Longlist for 2025 McIlvanney Prize Scottish Crime Novel of the Year

 

Whispers of the Dead, by Lin Anderson (Macmillan)
The Midnight King, by Tariq Ashkanani (Viper)
The Dying Light, by Daniel Aubrey (HarperNorth)
Carnival of Lies, by D.V. Bishop (Macmillan)
Unsound, by Heather Critchlow (Canelo)
The Moon’s More Feeble Fire, by Allan Gaw (Polygon)
The Good Father, by Liam McIlvanney (Bonnier)
Paperboy, by Callum McSorley (Pushkin Press)
The Good Liar, by Denise Mina (Vintage)
Gunner, by Alan Parks (John Murray)
Death of Shame, by Ambrose Parry (Canongate)
Midnight and Blue, by Ian Rankin (Orion)
A Thief’s Blood, by Douglas Skelton (Canelo

The McIlvanney Prize, named in honor of William McIlvanney, author of the novel Laidlaw, will be presented on Friday, September 12, during this year’s Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival. Previous winners include Chris Brookmyre, Craig Russell, Francine Toon, Peter May, and Charles Cumming.

Finalists Revealed for The McIlvanney Prize 2022

Sponsored by The Glencairn Glass

Winners to be presented on Thursday 15 September 2022

In Bloody Scotland’s 10th Anniversary year, the judges are delighted to reveal the finalists for The McIlvanney Prize 2022:

Liam McIlvanney – The Heretic (HarperCollins)

Alan Parks – May God Forgive (Canongate)

Ambrose Parry – A Corruption of Blood (Canongate)

Louise Welsh – The Second Cut (Canongate)

A hat trick for Canongate and indeed for Scottish independent publishing! The McIlvanney Prize judges are Ayo Onatade, winner of the CWA Red Herring Award and freelance crime fiction critic, Ewan Wilson, crime fiction buyer from Waterstones Glasgow and Jacky Collins, otherwise known as the podcaster, Dr Noir and programmer of Newcastle Noir. They were unanimous in their praise for all four finalists:

Liam McIlvanney – The Heretic (HarperCollins) The masterful rendering of a richly layered plot makes you want to read this novel again as soon as you’ve finished it. It’s a warts and all tale with memorable characters and a great setting.

Alan Parks – May God Forgive (Canongate) This expertly handled and morally ambiguous novel paints a dark and mesmerising portrait of 1970s Glasgow. The skillfully written and complex plot builds to a thrilling and highly unconventional denouement.

Ambrose Parry – A Corruption of Blood (Canongate) A real slow burner of a novel which is a marvellous tale of murder and deception in Victorian Edinburgh. It handles some difficult subject matter with sensitivity and care and has a real feeling of authenticity

Louise Welsh – The Second Cut (Canongate) The raw, tight prose of this novel delivers an edgy glimpse into the underbelly of 21st century Glasgow. The novel feature the welcome return of Rilke from Louise’s classic debut The Cutting room in a witty and sometimes sordid tale of a rank outsider.

The winner will be revealed in Stirling on Thursday 15 September. All of the shortlisted authors will be invited to a VIP reception at the Church of the Holy Rude at 7pm and to lead the torchlit procession from Stirling Castle to The Albert Halls where the winner of both the McIlvanney and the Bloody Scotland Debut Prizes will be revealed at approximately 8.30pm. They will then be interviewed on stage by BBC Radio Scotland’s Janice Forsyth.

Bloody Scotland announce the Longlist for the McIlvanney Prize 2022

We are delighted to announce the longlist for the McIlvanney Prize 2022. In Bloody Scotland’s 10th Anniversary year, it seems very fitting that a clear longlist of ten books emerged after the prize readers scores were tallied. Six years ago, the Scottish Crime Book of the Year Award was renamed the McIlvanney Prize in memory of William McIlvanney. The Prize recognises excellence in Scottish crime writing, and includes a prize of £1,000 and nationwide promotion in Waterstones.

The longlisted titles are:
May God Forgive by Alan Parks (Canongate)
The Second Cut by Louise Welsh (Canongate)
A Rattle of Bones by Douglas Skelton (Polygon)
From the Ashes by Deborah Masson (Transworld)
A Matter of Time by Claire Askew (Hodder)
A Corruption of Blood by Ambrose Parry (Canongate)
The Heretic by Liam McIlvanney (Harpercollins)
Rizzio by Denise Mina (Polygon)
The Sound of Sirens by Ewan Gault (Leamington Books)
The Blood Tide by Neil Lancaster (Harpercollins)

The McIlvanney Prize will be judged by Ayo Onatade, winner of the CWA Red Herring Award and freelance crime fiction critic, Janice Forsyth, presenter of the Afternoon Show on BBC Radio Scotland and Ewan Wilson, crime fiction buyer from Waterstones Glasgow. The Glencairn Glass, the world’s favourite whisky glass, is again sponsoring both The McIlvanney Prize and The Bloody Scotland Debut Crime Novel of the Year for 2022.

Finalists for the McIlvanney Prize will be revealed at the beginning of September. The winner will be revealed in Stirling on Thursday 15 September.The McIlvanney Prize recognises excellence in Scottish crime writing, includes a prize of £1000 and nationwide promotion in Waterstones. Previous winners are Craig Russell with Hyde in 2021, Francine Toon with Pine in 2020, Manda Scott with A Treachery of Spies in 2019 (who chose to share her prize with all the finalists), Liam McIlvanney with The Quaker in 2018, Denise Mina with The Long Drop 2017, Chris Brookmyre with Black Widow 2016, Craig Russell with The Ghosts of Altona in 2015, Peter May with Entry Island in 2014, Malcolm Mackay with How A Gunman Says Goodbye in 2013 and Charles Cumming with A Foreign Country in 2012

The initial longlisting is handled by over 100 crime fiction readers from all over Scotland including booksellers, bloggers, librarians and festival-goers and the longlist is then handed to the high-profile team of judges to decide on the eventual winner.

Locked Up Festival 2 Programme

 

Thu 8 April

2:30pm – 3:30pm - Write What You Know - SJ Watson, Jane Casey, Kia Abdullah and Mark Edwards

4:00pm – 5:00pm - Legal Issues - Steve Cavanagh, Imran Mahmood, Nadine Matheson and Tony Kent

6:30pm – 7:30pm – The Worst Book Events (Stuart Neville, Erin Kelly, Shari Lapena and Doug Johnstone

8:00pm – 9:00pm – In Conversation – Val McDermid, Liam McIlvanney and Louise Fairbairn

9:30pm – 10:30pm – Am In The A**ehole? - Sarah Hilary, Abir Mukherjee and Jenny Blackhurst

Friday 9 April 

2:30pm – 3:30pm – Scary Campfire Stories – Luca Veste, Alex North, C J Tudor and Catriona Ward

4:00pm – 5:00pm – Truth is Sranger Than Fiction – Caroline Mitchell, Joseph Knox, Denise Mina and Alex Knight

6:30pm – 7:30pm – High Concepts - Ruth Ware, Dorothy Koomson, Linwood Barclay and Lesley Kara

8:00pm – 9:00pm – In Conversation – Michael Connelly, Titus Welliver, Mark Billingham, David Morrisey and Phil Williams

9:30pm – 10:30pm – Locked Up Quiz – Craig Robertson, Mark Billingham, Laura Shepherd-Robinson, Luca Veste, Steve Cavanagh and Ambrose Parry (Chris Brookmyre and Marisa Haetzman)

Saturday 10 April

2:30pm – 3:30pm – Writers at Home – Mark Billingham, C L Taylor, Martyn Waite and Fiona Cummins

4:00pm – 5:00pm – Private Eyes – Tim Weaver, Lisa Gray, Chris Brookmyre and Elly Griffiths

6:30pm – 7:30pm Google Streetview – Will Dean, Adrian McKinty, SJI Holiday and Lara Dearman

8:00pm – 9:00pm – In Conversation – Ian Rankin, John Connolly and Brian McGilloway

9:30pm – 11:00pm – Two Crime Writers Live – The Final Event!

Bloody Scotland McIlvanney Prize Finalists revealed

BLOODY SCOTLAND INTERNATIONAL CRIME WRITING FESTIVAL REVEALS FOUR FINALISTS FOR THE MCILVANNEY PRIZE 2020

sponsored by The Glencairn Glass with match funding from Culture & Business Fund Scotland

The annual McIlvanney judges lunch was a virtual Bank Holiday breakfast this year with Karen Robinson in London, Stuart Cosgrove in Glasgow and James Crawford in Edinburgh.

All were impressed by the variety and diversity of the finalists, with titles of dark humour, historical research, ambitious and innovative writing which demonstrate the sheer range of the crime genre and continuing strength of Scottish crime writing.

The list includes two who were finalists / bemused winners last year when Manda Scott announced that she was sharing the prize (Ambrose Parry & Doug Johnstone); an author who is also shortlisted for the 2020 Bloody Scotland Debut Prize (Francine Toon) and someone who provided and operated the audio, lighting and staging for the first Bloody Scotland Festivals and only started writing three years ago (Andrew James Greig). When he heard he was a finalist he said: “As a sound engineer I pinned a lapel mic on William McIlvanney at what was to be his last appearance at Bloody Scotland in 2014. I never imagined that in six years time I’d become a writer myself and be a finalist for the prize that bears his name."

The Shortlist for the McIlvanney Prize 2020 are

Whirligig by Andrew James Greig (Fledgling Press)

A Dark Matter by Doug Johnstone (Orenda)

The Art of Dying by Ambrose Parry (Cannongate Books)

Pine by Francine Toon (Transworld)

The judges praised Whirligig by Andrew James Greig (Fledgling Press) for an ‘ambitious, innovative concept and the most intricate modus operandi for killing the victims of any book this year..... a real page turner'

They described Pine by Francine Toon (Transworld) as ‘an impressive and atmospheric novel, with a portrait of remote rural Scotland, bringing in issues of school bullying, mental health and alcoholism. Very readable and engaging, It's also beautifully written.’

It’s the third time in five years that Doug Johnstone has been a McIlvanney Finalist. A perennial favourite at the Festival his latest book, A Dark Matter (Orenda) was described by the judges as ‘a brilliant idea, a heartwarming portrait of a family with three generations of women set in an undertakers. A confident, entertaining novel with dark humour, pace and energy'.

The Art of Dying is the second collaboration by husband and wife team, Chris Brookmyre and Marisa Haetzman. Chris won the McIlvanney Prize in 2016 with Black Widow and as Ambrose Parry they were finalists for the McIlvanney Prize last year. The judges loved the ‘original setting in Victorian Edinburgh’ and praised the ‘fascinating medical research’ and the ‘implicit love affair building between the two main characters – the medically trained man, and the untrained women (who is clearly the smarter of the two).’

The winner will be revealed from Stirling on Friday 18 September at 7pm and all the finalists are involved over the festival weekend. Andrew James Greig is on The Never-Ending Panel as is Doug Johnstone and Ambrose Parry; Chris Brookmyre (50% of Ambrose Parry) and Doug will also be participating in The Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers – Behind the Music and Crime at the Coo Online and Francine Toon has contributed to the debut short story in association with new sponsors of the two prizes, the Glencairn Glass.

Marisa Haetzman (the other 50% of Ambrose Parry) summed it up when she said “It’s little surprise to say that this is the best news we’ve had all year.”

Shortlisted authors for the Debut Prize 2020 are:-

Hold your Tongue by Deborah Masson (Transworld)

The Crown Agent by Stephen O'Rourke (Sandstone)

See Them Run by Marion Todd (Canelo)

Pine by Francine Toon (Doubleday)

The authors shortlisted for the Debut Prize will collaborate on a short story to be co-ordinated by author and board member, Gordon Brown aka Morgan Cry, in association with The Glencairn Glass.

Bloody Scotland Debut Shortlist and McIlvanney Long List announced.

SHORTLIST FOR THE BLOODY SCOTLAND DEBUT SCOTTISH CRIME BOOK OF THE YEAR 2020 & LONGLIST ANNOUNCED FOR THE McILVANNEY PRIZE 2020

Winners to be presented on Friday 18 September 2020
 

Four years ago the Scottish Crime Book of the Year Award was renamed the McIlvanney Prize in memory of William McIlvanney who is often described as the Godfather of Tartan Noir. Last year Bloody Scotland also introduced a prize for The Bloody Scotland Debut Scottish Crime Book of the Year. This year both are sponsored by the Glencairn Glass. At a time when debut writers have suffered more than anyone else due to bookshop closures the debut prize is more important than ever:

Shortlisted authors are:

Hold Your Tongue by Deborah Masson (Transworld)

The Crown Agent by Stephen O’Rourke (Sandstone),

See Them Run by Marion Todd (Canelo)
Pine by Francine Toon (Doubleday)

One, Francine Toon, is also longlisted for the McIlvanney Prize which includes:
Time for the Dead by Lin Anderson (Macmillan)
Bad Memory by Lisa Gray (Thomas & Mercer)
Whirligig by Andrew James Greig (Fledgling)
A Dark Matter by Doug Johnstone (Orenda)
How the Dead Speak by Val McDermid (Little, Brown)
The Island by Ben McPherson (HarperCollins)
Bury Them Deep by James Oswald (Headline)
The Art of Dying by Ambrose Parry (Canongate) aka Chris Broomyre and Marisa Haetzman
The Inheritance of Solomon Farthing by Mary Paulson-Ellis (Mantle)
The Red, Red Snow by  Caro Ramsay (Severn House)
Watch Him Die by Craig Robertson (Simon & Schuster)
Pine by Francine Toon (Doubleday)

Finalists for the McIlvanney Prize will be revealed at the beginning of September and the winner of both prizes will be revealed on Friday 18 September.

The Bloody Scotland Debut Prize will be judged by a panel including crime writer and founding director of Bloody Scotland Lin Anderson and representatives from Waterstones and the Glencairn Glass.

The McIlvanney Prize will be judged by Stuart Cosgrove, writer and broadcaster, James Crawford, chair of Publishing Scotland and presenter of BBC series Scotland from the Sky and Karen Robinson, Editor of The Times Crime Club.

The McIlvanney award recognises excellence in Scottish crime writing, includes a prize of £1000 and nationwide promotion in Waterstones. The 2020 longlist features established crime writers and debuts, corporates and indies. Previous winners are Manda Scott with A Treachery of Spies in 2019 (who chose to share her prize with all the finalists), Liam McIlvanney with The Quaker in 2018, Denise Mina with The Long Drop in 2017, Chris Brookmyre with Black Widow in 2016, Craig Russell with The Ghosts of Altona in 2015, Peter May with Entry Island in 2014, Malcolm Mackay with How A Gunman Says Goodbye in 2013 and Charles Cumming with A Foreign Country in 2012. The inaugural Bloody Scotland Debut Prize 2019 was won by Claire Askew with All The Hidden Truths.

Manda Scott Revealed to be the Winner of the McIlvanney Prize Scottish Crime Book of the Year Award 2019.

David Baldacci announced at the opening of Bloody Scotland that the winner of the 2019 McIlvanney Prize is Manda Scott for A Treachery of Spies published by Transworld.

It is only the second time in its 8-year history that the prize has been won by a woman. Two previous winners – Denise Mina and Chris Brookmyre (this time as Ambrose Parry with wife Marisa Haetzman) were amongst the four finalists along with Doug Johnstone – but A Treachery of Spies was the unanimous winner. 

The panel of judges which included Guardian journalist Alison Flood; Chair of Publishing Scotland, James Crawford and former Head of Programmes at Channel 4, Stuart Cosgrove, described A Treachery of Spies as: ‘A powerful, complex and remarkable espionage thriller: a present-day murder links back to Resistance France.  An intricately plotted novel which keeps the reader guessing right to the end.’

Lee Child described it as: ‘a beautifully imagined, beautifully written, smart, sophisticated – but fiercely suspenseful – thriller’

Born and raised in Scotland, Manda has been, variously a veterinary surgeon, veterinary anaesthetist, acupuncturist columnist, blogger, economist – and author. She began her writing career with a series of crime novels, the first of which was shortlisted for the Orange Prize. No Good Deed, the dark, edgy thriller which followed, was nominated for an Edgar Award and hailed as one of the most remarkable thrillers of the year in 2001. 

The McIlvanney Prize recognises excellence in Scottish crime writing, includes a prize of £1000 and nationwide promotion in Waterstones.

This year Bloody Scotland also introduced the inaugural Bloody Scotland Scottish Crime Debut of the Year and special guest, Richard Osman, presenter of Pointless on TV and soon to be a debut author himself, presented it to Claire Askew for All the Hidden Truths published by Hodder. She is a poet, novelist and the current Writer in Residence at the University of Edinburgh.

Both winners accompanied David Baldacci at the head of the torchlit procession from Stirling Castle to his event at the Albert Halls which begins at 8.30pm. 

Festival Director, Bob McDevitt commented:

‘I am delighted that a woman has won both the McIlvanney Prize and the Debut Prize. Coincidentally we had already planned a panel on Spy Sisters about how women are beginning to enter the male dominated preserve of spy fiction. When Manda was longlisted for the prize we added her to the panel. Now anyone who had booked to see that event at 2.30pm tomorrow will be lucky to hear from the McIlvanney Prize winner.’

Manda Scott was born in Glasgow but now lives in Ludlow, Shropshire. She will be in Stirling until Monday afternoon. If you would like to talk to either of the winners, the judges or the Director of Bloody Scotland Bob McDevitt please contact fiona@brownleedonald.com 07767 431846.

ADDENDUM

Immediately after being presented the McIlvanney Prize 2019 by David Baldacci, Manda Scott announced that she wished to share the prize equally with all finalists - Doug Johnstone, Denise Mina and Ambrose Parry (Chris Brookmyre & Marisa Haetzman.

She invited them all to join her on stage on this day of climate protest and said 'This is the proudest moment of my life. We need to change if we're going to get through this moment of climate and ecological crisis and we need to change the way we do things - this starts with abandoning rivalry. We need to cooperate. We need to share. I would like this to be a grain of sand in a tide that sweeps us to a new way of being.

Manda and the other winners went on to lead the torchlight procession with David Baldacci.

Books to Look Forward to from Cannongate

January 2019

Bodies are piling up with grisly messages carved into their chests. Rival gangs are competing for control of Glasgow's underworld and it seems that Cooper, McCoy's oldest  gangster friend, is caught up in it all. Detective Harry McCoy's first day back at work couldn't have gone worse. New drugs have arrived in Glasgow, and they've brought a different kind of violence to the broken city. The law of the street is changing and now demons from McCoy's past are coming back to haunt him. But vengeance always carries a price, and it could cost McCoy more than he ever imagined. The waters of Glasgow corruption are creeping higher, as the wealthy and dangerous play for power. And the city's killer continues his dark mission. Can McCoy keep his head up for long enough to solve the case? Bruised and battered from the events of Bloody January, McCoy returns for a breathless ride through the ruthless world of 1970s Glasgow.  February’s Son is by Alan Parks.

April 2019

Things in Jars is by Jess Kidd. London, 1863. Bridie Devine, the finest female detective of her age, is taking on her toughest case yet. Reeling from her last job and with her reputation in tatters, a remarkable puzzle has come her way. Christabel Berwick has been kidnapped. But Christabel is no ordinary child. She is not supposed to exist. As Bridie fights to recover the stolen child she enters a world of fanatical anatomists, crooked surgeons and mercenary showmen. Anomalies are in fashion, curiosities are the thing, and fortunes are won and lost in the name of entertainment. The public love a spectacle and Christabel may well prove the most remarkable spectacle London has ever seen. Things in Jars is an enchanting Victorian detective novel that explores what it is to be human in inhumane times.

June 2019

The Way of all Flesh is by Ambrose Parry.  The only difference between a medicine and a poison is the dosage.  Edinburgh, 1847. City of Medicine, Money, Murder.  In the city's Old Town a number of young women have been found dead, all having suffered similarly gruesome ends. Across the city in the New Town, medical student Will Raven is about to start his apprenticeship with the brilliant and renowned Dr Simpson. Simpson's patients range from the richest to the poorest of this divided city. His house is like no other, full of visiting luminaries and daring experiments in the new medical frontier of anaesthesia.  It is here that Raven meets housemaid Sarah Fisher, who recognises trouble when she sees it and takes an immediate dislike to him. She has all of Raven's intelligence but none of his privileges, in particular his medical education.  With each having their own motive to look deeper into the city's spate of suspicious deaths, Raven and Sarah find themselves propelled headlong into the darkest shadows of Edinburgh's underworld, where they will have to overcome their differences if they are to make it out alive.