attention by Matt Richtel

2015 THEAKSTONS OLD PECULIER CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR LONGLIST REVEALED

©Fenris Oswin

Giants of the genre are pitted against a clutch of new voices in one of the most prestigious crime writing prizes in the country.

The longlist for the 2015 Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award sees stalwarts Ian Rankin, Lee Child and John Harvey in the running.

Rankin and Child battle it out, each with their 19th novels in the iconic Rebus and Reacher series. Lee Child’s number one global bestseller Personal takes on Rankin’s Saints of the Shadow Bible, which brought Rebus back from retirement.       

John Harvey’s Darkness, Darkness could be a swan song for the gong with Resnick’s last case, 25 years after the Detective Inspector’s first appearance.

2014 winner Belinda Bauer is back on the list with The Facts of Life and Death, a chilling story where lone women are terrorised in a game where only one player knows the rules.

Taking on the old guard is the debut that threatens to be “as big as Jo Nesbo”. The electrifying serial killer thriller, Eeny Meeny from M.J. Arlidge features the tough, determined and damaged DI Helen Grace. 

Other debuts include the TV and film scriptwriter Ray Celestin’s The Axeman's Jazz, a stunning atmospheric crime thriller set in 1919 New Orleans, inspired by a real life serial killer, and Sarah Hilary’s compelling first thriller, Someone Else's Skin, which received critical acclaim for being superbly disturbing, twisty and tricksy.

Disappeared is Irish journalist Anthony Quinn’s first novel, set in a dark corner of Northern Ireland where the Troubles have never ended. And Antonia Hodgson’s debut, The Devil in the Marshalsea also makes the list with her medieval murder mystery.

Child 44 author Tom Rob Smith appears with his fourth novel, Number One bestseller The Farm, an utterly riveting and hypnotic psychological thriller part-set in Sweden. Scottish author Louise Welsh delivers with her first apocalyptic thriller in her Plague Times trilogy, A Lovely Way to Burn.

Now in its eleventh year, the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award was created to celebrate the very best in British and Irish crime writing and is open to crime authors whose novels were published in paperback from 1 May 2014 to 30 April 2015. The 2015 Award is run in partnership with T&R Theakston Ltd, WHSmith, and Radio Times.

The long list, comprising 18 titles, is selected by an academy of crime writing authors, agents, editors, reviewers, members of the Crime Writing Festival Programming Committee and representatives from T&R Theakston Ltd and WHSmith.

The longlist in full:

Eeny Meeny by M.J. Arlidge, Michael Joseph

The Facts Of Life And Death by Belinda Bauer, Black Swan

The Ghost Runner by Parker Bilal, Bloomsbury

The Strangler Vine by M.J. Carter, Fig Tree

The Axeman's Jazz by Ray Celestin, Mantle

Personal by Lee Child, Bantam

The Killing Season by Mason Cross, Orion Fiction

Bryant & May - The Bleeding Heart by Christopher Fowler, Bantam

The Outcast Dead by Elly Griffiths, Quercus

The Telling Error by Sophie Hannah, Hodder & Stoughton

Darkness, Darkness by John Harvey, Arrow

Someone Else's Skin by Sarah Hilary, Headline

The Devil in the Marshalsea by Antonia Hodgson, Hodder & Stoughton

Entry Island by Peter May, Quercus

Disappeared by Anthony Quinn, Head of Zeus

Saints of the Shadow Bible by Ian Rankin, Orion Fiction

The Farm by Tom Rob Smith, Simon & Schuster

A Lovely Way to Burn by Louise Welsh, John Murray Publishers

From 21 May to 17 June, longlisted titles will feature in a four-week campaign across all 600 WHSmith stores and 80 library services, representing a total of 1645 library branches. The longlist will be whittled down to a shortlist of six titles which will be announced on 15 June

The overall winner will be decided by the panel of Judges, which this year comprises of Executive Director of T&R Theakston Ltd. and title sponsor Simon Theakston, Festival Chair Ann Cleeves, Radio Times’ TV Editor Alison Graham, Head of Fiction at WHSmith, Sandra Bradley and Producer of the Radio 2 Book Club, Joe Haddow, as well as members of the public. 

The public vote opens on 1 July and closes 13 July at www.theakstons.co.uk

Previous winners of the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year award include Denise Mina, Lee Child, Val McDermid, and Mark Billingham.

The winner of the prize will be announced by title sponsor Simon Theakston at an award ceremony hosted by broadcaster and Festival regular Mark Lawson on 16 July on the opening night of the 13th annual Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate. The winner will receive a £3,000 cash prize, as well as a handmade, engraved beer barrel provided by Theakstons Old Peculier.

For further information please contact Ann Chadwick at Cause UK 07534892715 Ann@causeuk.com

NOTES TO EDITORS

1.      KEY AWARD DATES

21st May – 18 longlist titles feature in a 4-week campaign in 600 WHSmith stores nationwide

15th June – shortlist of 6 announced

18th June - 6 shortlist titles feature in a 6-week campaign in 600 WHSmith stores nationwide

1st July – online voting opens to the public at www.theakstons.co.uk

13th July - public voting closes for the shortlist

16th July: winner announced at Award ceremony on Opening Night of Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, Harrogate (8pm, Thu 16 July)

2.      PREVIOUS WINNERS

2005 – Lazy Bones by Mark Billingham

2006 – The Torment of Others by Val McDermid

2007 – Two Way Split by Allan Guthrie

2008 – The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney

2009 – Death Message by Mark Billingham

2010 -  A Simple Act of Violence by RJ Ellory

2011 – 61 Hours by Lee Child

2012 – The End of the Wasp Season by Denise Mina

2013 – Beasts and Gods, by Denise Mina

2014 – Rubbernecker by Belinda Bauer

3.      ABOUT THE FESTIVAL

The Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival is Europe’s largest event dedicated to the celebration of crime fiction. Taking place annually over four days each July (this year: 16-19 July), the Festival programmes over 80 best-selling UK and international crime authors and over 20 events. It is organised and promoted by the north of England’s leading arts festival organisation, Harrogate International Festivals. Ranked in the top three literary festivals in the UK by The Guardian, it is also featured in the Independent ‘50 Best Festivals’.

2015 Special Guests include Ann Cleeves, Val McDermid, Lisa Gardner, Sally Wainwright, Mark Billingham, Eddie Izzard, MC Beaton, Arnaldur Indridason, Lee Child and Sara Paretsky.

https://harrogateinternationalfestivals.com/crime/

4.      ABOUT THEAKSTONS

Title sponsor of the Festival since 2005, Theakstons Old Peculier ale is produced by T & R Theakston Ltd. It is one of the country’s most famous and highly regarded traditional ale brewers. Theakstons was established in Masham, North Yorkshire in 1827 by Robert Theakston. After a brief period in the 1980s when the company was acquired by Scottish & Newcastle plc, the company has been back under family ownership since autumn 2003.  It now operates as an independent brewer producing five permanent brands in the Theakstons range including the iconic Old Peculier – its best-known beer with a rich, dark flavour, celebrated by ale enthusiasts all over Britain and around the world. Theakstons Old Peculier is now available in the United States again thanks to an agreement between the brewer and Latis Imports of Connecticut.