In The St Hilda's Spotlight - Abigail Dean

 Name:- Abigail Dean

Job:- Author 

Website:- https://www.abigail-dean.com

Instagram- @AbigailSDean.

Introduction

Abigail Dean is a former lawyer turned author. She is the author of three books. Her debut novel Girl A was published in 2021 and was a SundayTimes and New York Times bestseller. She was one of the Observer's best new novelists in 2021, and was shortlisted for the Women's Prize, Good Housekeeping Futures Award in 2022. Girl A won the inaugural Fingerprint Debut novel in 2022 and the CrimeFest E-dunnit Award. It was also shortlisted for the Barry Award, The British Book Award Crime and Thriller Book of the Year, Crimefest Sounds of Crime Award and Debut Novel, ITW (International Thrillers Award) and Macavity Award for Best First Novel, and Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award. Her second book Day One was published in 2024.

Her third and most recent novel The Death of Us won the 2026 CWA Gold Dagger, was shortlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award and was longlisted for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger and the CWA Twisted Dagger. The Death of Us was a book of the year in The Times, the Guardian, Good Housekeeping and iPaper, and film rights have sold at auction.  

Current book? (This can either be the current book that you are reading or writing or both) 

I’m editing my fourth novel, which tells the story of a little boy who disappears from his bed in 1970, the youngest son of a famous Cambridge scholar. We see his family and the investigators every five years as they change, age – and search. 

Why do you think anti-heroes are so interesting to readers 

I don’t think our interest in anti-heroes can be separated from our interest in good characters more generally. Characters who are purely bad can be great fun – I’m thinking of the vast majority of Bond villains – but those who harbour questionable motivations or are forced into heroism against their will are much more human and relatable.

How do you relax? 

I run, read, and watch films and TV. 

Which anti hero would you like to be on your side in a difficult situation. 

I’ll take Amy Dunne from Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl, who seems capable of manipulating, lying or murdering her way out of any situation.

If you were to write a book involving an anti-hero where would you set it and why? 

I would take inspiration from Patricia Highsmith’s Tom Ripley and set it in an Italian coastal town. Months of research would surely be required.

How would you describe your latest published book? 

The Death of Us follows a young couple who are the victims of a terrible home invasion - and asks what romance can endure. It’s a love story interrupted by a crime novel. 

With Bad Apples: crime fiction’s enemies and anti-heroes theme at St Hilda's this year, who are you three favourite anti-heroes 

I love Jessica Jones, Hilary Mantel’s Thomas Cromwell, and Tony Soprano.

Which 3 films or television series featuring anti-heroes would you rewatch and why. I’ve been rewatching a few in preparation for my talk! I’ll always be happy to revisit The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, and Slow Horses.

What are you looking forward to at St Hilda's? 

Everybody else’s talks! There are a whole bunch of great, inspiring speakers, and I’m looking forward to stealing all of their wisdom.

The Death of us by Abigail Dean (HarperCollins Publishers)

It’s the story everyone wants to hear. That spring night in South London, when Isabel and Edward’s lives were torn apart. The night Isabel learned that the worst things wait, just outside the door. The night Edward learned that he was powerless to stop them. The night they never talk about. When their attacker is caught, it's finally time to tell the story of that night. Not to the world. Or to the man who did it. But to each other. This is a story of murder. This is a story of survival. But most of all, this is a story of love.

More information about St Hilda's and how to purchase online tickets can be found here.

#HCFW26

Crime Writers’ Association Announce 2026 Dagger Winners

 

The winners of the prestigious 2026 Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) Dagger Awards, which honour the very best in the crime-writing genre, have been announced.

Created in 1955, the world-famous CWA Daggers are the oldest awards in the genre and have been synonymous with quality crime writing for over half a century.

The awards were announced on 2 July at the CWA gala dinner at De Vere Grand Connaught Rooms, London.

The coveted KAA Gold Dagger, sponsored by Kevin Anderson & Associates, which is awarded for the best crime novel of the year, went to Abigail Dean for The Death of Us, a haunting literary thriller that examines how a violent crime reverberates through a marriage over decades. Dean transitioned from a successful legal career—including working as a lawyer at Google—to become one of the UK's most acclaimed contemporary thriller writers.

S.A. Cosby, the only author to be shortlisted for an unprecedented three Dagger awards, took home the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger, which honours the best thriller of the year, with his book, King of Ashes.

Cosby is one of the most celebrated crime writers working today, regularly praised by Barack Obama in his Books of the Year selections, known for blending fast-paced noir thrillers with sharp explorations of race, class, masculinity, and life in the modern American South. He worked in construction, retail and security, writing on the side, before breaking through with the acclaimed novel, Blacktop Wasteland. 

King of Ashes, is a Southern Gothic crime epic inspired in part by The Godfather. The novel combines family drama, organised crime, revenge, and long-buried secrets.

Nadine Matheson, Chair of the CWA, said: “It is a genuine pleasure to congratulate every winner of this year's Daggers. The range and quality on display are a reminder of just how much vitality there is in crime fiction and how it continues to push at its own boundaries, and this year's winners are leading that charge. Congratulations.”

Nina Allan received the Historical Dagger for A Granite Silence, an atmospheric mystery that uses the disappearance of a young girl in 1930s Aberdeen to explore memory, truth, and the stories communities tell themselves about tragedy. Nina made a name for herself in the Science Fiction genre, but her literary thrillers cross categories and have been highly praised by critics.

The Twisted Dagger for psychological suspense went to Sarah Pinborough, for her haunting Gothic novel, We Live Here Now. Pinborough is best-known for her New York Times bestselling breakout novel (and hit Netflix show) Behind Her Eyes. We Live Here Now was praised for its eerie atmosphere and signature Pinborough-style ending.

The Whodunnit Dagger for books with an intellectual challenge at the heart of a good mystery, sees Mel Pennant take home the award for A Murder for Miss Hortense. 

A playwright, screenwriter, and novelist A Murder for Miss Hortense is Pennant’s breakthrough novel featuring the sharp-witted Jamaican-born retired nurse living in Birmingham who investigates a murder. The book was praised for combining a compelling mystery with a warm portrayal of the Windrush generation and Caribbean-British life.

The global reach of the genre is showcased in the Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger. Finland’s Antti Tuomainen came top in a hotly contended category, with The Winter Job. Tuomainen is one of Finland's most internationally acclaimed crime writers, often described as the "King of Helsinki Noir" and dark comedy. His translator David Hackston, is also recognised in the award, which is sponsored in honour of Dolores Jakubowski.

The ALCS Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction was awarded to Susannah Stapleton for That Dark Spring. 

Stapleton is a historian specialising in uncovering forgotten stories from the early twentieth century, particularly women’s stories. That Dark Spring is an absorbing true-crime mystery that reopens the unsolved 1929 death of an eccentric British artist in Provence, revealing a world of secrets, rivalries, and unanswered questions.

The Daggers are one of few high-profile genre awards that celebrate the short story. This year’s recipient of the Short Story Dagger goes to Ambrose Parry for The Apple Falls Not Far. Ambrose Parry is the joint pen name of Scottish crime novelist Chris Brookmyre and his wife, former consultant anaesthetist Marisa Haetzman.

The Dagger in the Library, voted for by librarians, recognises authors whose bodies of work have resonated with readers over time. Tim Sullivan took the accolade in a stellar shortlist that included Paula Hawkins, Clare Mackintosh, Freida McFadden, and Abir Mukherjee.

An accomplished television writer-director, Tim Sullivan reinvented himself as a bestselling crime novelist through the hugely successful DS George Cross mysteries, combining classic detective fiction with a distinctive neurodivergent protagonist.

The CWA Daggers are also known for providing a platform for emerging talent, with the much-anticipated ILP John Creasey First Novel Dagger and the Emerging Author Dagger competition, sponsored by Fiction Feedback; over two dozen past winners and shortlisted debut authors have signed publishing deals to date. 

The Emerging Author Dagger went to Michael Nikitin for Blind Side of the Sun.

 

Laura McCluskey received the Creasey First Novel Dagger with The Wolf Tree. The Australian writer, editor, actor and filmmaker worked across theatre and film, before becoming a novelist. The Wolf Tree is an atmospheric crime thriller set on the fictional Hebridean island of Eilean Eadar, partly inspired by her Scottish family heritage and research into Scottish folklore.

The Best Crime and Mystery Publisher category recognises the publishers behind the genre’s success. The respected independent publisher Bitter Lemon Press beat heavyweights including Faber & Faber, Pan Macmillan, No Exit Press and Simon & Schuster to the award.

Founded in London in 2003 by François and Frédéric von Hurter and Laurence Colchester, Bitter Lemon Press specialises in bringing award-winning crime, noir, mystery, and thriller novels from around the world into English, often through new translations.

The CWA Diamond Dagger, sponsored by Karen Baugh Menuhin, is awarded to an author whose crime-writing career has been marked by sustained excellence, is announced in early spring and in 2026 was awarded to Mark Billingham.

Mark Billingham said: “I could not be more thrilled or honoured. To be added to a list that features most of my literary heroes is fantastic.”

The winners in full:    

                                  

CWA KAA Gold Dagger

The Death of Us by Abigail Dean (HarperCollins/Hemlock Press)

Ian Fleming Steel Dagger 

King of Ashes by S. A. Cosby (Headline)

ALCS Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction 

That Dark Spring by Susannah Stapleton(Pan Macmillan/Picador)

Historical Dagger

A Granite Silence by Nina Allan (Quercus/riverrun)

Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger

The Winter Job by Antti Tuomainen (Orenda Books) translated by David Hackston

Whodunnit Dagger

 A Murder for Miss Hortense by Mel Pennant (John Murray Press/Baskerville)

Twisted Dagger

We Live Here Now by Sarah Pinborough (Orion Fiction)

ILP John Creasey (First Novel) Dagger

The Wolf Tree by Laura McCluskey (HarperCollins/Hemlock Press)

Short Story Dagger

‘The Apple Falls Not Far’ by Ambrose Perry (Canongate)

Emerging Author

Blind Side of the Sun by Michael Nikitin

Dagger in the Library

Tim Sullivan  

Best Crime & Mystery Publisher

Bitter Lemon Press

Diamond Dagger

Mark Billingham

 

Shortlist for prestigious Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award 2026 announced

 

Thursday 18 June 2026: Harrogate International Festivals today announced the shortlist for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award 2026, the UK and Ireland’s most prestigious crime fiction award. The winner will be revealed on the opening night of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, Thursday 23 July.

www.harrogatetheakstoncrimeaward.com

#TheakstonsAwards #TheakstonsCrime 

The six books shortlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award 2026, now in its twenty-second year, showcase ‘original’ and ‘entertaining’ storytelling as Tariq Ashkanani, Abigail Dean, Alice Feeney, Elly Griffiths, Mick Herron and Vaseem Khan compete for the coveted award. The winner, who receives £3,000 and a handmade, engraved oak beer cask provided by T&R Theakston Ltd, will be selected by a panel of seven expert judges, with the public vote representing the eighth judge. Readers are now invited to vote for their favourite book to win at www.harrogatetheakstoncrimeaward.com. 

The Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2026 shortlist (in alphabetical order by surname) is: 

The Midnight King by Tariq Ashkanani (Profile Books, Viper) 

The Death of Us by Abigail Dean (HarperCollins, Hemlock Press) 

Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney (Pan Macmillan, Pan Fiction) 

The Frozen People by Elly Griffiths (Quercus Books) 

Clown Town by Mick Herron (John Murray Books, Baskerville) 

Quantum of Menace by Vaseem Khan (Bonnier Books, Zaffre) 

 The Shortlist in more detail:

2022 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award winner and globally bestselling ‘Slow Horses’ author Mick Herron is shortlisted for Clown Town, the latest funny and fast-paced instalment in the Slough House series, which sees a gang of washed-up spooks entangled in a dangerous game of blackmail with its roots in the Irish Troubles. Highly commended for the award in 2023, crime fiction phenomenon Elly Griffiths receives an impressive eighth shortlisting for The Frozen People, the first 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. Shortlisted for a second time, Vaseem Khan is nominated this year for Quantum of Menace, a witty James Bond spin-off mystery centring on one of Ian Fleming’s most beloved characters Q (aka Major Boothroyd) who investigates the suspicious death of a scientist friend, after being unexpectedly ousted from his job at MI6.

They face stiff competition from three hugely talented authors who are shortlisted for the Award for the first time. Scottish author Tariq Ashkanani is nominated for The Midnight King¸ a gripping dark thriller about the son of a famous author – and uncaught serial killer – who, after his father’s death, discovers an unpublished confessional manuscript – a chilling fictionalised account of his monstrous crimes. Alice Feeney’s Beautiful Ugly is a magnetic psychological thriller about marriage, grief and revenge as a once-successful writer retreats to a remote Scottish island after his wife’s disappearance, only to find himself drawn into a web of secrets and deception. Abigail Dean’s psychological thriller, The Death of Us, explores the long-term impact of a horrendous crime, as a couple’s lives are shattered when a masked intruder attacks them in their own home.

Simon Theakston, Chairman of T&R Theakston, said: 

“Congratulations to all of the incredible writers shortlisted for this year’s Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. The highly entertaining books on this year’s shortlist will take readers on an unforgettable roller-coaster ride from remote Scottish islands to frozen Victorian London, the down-at-heel offices of MI5 and far beyond. I’m looking forward to finding out who the public and the judges vote for and presenting the coveted beer cask trophy to the winner at the opening ceremony.”

Sharon Canavar, Chief Executive of Harrogate International Festivals, said:  

“We’re delighted to reveal the shortlist for this year’s Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. Showcasing the broad range of the world’s favourite genre - from spy thrillers to time travel mysteries, from James Bond spin-offs to twisty psychological thrillers - the six books on this year’s shortlist are hugely ambitious and innovative, but above all else, cracking great reads!  We encourage all readers to get involved and vote for their favourite novel on the list to win.”

The Award is presented by Harrogate International Festivals and sponsored by T&R Theakston Ltd, in partnership with Waterstones and Daily Express, and is open to full-length crime novels published in paperback between 1 May 2025 to 30 April 2026. The public are invited to vote to help choose the winner from 8am on Thursday 18 June at www.harrogatetheakstoncrimeaward.com with voting closing on Thursday 16 July at 23:59. The winner will be revealed on the opening night of Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, Thursday 23 July, at a special awards ceremony hosted by Steph McGovern. They will receive £3,000 and a handmade, engraved beer barrel provided by T&R Theakston Ltd.

Bad Apples: Crime Fiction's Enemies and Anti-Heroes

 

The theme for the 33rd St Hilda's Crime Fiction Weekend has been announced

Tickets are now on sale to the general public from 5th January 2026 and the link can be found here.

This is always a wonderful weekend do join us!

Winners of the Fingerprint Awards 2022

S.A. COSBY, C.J. TUDOR & ABIGAIL DEAN 

AMONGST WINNERS OF THE 

INAUGURAL FINGERPRINT AWARDS

The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse named Crime Book of the Year 2021

Blacktop Wasteland by S.A. Cosby named Thriller of the Year 2021

Laura Purcell’s The Shape of Darkness wins Historical Crime Book of the year 2021

Abigail Dean wins Debut Book of the Year 2021 for Girl A

The Burning Girls by C.J. Tudor is named Genre-busting Book of the Year 2021

The Girl Who Died by Ragnar Jónasson, narrated by Amanda Redman, wins Audiobook Book of the Year 2021

Industry Award of the Year 2021 is awarded to HarperCollins for their Girl A campaign

Lifetime Achievement Award is posthumously awarded to Thalia Proctor

S A Cosby Photograph credit Camilo Queipo.

The winners of the inaugural Fingerprint Awards, celebrating international crime and thriller writing, were announced by actor and author Paul Clayton last night, Thursday 29th September, at Capital Crime, in the shadow of the iconic Battersea Power Station. 

The winners of six out of eight categories were voted for online by crime and thriller fans: Crime Book of the Year 2021; Thriller of the Year 2021; Historical Crime Book of the Year 2021; Debut Book of the Year 2021; Genre-busting Book of the Year 2021 and Audio Book of the Year 2021. 

Ragnar Jonasson & Amanda Redman Photograph credit Camilo Queipo.

Notable winners included Blacktop Wasteland by S.A Cosby for Thriller of the Year 2021; Girl A by Abigail Dean for Debut Book of the Year 2021 and The Girl Who Died by Ragnar Jónasson, narrated by Amanda Redman, for Audiobook Book of the Year 2021.

The winners of the Industry Award of the Year and the Lifetime Achievement Award were chosen solely by the Capital Crime Advisory Board. The Industry Award of the Year was won by HarperCollins for Girl A by Abigail Dean and the Lifetime Achievement Award was posthumously awarded to editor Thalia Proctor. 

Capital Crime Festival Director Lizzie Curle said: “We were honoured to kick off the inaugural Fingerprint Awards with Paul Clayton at the helm. We are grateful for all the support we have received from publishers, authors, and most importantly, the readers, who make these awards possible.”

The Fingerprint Award Winners 

Crime Book of the Year 2021

The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse (Transworld)

Thriller Book of the Year 2021

Blacktop Wasteland by S.A. Cosby (Headline)

Historical Crime Book of the Year - 2021

Shape of Darkness by Laura Purcell (Bloomsbury)

Debut Book of the Year 2021

Girl A by Abigail Dean (HarperCollins)

Genre-Busting Book of the Year 2021

The Burning Girl by C.J. Tudor (Penguin)

Audiobook of the Year 2021

The Girl Who Died by Ragnar Jonasson & Amanda Redman (Penguin)

Industry Award the year 2021

HarperCollins for Girl A

Lifetime Achievement Award (Posthumous)

Thalia Proctor

Photographs credit Camilo Queipo.

Winners of 2022 CRIMEFEST Awards Announced

 

CRIMEFEST, one of Europe’s leading crime writing conventions, has announced the winners of its annual awards.

Now in its 15th year, the awards honour the best crime books released in 2021 in the UK.

The genre is the most popular in the UK. Nielsen BookData’s Books & Consumers survey data shows crime fiction sales in the UK across all formats stood at 54m in 2021; a 7% rise on pre-pandemic levels.

The winner of the anticipated Specsavers Debut Crime Novel Award, and £1,000 prize monies, is David Heska Wanbli Weiden for Winter Counts published by Simon & Schuster.

Named by the New York Time as one of “the most critically acclaimed young novelists working now,”Winter Counts was called a “once-in-a-generation thriller” by the Los Angeles Times. Weiden is the first Native American author to win an Anthony Award and the Thriller Award. Set on the Rosebud Indian Reservation, Winter Counts is an examination of the broken criminal justice system on reservations, and a meditation on Native identity.

A further £1,000 prize is awarded to Richard Osman and actor Lesley Manville, reader of Osman’s The Man Who Died Twice. It’s the second year the pair has scooped the Audible Sounds of Crime Award, sponsored by Audible and voted by Audible UK listeners, after winning in 2021 for his phenomenal debut smash-hit, The Thursday Murder Club.

All category winners will receive a Bristol Blue Glass commemorative award.

The eDunnit Award for the best e-book goes to Abigail Dean for Girl A. Born in Manchester, and a former bookseller for Waterstones, Dean now works as a lawyer for Google. Her astonishing debut novel about siblings who flee abusive parents received widespread acclaim as a story of redemption, horror and love. It was a Sunday Times and New York Times global best seller.

Winner of the H.R.F Keating Award for best biographical or critical book on crime fiction is Patricia Highsmith: Her Diaries and Notebooks, edited by Anna von Planta, which was published for the centenary of Highsmith’s birth in 2021. It was praised by the New York Times as offering “the most complete picture ever published” of the canonical author.

The Last Laugh Award goes to Mick Herron’s Slough House. The Jackson Lamb series of dysfunctional British intelligence agents has recently been adapted by Apple TV starring Oscar-winner Gary Oldman.

Best Crime Novel for Children, aged 8-12, goes to M.G. Leonard’s birdwatching detective, Twitch. The internationally bestselling author tells a mystery adventure about friendship, bravery and birds, and Twitch is a celebration of the natural world.

Best Crime Novel for Young Adults, aged 12-16, is awarded to

Angeline Boulley for Firekeeper’s Daughter. The novel was praised by the Guardian as, “an interrogation of racist misogyny and a swift-paced, compelling thriller.”

This year also sees the introduction of the Thalia Proctor Memorial Award for Best Adapted TV Crime Drama. The award is named in honour of Thalia, a CrimeFest team member and a much-loved figure in the world of crime fiction, and who sadly died earlier this year.

The award is decided entirely by public vote from a longlist of the 43 TV programmes broadcast on British TV in the last year, based on a crime book. Ann Cleeves won the inaugural gong for Shetland, beating a strong shortlist that featured Antony Horowitz for Alex Rider, M.C. Beaton for Agatha Raisin and James Runcie for Grantchester.

Adrian Muller, Co-host of CRIMEFEST, said: The crime genre has dominated the book charts and our TV screens, keeping many of us company, particularly in the last two challenging years. The genre never fails to offer escapism and entertainment, as well as often exploring big issues and emotions. As a genre that also often makes sense of a chaotic world, it’s helped many people and is something we need today more than ever. We’re proud to celebrate the best the genre offers.”

CRIMEFEST had to postpone its 2020 and 2021 conventions, due to Covid restrictions. Hosted in Bristol, it is one of the biggest crime fiction events in Europe, and one of the most popular dates in the international crime fiction calendar, with circa 60 panel events and 150 authors over four days.

Leading British crime fiction reviewers and reviewers of fiction for children and young adults, alongside the members of the School Library Association (SLA) form the CRIMEFEST judging panels, aside from Audible Sounds of Crime Award in which Audible listeners establish the shortlist and the winning title.

Co-host of CRIMEFEST, Donna Moore, added: “We are proud to be one of the few genre awards that recognise e-books and audiobooks, humour, children and Young Adult crime fiction novels. We aim to be the most inclusive of awards to reflect the values of our convention, and the incredible diversity and reach of the genre which dominates the cultural landscape.”

CRIMEFEST was created following the hugely successful one-off visit to Bristol in 2006 of the American Left Coast Crime convention. It was established in 2008. It follows the egalitarian format of most US conventions, making it open to all commercially published authors and readers alike.

2022 CrimeFest Award Winners

SPECSAVERS DEBUT CRIME NOVEL AWARD

Winter Count by David Heska Wanbli Weiden (Simon & Schuster)

AUDIBLE SOUNDS OF CRIME AWARD

The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman read by Lesley Manville (Penguin Random House Audio)

eDUNNIT AWARD

Girl A by Abigail Dean, (HarperCollins)

H.R.F. KEATING AWARD

Patricia Highsmith: Her Diaries and Notebooks edited by Anna von Planta (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)

LAST LAUGH AWARD

Slough House by Mick Herron (Baskerville, John Murray Press)

BEST CRIME FICTION NOVEL FOR CHILDREN

Twitch by M.G. Leonard (Walker Books)

BEST CRIME FICTION NOVEL FOR YOUNG ADULTS

Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley (Rock the Boat)

THALIA PROCTOR MEMORIAL AWARD FOR BEST ADAPTED TV CRIME DRAMA

Shetland (season 6), based on the books by Ann Cleeves. Produced by Silverprint Pictures, part of ITV Studios; shown on BBC1.

Longlist for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2022 announced

 

The longlist for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2022 has been announced today, with debut authors and literary icons vying for the UK and Ireland’s most coveted crime fiction writing award.

The award, now in its eighteenth year, is presented by Harrogate International Festivals and recognises the best crime novels published in the UK and Ireland in paperback over the past year. This year’s longlist takes readers from the decks of a haunted galleon to the claustrophobia of a psychiatric ward, from a small American town shaken by the disappearance of a young girl to the hedonism and danger of London’s Georgian pleasure gardens.

The longlist sees a number of previous winners hoping to take home the prize once again. Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival 2022 Programming Chair Denise Mina will look to snatch her third win for The Less Dead, as will Rabbit Hole author Mark Billingham, who took home the inaugural award in 2005 and again in 2009. Chris Brookmyre, who won the 2017 prize, is in the running again with The Cut while Blood Ties author Brian McGilloway, who was highly commended at last year’s prize, is also longlisted. Other prize alumni on the 2022 longlist include four-time shortlistees Elly Griffiths with The Night Hawks and Mick Herron with Slough House, as well as previous longlistees Ann Cleeves with The Heron’s Cry, Erin Kelly with Watch Her Fall, Imran Mahmood with I Know What I Saw, Joseph Knox for True Crime Story, Laura Shepherd-Robinson’s Georgian detective novel Daughters of Night, Stuart Turton with genre-bending whodunnit The Devil and the Dark Water, and William Shaw for The Trawlerman.

While some familiar names have returned again this year to compete, the longlist features a number of authors receiving their first chance at the prize. M.W. Craven receives a nod for Dead Ground, while Vaseem Khan is featured for his novel Midnight at Malabar House, set in the turbulent streets of Bombay in 1950. Incredible debut authors in the running for the award include 2021 New Blood panellist Anna Bailey with her taut novel Tall Bones, and Abigail Dean with bestselling debut Girl A.

The full Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2022 longlist is comprised of:

Girl A by Abigail Dean (HarperFiction)

Tall Bones by Anna Bailey (Doubleday)

The Heron’s Cry by Ann Cleeves (Pan Macmillan)

Blood Ties by Brian McGilloway (Constable)

The Cut by Chris Brookmyre (Little, Brown)

The Less Dead by Denise Mina (Harvill Secker)

The Night Hawks by Elly Griffiths (Quercus Fiction)

Watch Her Fall by Erin Kelly (Hodder & Stoughton)

I Know What I Saw by Imran Mahmood (Raven Books)

True Crime Story by Joseph Knox (Doubleday)

Daughters of Night by Laura Shepherd Robinson (Mantle/Pan)

Rabbit Hole by Mark Billingham (Little, Brown)

Slough House by Mick Herron (Baskerville)

Dead Ground by W. Craven (Constable)

The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton (Raven Books)

Midnight at Malabar House by Vaseem Khan (Hodder & Stoughton)

The Last Thing to Burn by Will Dean (Hodder & Stoughton)

The Trawlerman by William Shaw (riverrun)

Simon Theakston, Executive Director of Theakston, added: “Crime fiction seems to have an enduring popularity with readers, and this year’s longlist is a clear indication as to why. Books from iconic writers and impressive debuts demonstrate the wonderful talent working in the genre today – the public have got a hard job ahead of them voting for a shortlist of only six! We raise a glass of Old Peculier to all the authors on the longlist, and look forward to a celebratory drink with our Award winner in July.”

Chief Executive of Harrogate International Festivals, Sharon Canavar, commented: “We are thrilled to announce the 2022 longlist for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award, championing the very best crime fiction being published in the UK and Ireland. With a mix of nail-biting psychological thrillers, tense police procedurals and gripping mysteries, this year’s longlist demonstrates the incredible breadth of modern crime fiction. We can’t wait to see which books the public side with during voting, and look forward to revealing the winner at the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in July.”

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, along with media partners the Express. The award is run by Harrogate International Festivals sponsored by T&R Theakston Ltd, in partnership with Waterstones and the Express, and is open to full length crime novels published in paperback 1 May 2021 to 30 April 2022 by UK and Irish authors.

The public are now invited to vote for a shortlist of six titles at 

www.harrogatetheakstoncrimeaward.com. Voting closes on 26^th May, with the shortlist announced and winner voting opening on 14^th June. 

The winner will be revealed on the opening night of Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, Thursday 21^stJuly, receiving £3,000 and a handmade, engraved beer barrel provided by T&R Theakston Ltd .

CRIMEFEST Announce 2022 Award Nominees

 

CRIMEFEST, one of Europe’s leading crime writing conventions, has announced the shortlists for its annual awards.

Now in its 15th year, the awards honour the best crime books released in 2021 in the UK.

The awards include the Specsavers Debut Crime Novel Award, the winner of which receives a £1,000 prize.

A further £1,000 prize fund is also awarded to the Audible Sounds of Crime Award, sponsored by Audible.

All category winners will receive a Bristol Blue Glass commemorative award.

Up for the hotly-contended Specsavers Debut Crime Novel Award is Saima Mir for The Khan, which was a Times and Sunday Times Crime Novel of the Year in 2021. Featuring lawyer Jia Khan, the novel has been praised as a dark, gripping thriller with an unforgettable heroine, and dubbed a “once-in-a-generation crime thriller”.

Mir faces strong competition from five other shortlisted authors, including Abigail Dean for Girl A, which became a Sunday Times global bestseller. Dean was claimed as “the biggest literary fiction voice of 2021”. The book is soon to be a TV show, directed by Chernobyl’s Johan Renck.

The winner of the Audible Sounds of Crime Award will be voted for by Audible UK listeners. This year, Richard Osman returns to the shortlist with The Man Who Died Twice read by Lesley Manville, after winning in 2021 for his phenomenal debut smash-hit, The Thursday Murder Club. Osman is up against big-hitters including Lee and Andrew Child, Paula Hawkins and Liane Moriarty.

Abigail Dean’s Girl A also features on the Audible Sounds of Crime shortlist. Dean is the only author up for three CrimeFest awards. Girl A is also in contention for the eDunnit Award for the best e-book, alongside bestselling authors Michael Connelly and Megan Abbot, as well as Gianrico Carofiglio for The Measure of Time, which was shortlisted for Italy’s most prestigious literary award, the STREGA prize.

Shortlisted for the H.R.F Keating Award for best biographical or critical book on crime fiction are books that focus on icons of the genre, including Ian Fleming’s nephew - James Fleming – for Bond Behind the Iron Curtain, and Patricia Highsmith: Her Diaries and Notebooks, which was published for the centenary of her birth in 2021. Richard Bradford’s acclaimed Devils, Lusts and Strange Desires: The Life of Patricia Highsmith also makes the list.

The Last Laugh Award sees Mick Herron’s Slough House on the shortlist. The Jackson Lamb series of dysfunctional British intelligence agents is due to be screened by Apple TV this April, starring Oscar-winner Gary Oldman. He’s up against stalwarts of the genre, including Simon Brett for An Untidy Death and Christopher Fowler with London Bridge is Falling Down.

Best Crime Novel for Children, aged 8-12, features giant of the genre Anthony Horowitz for Nightshade, from his popular Alex Rider series. The nominees also include the multi-award-winning Frank Cottrell-Boyce with Noah’s Gold, Alexandra Page’s charming Wishyouwas and M.G. Leonard’s birdwatching detective, Twitch.

Best Crime Novel for Young Adults, aged 12-16, features C.L. Taylor’s The Island, dubbed Lost meets The Hunger Games. Faridah Àbíké Íyímídé’s Ace of Spades also makes the list. An instant New York Times bestseller, Ace of Spades is described as Gossip Girl meets Get Out, and was nominated for the Carnegie Medal 2022.

Adrian Muller, Co-host of CRIMEFEST, said: “After two years of hosting our awards online due to Covid restrictions, we’re thrilled we will be announcing and celebrating the winners of 2022’s CrimeFest Awards in person at our convention in Bristol in May. These shortlists show how valuable books have been to all ages, particularly in times of isolation, as sources of escapism, entertainment and enrichment. We’d like to thank Audible and Specsavers for their on-going support of these awards.”

CRIMEFEST has had to postpone its 2020 and 2021 conventions, due to Covid restrictions. Hosted in Bristol, it is one of the biggest crime fiction events in Europe, and one of the most popular dates in the international crime fiction calendar, with circa 60 panel events and 150 authors over four days.

Leading British crime fiction reviewers and reviewers of fiction for children and young adults, alongside the members of the School Library Association (SLA) form the CRIMEFEST judging panels, aside from Audible Sounds in which Audible listeners establish the shortlist and the winning title.

Co-host of CRIMEFEST, Donna Moore, added: “We are proud to be one of the few genre awards that recognise e-books and audiobooks, humour, children and Young Adult crime fiction novels. We aim to be the most inclusive of awards to reflect the values of our convention, and the incredible diversity and reach of the genre which dominates the cultural landscape.”

CRIMEFEST was created following the hugely successful one-off visit to Bristol in 2006 of the American Left Coast Crime convention. It was established in 2008. It follows the egalitarian format of most US conventions, making it open to all commercially published authors and readers alike.

The 2022 Shortlists in full

SPECSAVERS DEBUT CRIME NOVEL AWARD

In association with headline sponsor, the Specsavers Debut Crime Novel Award is for crime novels by previously unpublished authors bring vital fresh blood to the genre.

Girl A by Abigail Dean (HarperCollins)

The Appeal by Janice Hallett, (Viper)

The Khan by Saima Mir,(Point Blank)

How to Kidnap the Rich by Rahul Raina, (Abacus/ Little, Brown Book Group)

One Night, New York by Lara Thompson, (Virago/Little, Brown Book Group)

Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden, (Simon & Schuster)

AUDIBLE SOUNDS OF CRIME AWARD

The Audible Sounds of Crime Award is for the best unabridged crime audiobook available for download from audible.co.uk, Britain’s largest provider of downloadable audiobooks.

Better Off Dead by Lee and Andrew Child - read by Jeff Harding (Penguin Random House Audio)

Girl A by Abigail Dean - read by Holliday Grainger (HarperFiction)

Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins - read by Rosamund Pike (Penguin Random House Audio)

The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell - read by Joanna Froggatt (Penguin Random House Audio)

Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty -read by Caroline Lee (Penguin Random House Audio)

The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman - read by Lesley Manville (Penguin Random House Audio)

The Marriage by K.L Slater - read by Lucy Price-Lewis (Audible Studios / Bookouture)

False Witness by Karin Slaughter - read by Kathleen Early (HarperCollins)

eDUNNIT AWARD

The eDunnit Award is for the best crime fiction eBook

The Turnout by Megan Abbott (Virago/ Little, Brown Book Group)

The Measure of Time by Gianrico Carofiglio (Bitter Lemon Press)

The Dark Hours by Michael Connelly (Orion Fiction)

Girl A by Abigail Dean (HarperCollins)

Running Out of Road by Cath Staincliffe (Constable/ Little, Brown Book Group)

The Royal Secret by Andrew Taylor (HarperCollins)

H.R.F. KEATING AWARD

The H.R.F. Keating Award is for the best biographical or critical book related to crime fiction. The award is named after H.R.F. ‘Harry’ Keating, one of Britain’s most esteemed crime novelists.

The Detective's Companion in Crime Fiction: A Study in Sidekicks by Lucy Andrews (Palgrave Macmillan)

Devils, Lusts and Strange Desires: The Life of Patricia Highsmith by Richard Bradford Bloomsbury, Caravel)

Bond Behind the Iron Curtain by James Fleming (The Book Collector)

Patricia Highsmith: Her Diaries and Notebooks by Patricia Highsmith (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)

Murder Isn't Easy: The Forensics of Agatha Christie by Carla Valentine (Sphere/ Little, Brown Book Group)

Hank Janson Under Cover by Stephen James Walker (Telos Publishing Ltd)

LAST LAUGH AWARD

The Last Laugh Award is for the best humorous crime novel.

An Untidy Death by Simon Brett (Severn House)

Riccardino by Andrea Camilleri (Mantle)

Bryant & May: London Bridge is Falling Down by Christopher Fowler (Doubleday)

The Appeal by Janet Hallet (Viper)

Slough House by Mick Herron (Baskerville, John Murray Press)

The Rabbit Factor by Antti Tuomainen, (Orenda Books)

BEST CRIME FICTION NOVEL FOR CHILDREN

This award is for the best crime fiction novel for children (aged 8-12)

Noah's Gold by Frank Cottrell-Boyce, (Macmillan Children's Books)

Vi Spy: Licence to Chill by Maz Evans (Chicken House)

Nightshade by Anthony Horowitz, (Walker Books)

The Five Clues by Anthony Kessel, (Crown House Publishing)

Lake Evolution by Jennifer Killick Crater, (Firefly Press)

Twitch by M.G. Leonard,(Walker Books)

Wishyouwas: The Tiny Guardian of Lost Letters by Alexandra Page illustrated by Penny Neville-Lee (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)

The Secret Detectives by Ella Risbridger (Nosy Crow)

BEST CRIME FICTION NOVEL FOR YOUNG ADULTS

This award is for the best crime fiction novel for young adults (aged 12-16).

Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké Íyímídé, (Usborne Publishing)

Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley (Rock the Boat)

The Girl Who … by Andreina Cordani (Atom/ Little, Brown Book Group)

The Outrage by William Hussey (Usborne Publishing)

As Good As Dead by Holly Jackson (Electric Monkey)

Splinters of Sunshine by Patrice Lawrence (Hodder Children's Books)

The Outlaws of Scarlett & Browne by Jonathan Stroud (Walker Books)

The Island by C. L Taylor (HQ)