Showing posts with label David Goodman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label David Goodman. Show all posts

Wednesday, 1 July 2026

2026 McIlvanney Prize Longlist

 

Bloody Scotland today reveals the longlist for the 2026 McIlvanney Prize which will be judged by author and broadcaster, Sally Magnusson, radio and podcast presenter, Nicola Meighan and crime blogger, Gordon McGhie.

The 2026 longlist includes last year’s winner, Tariq Ashkanani and last year’s debut winner David Goodman. It also includes two other former McIlvanney Prize winners, Chris Brookmyre and Callum McSorley and FOUR of the five women crime writers who have been shortlisted for the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize 2026:

The Hollow Boys by Tariq Ashkanani (Viper)

138 Main Street by Gavin Bell (S&S)

Quite Ugly One Evening by Chris Brookmyre (Abacus)

A Bab, Bad, Place by Frances Crawford (Bantam)

Unknown by Heather Critchlow (Canelo Crime)

Solitary Agents by David Goodman (Headline)

We Know What We Did by Kirsty Lockwood (Orion)

Rat Race by Callum McSorley (Pushkin Vertigo)

The Diaries of Lies by Philip Miller (Polygon)

The Pinnacle by Abir Mukherjee (Harvill)

The Vanishing Place by Zoe Rankin (Viper)

Liar Thief by May Rinaldi (Black Spring Crime)

The list features eight authors who have been or are currently shortlisted for the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize, indicative of the important role the Debut Prize plays in developing the careers of new Scottish writers. The longlist is rounded out by Abir Mukherjee, winner of last year’s British Book Awards Crime Thriller of the Year, the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year and shortlisted for the 2026 CWA Dagger in the Library; Heather Critchlow on the list for the second year in a row; Gavin Bell writing under his own name having previously been longlisted as Mason Cross and Philip Miller who previously won a major crime writing award in the US but has never appeared on the McIlvanney longlist.

Festival Director Bob McDevitt said:

I’ve been hugely enjoying reading my way through the books that were submitted for the prizes this year and I’m excited to see that some of my favourites have made the longlist. It’s also great to see smaller independent publishers holding their own against the big guns of London.

The McIlvanney longlist and the Bloody Scotland shortlist will be promoted in bookshops throughout Scotland in the period between the announcement and the presentation on Friday 18 September. The winner will be announced in the Church of the Holy Rude on the opening night of the Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival and interviewed on stage by BBC presenter, Bryan Burnett. They will then lead a procession to the Albert Halls alongside guest programmer, Denise Mina.

Kirsty Nicholson, Marketing Director at Glencairn – sponsors of The McIlvanney Prize with the Glencairn Glass, the official glass for whisky, said:

It’s fantastic to see four of the five women shortlisted for the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize also recognised on this year’s McIlvanney Prize longlist alongside some of the biggest names in crime fiction. Congratulations to all the authors who have made the longlist – it’s a tremendous achievement and we look forward to celebrating this year’s winner.


Sunday, 23 November 2025

Forthcoming books from Headline Publishing

 January 2026

Kate stretches her legs and turns on the TV while James washes away the traces of their morning. She watches in horror at the unfolding news: the hotel they are staying in has been taken under siege. She should be making her way home, working on appearing normal, getting ready to re-enter family life with her loving husband Vic and their two adored children. Instead, she is trapped somewhere she shouldn't be, with a man she definitely doesn't love. How will she begin to tell Vic what she is doing here? If her body is found, will it give up the secret of what she's been up to? She's been so careful hiding the evidence of her affair: write nothing down, leave no trace. Will he begin to understand why? For now, Kate can only hide, take a deep breath, and reflect on the series of choices she's made that have brought her to this moment. What will her marriage and her life look like, if she makes it out? Room 706 is by Ellie Levenson

Anatomy of an Alibi is by Ashley Elston. Everyone at Chantilly's Bar noticed out-of-towner Camille Bayliss. Red lips, designer heels, sipping a Negroni. But that woman wasn't Camille Bayliss. It was Aubrey Price. Camille Bayliss appears to have the picture-perfect life; she's married to hotshot lawyer Ben and is the daughter of a wealthy Louisiana family. Only nothing is as it seems: Camille believes Ben has been hiding dirty secrets for years, but she can't find proof because he tracks her every move. Aubrey Price has been haunted by the terrible night that changed her life a decade ago, and she's convinced Benjamin Bayliss knows something about it. Living in a house full of criminals, Aubrey understands there's more than one way to get to the truth - and she may have found the best way in. Aubrey and Camille hatch a plan. It sounds simple: For twelve hours, Aubrey will take Camille's place. Camille will spy on Ben, and the two women will get the answers they desperately seek. Except the next morning, Ben is found murdered. Both women need an airtight alibi, but only one of them has it. And one false step is all it takes for everything to come undone.

The Nowhere Girls is by Carmel Harrington. On a cold afternoon in December 1995, two young girls are found abandoned on a platform at Pearse Station in Dublin. Thirty years later, investigative journalist Vega is determined to find out what happened to the so-called 'Nowhere Girls'. Where did their mother go? Why did no one come forward to claim them? And where are they now? Searching for answers takes her on a journey with twists she never could have imagined. And one that could put everything else she knows at risk; including her new relationship, her career, and her life as she knows it. 


February 2026

Two teenage girls. One murdered classmate. And a modern-day witch trial that will divide the nation. When 18-year-old Christian Shaw is found dead in an Edinburgh park, the city reels - and the shock only deepens when police charge her best friends, Eliza Lawson and Isobel Smyth, with her murder.  As social media explodes and headlines scream for justice, rumours of bullying spiral into something darker: whispers of rituals, obsession, and a teenage pact gone wrong. Matthew Phillips, a respected heart surgeon, is reluctantly called for jury duty on the case. But as the trial unfolds - and the girls reveal a chilling defence no one saw coming - he begins to question everything: the motives, the evidence, even his own judgement. Who's telling the truth? Who can be trusted?  And what really happened to Christian Shaw? Let the Witch Trial begin . . Witch Trial is by Harriet Tyce.

The Other Child is by Amy Carver. You'd know your son anywhere . . . wouldn't you? Louise has never felt the deep bond with her son, Alfie, that other mothers talk about. Now three, Alfie is volatile, difficult - and Louise can't help but blame herself. Then he makes a new friend, Jacob, and everything changes. Alfie becomes calmer. Happier. Louise should be thrilled - until she meets Jacob's mother and starts noticing strange coincidences: the same hospital, same birth date. . . and Jacob looks eerily like Louise's husband. As doubt spirals into obsession, Louise's suspicions deepen. With Jacob, she feels a bond she's never had with Alfie - an unsettling, impossible connection. And soon, she's forced to confront the unthinkable: What if her child isn't really hers?

March 2026

Whidbey is by T Kira Madden. You want to know who did it, but that was never the question. Or, it was never the right one. Birdie Chang doesn't know much about Whidbey Island, only that it is far. On the ferry, she has an unnerving encounter with a stranger, where she finds herself telling him everything: how she was sexually abused as a child, how the perpetrator now walks free, how the calls and emails from him haven't stopped and she is on the run; how she wants to kill him. The stranger poses a shocking question - if she agrees, he will murder the man who hurt her, with no strings attached. She gives him a name. On the other side of the country, Mary-Beth receives a phone call from the police: her only son has been murdered. What follows is a complex story of three women connected through one man: Birdie, a woman on the run from her past and her abuser; Mary-Beth, the abuser's loving mother; and Linzie, a former reality star turned bestselling memoirist, and another victim of the same man. Whidbey is a gripping whodunnit and a searingly perceptive and astonishingly original novel that asks the crucial question of who has real power over a story: the one who lives it, or the one who tells it? Women are rarely in receipt of what they are owed.

When MJ Hudson, an old work acquaintance, shows up at Dr Kez Lanyon's house in the middle of the night, Kez knows she has no choice but to help. At the prestigious boarding school that MJ's daughter attends, a teacher has been killed and a pupil is missing. And it seems that the same thing happens every few years. Only this time, the school haven't been able to cover things up and MJ's daughter and her group of nice, quiet friends are right at the heart of the scandal. Undercover as the new school therapist, Kez quickly realises there are some seriously powerful, well-connected forces at play. And by continuing to investigate the mystery, perhaps even stepping outside the law to do so, Kez risks putting her own family in serious danger. Because no one wants their secrets aired. And some will go to any length to keep them buried. The Quiet Girls is by Dorothy Koomson.

Romania, 1989: a grey place of mysterious queues, ubiquitous informers and daily news flashes about a man-eating bear that is terrorising the country. Amidst the daily drudge of work, rationing and careful conversation with neighbours, two lives unexpectedly collide when an idealistic police detective, Constantin, is tasked with solving a string of grisly murders, and a rebellious school child, Lia, is unwittingly drawn into her elderly neighbour's seditious plot. Astronaut is by Oana Aristide 

April 2026

Welcome to the Family is by Kate Gray. Holiday with your in-laws can be murder . . . Rosie Riley is nervously excited about meeting the Fraser family. She's head-over-heels for her boyfriend Theo and she hopes that spending a fortnight with the Frasers at their luxury Tuscan villa is a good sign of where their relationship is headed. Fenna Fraser has been part of the family for years. She's always enjoyed the glam annual holiday, but this year she's especially tired with a new baby in tow and she fears her mother-in-law will be more critical than ever. No one is good enough for her sons. It starts as the perfect family holiday. It ends with one of these women arrested for murder. Who is guilty? Who is the victim? And did they deserve it? . . .


When murder strikes at Bathory College's 25-year reunion, the clues to the killing can be found a quarter of a century ago on Graduation Day 2000. As the secrets, tragedies and betrayals from twenty-five years before played out at the reunion, someone from the Class of 2000 was taught a deadly lesson. Twelve witnesses - or are they suspects? - from the Bathory students and staff recount events in the years 2000 and 2025 while the murder trial unfolds before us. But who is the victim? Who is accused of being the killer? And is the right person even on trial? The truth will be uncovered... but only by degrees. A Degree of Truth is by Maz Evans.

The Perfect Accident is by Tess Stimson Could you sacrifice one life to save many? What if that life was your son's?  This year, for the first time, the high school prom will be held on a luxurious cruiser on the lake. Sisters Amy and Iris are excited to be chaperones at the event, seeing their sons all dressed up. It's a proud moment. But, tonight, the boat will sink. And as darkness falls, secrets unravel and the air starts to run out, one of the sisters will be forced to make a split-second decision - to save her own son and let her nephew and twenty-one other teenagers drown. And then, a year later, one of the teenagers will wake up from her coma, ready to tell everyone what really happened at the bottom of the lake. And someone needs to keep her quiet - for good. A pulse-pounding novel of small-town secrets, lies and betrayal - with a twist you won't see coming. 

The Writer and the Traitor: Graham Greene, Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal is by Robert Verkaik. The friendship between Graham Greene and Kim Philby is one of the most mysterious of the twentieth century. Greene, the internationally lauded novelist who wrestled with the themes of faith and betrayal in his work. Philby, the British intelligence-officer-turned-spy for the Soviets, and one of the most reviled men of his era. The two men met as young MI6 officers in war-torn London, working together to defeat the Nazis. But after Greene suddenly resigned just days before D-Day, questions started to arise. He turned back to literature, using his experience in the intelligence services as a backdrop for his novel Our Man in Havana and the screenplay of The Third Man. Lurking within the pages lay suspicions of his friend, with characters and plots echoing Philby's life. Was Philby the real 'third man'? Did Greene's work contain coded messages and warnings of betrayal to M16?

May 2026

As the youngest of three sisters, Charity Wills is used to getting what she wants. When she was a teenager, she fell in love with the dashing bad boy next door and married him. If she wants something beautiful and expensive in a shop, she discreetly puts it in her bag - the Old Bill be damned. If she has enemies that need seeing to, her father-in-law can pull some strings to make the problem go away. So when Charity finds herself suddenly on her own - her beloved Little Danny in prison and no sign of a much-wanted pregnancy on the way - she is at a loss. She wants to start pulling her weight in her influential crime family. But as she works to pull off a plan that will fly under the radar of the law, an old enemy of the Wills family grows ever nearer, determined that Charity will not have her happily ever after . .  Charity is by Linda Calvey

Serpent's Tongue is by Barbara Nadel. As the youngest of three sisters, Charity Wills is used to getting what she wants. When she was a teenager, she fell in love with the dashing bad boy next door and married him. If she wants something beautiful and expensive in a shop, she discreetly puts it in her bag - the Old Bill be damned. If she has enemies that need seeing to, her father-in-law can pull some strings to make the problem go away. So when Charity finds herself suddenly on her own - her beloved Little Danny in prison and no sign of a much-wanted pregnancy on the way - she is at a loss. She wants to start pulling her weight in her influential crime family. But as she works to pull off a plan that will fly under the radar of the law, an old enemy of the Wills family grows ever nearer, determined that Charity will not have her happily ever after . . 

June

The Midnight Guests is by Alex Hay. 1923. Diana Gold, owner and impresario, throws open the doors to the most opulent new hotel in London. As the champagne flows and the chandeliers shimmer, millionaires and gamblers rub shoulders with film stars and royalty. Everyone who's anyone is here. Everyone, that is, except two guests due at midnight. Powerful and dangerous, they've dragged Diana from the gutter and taught her all she knows. Her fate rests in their hands. If everything goes right, a whole new life awaits. One mistake will cost her everything. For this is much more than a hotel - it's the heart of Diana's intricate masterplan. Over twenty-four fateful hours, her guests will learn why they're really here. And Diana will take perfect care of them - unless they take care of her first. But when a body is found in the depths of the hotel, Diana's lavish opening night suddenly spirals out of control. . .

Every traitor was once trusted. Jamie Tulloch and Sam Li never intended to be spies. Jamie, a former exec at a tech company, found himself caught up in a mission and discovered a taste for the secret world while Sam, a burnt-out corporate lawyer, was unexpectedly talent spotted by MI5. When both are plunged into covert training, they find themselves pitted against each other for their final evaluation - Exercise Red Poacher. Every year, MI6 trainees must evade capture, infiltrate sensitive sites and report back with the right intel, while their peers at MI5 try to stop them. But things take a sinister turn when they witness the apparent murder of one of their fellow recruits. Is it all part of the exercise? Or is someone trying to weaponise this game of spies into something far more deadly? Solitary Agents is by David Goodman.



Saturday, 13 September 2025

Bloody Scotland McIlvanney Winners announced

 


Bloody Scotland International Crime Festival kicked off wth the prize announements; A Day of The Dead parade led by an Effigy of Sir Ian Rankin and the big reveal of the mystery crime writer. 

The winner of the McIlvanney Prize was revealed – in the ballroom with a giant crystal glass –  to be Tariq Ashkanani with The Midnight King.  It was presented to him on stage on the opening night of the Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival by the winner of the 2024 McIlvanney Prize, Chris Brookmyre. Tariq, a solicitor from Edinburgh, appeared as a support act for Ian Rankin in Crime in the Spotlight at the 2021 festival and went on to win the Bloody Debut Prize in 2022. The McIlvanney Prize win brings the process of nurturing authors at Bloody Scotland full circle.

The judges who included broadcaster, Nicola Meighan, journalist and writer Arusa Qureshi and crime reviewer Gordon McGhie said

Tariq Ashkanani manages to create an atmosphere of dread while uniquely exploring the theme of nature vs nurture...When we speak about thrillers being page turners (this) should be used an example of how it should be done

The winner of the 2025 Bloody Scotland Debut Prize was revealed to be David Goodman with A Reluctant Spy (Headline). Like Tariq he was previously selected for Crime in the Spotlight. He appeared as a support act for thriller writer Frank Gardner at Bloody Scotland last year. This year it is he who takes centre stage.  He also won the inaugural Theakston Old Peculier McDermid Debut Award in July. He lives in East Lothian with his family. 

The 2025 prize was judged by crime writer and Bloody Scotland founder, Alex Gray; broadcaster Bryan Burnett and Kenny Tweeddale from The Glencairn Glass. They said:

Everything about this feels authentic. In fact, the only thing that’s not believable is that this could be a debut novel.'

Kirsty Nicholson, Design and Marketing Manager at the awards sponsor Glencairn Crystal, said

A huge congratulations to Tariq Ashkanani on winning the McIlvanney Prize with his page-turning thriller The Midnight King, and to David Goodman on receiving the Debut Prize for his gripping first novel A Reluctant Spy.  Being a Scottish family company, we are proud to sponsor these distinguished annual awards with the Glencairn Glass, the official glass for whisky - both of which are deeply rooted in Scotland. It is an honour to help celebrate and shine a spotlight on such exceptional authors in the wonderful world of crime fiction.

The prize giving was followed by the inaugural Bloody Scotland Day of the Deid procession with actors and local pipeband in full make up led by the two winners and an effigy of Sir Ian Rankin. It concluded at the Albert Halls where the ‘mystery authors’ behind Evelyn Clarke’s, The Ending Writes Itself, (HQ, 7 April 2026) were finally revealed to be #1 Sunday Times bestselling author, V.E. Schwaband longtime friend and screenwriter Cat Clarke. V.E. Schwab is best known for The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and Bury Our Bones. HarperCollins acquired rights in a nine publisher auction and will be publishing simultaneously in the US and Australia.

Highlights on Saturday included Mick Herron (author behind TV series Slow Horses), broadcasters Steph McGovern, Jeremy Vine and The Reverend Richard Coles, bestselling writer Kate Atkinson, actor Richard Armitage and superstar of American crime fiction Kathy Reichs. The day concluded with a Bloody Scotland take on Crime Family Fortunes and the sold-out Karaoke at the Coo where famous authors took to the mic.


Friday, 18 July 2025

Theakston's Awards Announced

 


Topical thrillers triumph at Theakston awards as Abir Mukherjee’s Hunted wins

Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2025



Festival Dates: 17 – 20 July 2025  

www.harrogateinternationalfestivals.com

#TheakstonsAwards #TheakstonsCrime 

Thursday 17 July 2025: Hunted by Abir Mukherjee has been announced as the winner of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2025, the UK and Ireland’s most prestigious crime fiction award, presented by Harrogate International Festivals at a special ceremony on the opening night of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival.

Hunted is a “riveting” topical thriller set in London and the US in the final week of a toxic presidential campaign, as two devastated parents find themselves in a race against time – and the FBI - to track down their children who are suspected of terrorist atrocities. Exploring themes of radicalisation, prejudice and racism, the judges described Hunted as “a thought-provoking, intriguingly taut, propulsive and highly original thriller.”

Selected for the Festival’s celebrated ‘New Blood’ panel supporting fresh talent in 2016, Abir Mukherjee’s crime novels include the bestselling Wyndham & Banerjee series set in 1920s India. He grew up in Scotland and now lives in Surrey. 

Abir Mukerjee receives a £3,000 prize, as well as an engraved beer cask handcrafted by one of Britain’s last coopers from Theakston’s Brewery.

On winning the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, Abir Mukherjee said: 

It's such an honour to win the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. ‘Hunted’ was a tough book to write – it took me four years - and it's such a privilege that the judges and the readers have taken it to their hearts. It means so much to me. I've been coming to the Festival for 10 years and I didn't think it could ever get any better - but it just has!

Hunted was selected by a judging panel made up of journalists, broadcasters and representatives from the Award’s sponsors, with the public vote counting as the eighth judge, from an incredibly strong shortlist which also included The Cracked Mirror by Chris Brookmyre, The Mercy Chair by M.W. Craven, The Last Word by Elly Griffiths, Deadly Animals by Marie Tierney and All the Colours of the Dark by Chris Whitaker. 


The McDermid Debut Award, named in recognition of world-famous crime writer Val McDermid, was won by David Goodman for A Reluctant Spy, it was also announced. 

A Reluctant Spy is a high-concept spy thriller about a tech executive who agrees to lend his identity to an elite intelligence agency in return for a helping hand through life, but gets far more than he bargained for when he finds himself in hostile territory having to do the job of a trained espionage operative to avoid a global conflict. David Goodman is a writer of espionage and speculative fiction who lives in East Lothian, Scotland. 

David Goodman receives a £500 cash prize. The award was presented by Chair of Judges, Val McDermid, and Simon Theakston, Chairman of T&R Theakston.

Val McDermid, Chair of Judges, said:

If you think you've read every twist in every area of the genre, think again. Our winner has found a new take and delivers it with pace and propulsive storytelling. David Goodman's ‘A Reluctant Spy’ is a sparkling new entry in the canon, with a vivid and unfamiliar setting as well as a gripping cast of characters. Don't start it last thing at night or you might miss breakfast!” 

On winning the McDermid Debut Award, David Goodman said: 

It’s an incredible honour to win the McDermid Debut Award. I wrote a speech because I worried about forgetting to thank people and I never thought in a million years I'd actually get to say it out loud. It's an amazing feeling!” 

Bestselling novelist Elly Griffiths received the Theakston Old Peculier Outstanding Contribution Award in recognition of her remarkable crime fiction writing career and “unwavering commitment to the genre.” 

Elly Griffiths is the author of the Dr Ruth Galloway Mysteries; the Brighton Mysteries, the Detective Harbinder Kaur series and an exhilarating new series featuring time-travelling detective Ali Dawson. Griffiths, who has been shortlisted an impressive seven times for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, including this year, was highly commended in 2023 for The Locked Room and served as Festival Programming Chair in 2017. 

Elly Griffiths said: ‘It means the world to me to receive this award. Sixteen years ago, when I wrote my first crime novel, I received such a warm welcome from the Theakston's Old Peculiar Crime Writing Festival and from other, more established, authors. Now, 32 books later, I’m thrilled to be honoured in this way and humbled to join the ranks of previous winners. I hope to continue the tradition of welcoming new writers and giving back to the crime-writing community.'

Griffiths is the latest in a line of acclaimed authors to have received the coveted award, with previous winners including Sir Ian Rankin, Lynda La Plante, James Patterson, John Grisham, Lee Child, Val McDermid, P.D. James, Michael Connelly and last year’s recipient, Martina Cole.

2025 AWARD WINNERS: 

WINNER of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2025: Hunted by Abir Mukherjee (Vintage; Harvill Secker)  

WINNER of the McDermid Debut Award: A Reluctant Spy by David Goodman (Headline)  

Theakston Old Peculier Outstanding Contribution Award: Elly Griffiths (Quercus)

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

It is fantastic to have two highly original thrillers winning top honours at the Theakston Old Peculier Awards tonight. Our Novel of the Year winner, ‘Hunted’ by Abir Mukherjee is a high-octane masterpiece with a rollercoaster plot that will stay with me for a long time, while the McDermid Debut Award winner ‘A Reluctant Spy’ by David Goodman is an engrossing and highly entertaining novel that had me hooked right from the start. We are delighted that Elly Griffiths has been awarded the Theakston Old Peculier Outstanding Contribution award in recognition of her exceptional contribution to crime fiction and unwavering commitment to the genre over a remarkable career.” 

The award winners were revealed at the Old Swan Hotel in Harrogate, during the opening ceremony for the world’s largest and most prestigious celebration of crime writing, Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival (17-20 July), which this year features a stellar line up of bestselling authors and fan favourites including Lee and Andrew Child, Irvine Welsh, Attica Locke, Kate Atkinson, Paula Hawkins, Kate Mosse, Steph McGovern, Val McDermid and Mark Billingham.

The Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2025 is presented by Harrogate International Festivals and sponsored by T&R Theakston Ltd, in partnership with Waterstones, and is open to full-length crime novels published in paperback between 1 May 2024 and 30 April 2025. The winner receives £3,000 and a handmade, engraved beer barrel provided by T&R Theakston Ltd.  

Tuesday, 17 June 2025

Macavity Award Nominations 2025 

 

The Macavity Award nominations are for (for works published in 2024)

The Macavity Award is named after Macavity: The Mystery Cat, in T.S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats! 

The Macavity Awards are nominated and voted on by members of Mystery Readers International, subscribers to Mystery Readers Journal, and friends of MRI. 


Best Mystery Novel

Hall of Mirrors by John Copenhaver (Pegasus Crime)

Served Cold by James L’Etoile (Level Best Books)

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore (Riverhead)

California Bear by Duane Swierczynski (Mulholland)

The In Crowd by Charlotte Vassell (Doubleday)

All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker (Crown)


Best First Mystery

Outraged by Brian Copeland (Dutton)

A Reluctant Spy by David Goodman (Headline)

Ghosts of Waikiki by Jennifer K. Morita (Crooked Lane)

You Know What You Did by K.T. Nguyen (Dutton)

The Expat by Hansen Shi (Pegasus Crime)

Holy City by Henry Wise (Atlantic Monthly Press)


Best Mystery Short Story

Home Game” by Craig Faustus Buck (in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, July/August 2024)

“The Postman Always Flirts Twice” by Barb Goffman (in Agatha and Derringer Get Cozy)

Curse of the Super Taster” by Leslie Karst (in Black Cat Weekly, Feb 23, 2024)

Two for One” by Art Taylor (in Murder, Neat)

Satan’s Spit” by Gabriel Valjan (in Tales of Music, Murder, and Mayhem)

Reynisfjara” by Kristopher Zgorski (in Mystery Most International)


Best Historical Mystery

The Wharton Plot by Mariah Fredericks (Minotaur)

An Art Lover’s Guide to Paris and Murder by Dianne Freeman (Kensington)

Fog City by Claire Johnson (Level Best Books)

The Murder of Mr. Ma by John Shen Yen Nee and S.J. Rozan (Soho Crime)

The Bootlegger’s Daughter by Nadine Nettmann (Lake Union)

A Grave Robbery by Deanna Raybourn (Berkley)


Best Nonfiction/Critical

Writing the Cozy Mystery: Authors’ Perspectives on Their Craft edited by Phyllis M. Betz (McFarland)

Some of My Best Friends Are Murderers: Critiquing the Columbo Killers by Chris Chan (Level Best Books)

Witch of New York: The Trials of Polly Bodine and the Cursed Birth of Tabloid Justice by Alex Hortis (Pegasus Crime)

The Infernal Machine: A True Story of Dynamite, Terror, and the Rise of the Modern Detective by Steven Johnson  (Crown)

On Edge: Gender and Genre in the Work of Shirley Jackson, Patricia Highsmith, and Leigh Brackett by Ashley Lawson  (Ohio State University Press)

Abingdon’s Boardinghouse Murder by Greg Lilly (History Press)

Congratulations to all!


Thursday, 5 June 2025

Shortlist for Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year and McDermid Debut Novel announced


SHORTLISTS FOR THEAKSTON OLD PECULIER CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR 2025 AND McDERMID DEBUT AWARD REVEALED

Celebrating the very best in crime fiction from new discoveries and superstars of the genre 

Festival Dates: 17 – 20 July 2025

www.harrogatetheakstoncrimeaward.com

#TheakstonsAwards #TheakstonsCrime

Thursday 5 June 2025: Harrogate International Festivals has announced the shortlists for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2025, the UK and Ireland’s most prestigious crime fiction award, and the McDermid Debut Award for new writers. The winners of both awards will be revealed on the opening night of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, Thursday 17 July.  

The six books shortlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2025, now in its twenty-first year, showcase outstanding storytelling, with some of the most innovative and exciting writers in the UK, Chris Brookmyre, M.W. Craven, Elly Griffiths, Abir Mukherjee, Marie Tierney and Chris Whitaker, competing 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.   

Stunning debut novel Deadly Animals by rising starcMarie Tierney, a thriller centred on a roadkill obsessed teenager’s daring quest to unravel the truth behind the string of chilling deaths plaguing her Birmingham community, which won the inaugural McDermid Debut Award in 2024, is shortlisted alongside books by five highly established writers.

Three former winners are in contention for the award, including 2017 champion Chris Brookmyre who is nominated for his innovative thriller, The Cracked Mirror, which sees a hard-bitten homicide detective and an old lady who has solved multiple murders in her sleepy village crack an impossible case. 2021 winner Chris Whitaker is shortlisted for All the Colours of the Dark, a million-copy US-set bestseller exploring the aftermath of a childhood kidnapping that reverberates through the generations, alongside 2023 champion M.W. Craven, nominated for The Mercy Chair, the mesmerising sixth book in the bestselling Washington Poe series, set in Cumbria, where Poe and Tilly face brutal killings that push them to the edges of justice and morality.

Highly commended in 2023, Elly Griffiths receives an impressive seventh shortlisting for The Last Word, a twisty cosy crime murder mystery set at a sinister writers' retreat where two amateur sleuths join forces with detective Harbinder Kaur to investigate the suspicious death of an author. An alumni of the Festival’s celebrated ‘New Blood’ panel supporting fresh talent, Abir Mukherjee is shortlisted for Hunted, a race-against-the-clock thriller about two parents desperately tracking down their children who are suspected of terrorist atrocities.

The full Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2025 Shortlist (in alphabetical order by surname) is: 


    The Cracked Mirror by Chris Brookmyre (Little, Brown Book Group, Abacus) 

    The Mercy Chair by M.W. Craven (Little, Brown Book Group, Constable) 

    The Last Word by Elly Griffiths (Quercus Books, Quercus Fiction) 

    Hunted by Abir Mukherjee (Vintage; Harvill Secker) 

    Deadly Animals by Marie Tierney (Bonnier Books, Zaffre) 

    All the Colours of the Dark by Chris Whitaker (Orion, Orion Fiction) 

Commenting on the shortlist for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2025, Simon Theakston, Chairman of T&R Theakston, said: 

Congratulations to all of the highly talented writers shortlisted for this year’s Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. The six thrilling, chilling and hugely entertaining novels on our shortlist highlight the exceptional depth and range of British crime fiction and offer something for every crime fiction fan. We urge readers to get involved and vote for their favourite novels to win the Award - and the iconic beer cask trophy - so have your say today!” 

The shortlist for the McDermid Debut Award, named in recognition of world-famous crime writer Val McDermid, now in its second year, showcases six ‘exciting fresh voices,’ with race, class, the abuse of power and lived experience of disability amongst the topical themes explored across a range of subgenres including psychological thrillers, contemporary country house mysteries, detective fiction and spy thrillers. The award has quickly established a successful track record for discovering emerging talent as inaugural winner, Deadly Animals by Marie Tierney, has been shortlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2025

Acclaimed broadcaster Louise Minchin is shortlisted for Agatha Christie inspired crime novel Isolation Island, set on a remote Scottish island where ten strangers take part in a gruelling reality TV show which turns deadly once a body is discovered. Another shortlisted novel with a Christie-inspired setting is I Died At Fallow Hall by Bonnie Burke-Patel, a contemporary country house mystery exploring identity, family, race and gender, as dark secrets from the past are unravelled after a young woman’s body is found in a flower bed. 

Featuring an unforgettable female protagonist, Nilesha Chauvet’s post-Me Too thriller Her Two Lives, about a woman who runs a care home by day and hunts down the men who prey on young girls by night, is written with deep psychological insight. Sick to Death by former NHS nurse, Chris Bridges explores the marginalised perspective of a disabled woman who, fed up of being underestimated, becomes a force to be reckoned with when she targets the person standing in the way of her dreams.

Smashing outmoded stereotypes is also a central theme of Sean Watkin’s thriller Black Water Rising, featuring a gay detective out to prove he’s more than just a diversity hire by finding a killer on the loose in Liverpool. Completing the shortlist is A Reluctant Spy by Scottish writer David Goodman, a topical story of mercenaries, greed and corruption about a tech executive forced to act as a trained espionage operative in order to avert a global conflict.

Honouring internationally bestselling crime writer, Val McDermid, who helped to co-found the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in 2003 and whose dedication to fostering new voices in crime fiction is legendary, this new Award seeks to continue her legacy, celebrating and platforming the best debut crime writers in the UK. The shortlist was selected by a panel of established crime and thriller writers and the winner will be decided by a panel of expert judges, without a public vote. All shortlisted authors receive a full weekend pass to the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival and the Winner will receive a £500 cash prize. 

Val McDermid said: 

“If, like me, you love reading, you’re always on the lookout for exciting fresh voices. And you need look no further than this talented selection of debut authors who will thrill, excite and intrigue you. Happy Reading!

The full McDermid Debut Award 2024 shortlist (in alphabetical order by surname) is:  


    Sick to Death by Chris Bridges (Avon, Harper Collins)  

    I Died at Fallow Hall by Bonnie Burke-Patel (No Exit Press, Bedford Square)  

    Her Two Lives by Nilesha Chauvet (Faber & Faber)  

    A Reluctant Spy by David Goodman (Headline)  

    Isolation Island by Louise Minchin (Headline, Headline Fiction)  

    Black Water Rising by Sean Watkin (Canelo)  

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

“We’re delighted to finally reveal the shortlists for this year’s Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year and the McDermid Debut Award, celebrating new talent. It’s exciting to see such a wide range of sub-genres represented across the shortlists, and timely themes tackled with such originality and insight. We are looking forward to celebrating all of these incredible shortlisted writers and their brilliant books at what promises to be an unmissable awards ceremony on the opening night of the Festival.”

Tuesday, 5 November 2024

The Power of The Outsider

I've always been fascinated by the out-of-place. The marginalised, the unsure, the people faking it 'til they make it, right down to the actual swindlers and imposters and con artists. If writing compelling narrative fiction is about tension, what's more tense than someone being where they believe (or someone else believes, if they knew the truth) that they don't deserve to be?

In my debut novel 'A Reluctant Spy', the protagonist Jamie Tulloch is a perennial fish out of water who turns his unease into a career. At the age of 23, a working class loner adrift at his Cambridge college, he agrees to become a Legend, part of a secret MI6 programme to recruit individuals willing to act as living cover stories. Sign up and you'll get a secret helping hand through life - access, job offers, nudges in the right direction. But at some point, you'll need to step out of your life for a few weeks while a lookalike agent uses your identity as bulletproof cover. Except, of course, something goes wrong and Jamie finds himself on a mission he's not trained, ready or even very willing to take on.

While I don't precisely share Jamie's life history (my upbringing was a whole lot less tough than his, and I very definitely didn't go to Cambridge), we do share a common experience of navigating social contexts, workplaces, relationships and friendships that crossed boundaries and left us feeling out of place. I was in my university's Officer Training Corps for three years and got partway through the process of applying to Sandhurst, which was my first serious brush with people from a dramatically different background. After that, I was lucky enough to get into a graduate scheme and move to London, where I brought a regional accent and a distinct feeling of imposter syndrome to the glossy world of IT consulting. I vividly remember ending up at parties with investment banking trainees and wondering how on earth I'd ended up there.

Unlike Jamie, though, I hadn't made a Faustian pact that dictated my future, so I was free to choose a different path. I returned to Scotland and developed parallel careers in digital design and writing. And as I did, an old fascination returned to me - the world of spies and spying.

When I was studying English Literature at the University of Aberdeen, I wrote my final dissertation on the topic of Paranoia in Modern Spy Fiction, focusing on Graham Greene and John Le Carré. I looked at the isolated, fearful lone spy, without gadgets or guns or even certainty about their mission, conducting morally compromised missions in dangerous, brutal and hostile territories.

That initial fascination with paranoia and fear in spy fiction then spent a couple of decades marinating in a whole slew of different takes on the world of espionage, from the betrayed and amnesiac human weapon of the Bourne books and films to the misfits and misanthropes of the glorious Slough House series by Mick Herron. So when I was in discussions with my agent and editor about my debut novel, I wanted to draw on that continually broadening spy fiction tradition. But what would I bring, personally? The answer seemed obvious - the feeling of being an ordinary person who is pretty sure they're not actually supposed to be where they are.

As I wrote the book, I realised that what I most wanted Jamie to experience was the same thing I had through various jobs, relationships and pursuits - the slowly dawning realisation that I was actually able to take on scary new roles, learn new skills, and that I did deserve to be there. And that far from being the deceitful and sinister infiltration of a Tom Ripley-esque character, the ability to adapt, to learn new social rules and to function in hierarchies and contexts you weren't born into is a serious life skill and advantage.

In the book, Jamie uses his chameleonic abilities to deal with rogue Russian mercenaries, CIA operatives, arms dealers and many more mysterious characters swirling around his target, Arkady Bocharov, while proving to himself that he might just have what it takes to be an effective covert agent. And in writing this book, I got to indulge that crucial question - what would would my price be to become a 'living cover story' like Jamie? And what would I do if I found myself in the same situation, thrown into the middle of an active mission?

My hope is readers will ask themselves the same questions. And I also hope they'll grow to love the often haplessly foolhardy Jamie Tulloch and the other members of the Legends Programme trying desperately to keep him alive.

A Reluctant Spy by David Goodman (Headline) Out Now

Jamie Tulloch is a successful exec at a top tech company, a long way from the tough upbringing that drove him to rise so far and so quickly.  But he has a secret...since the age of 23, he's had a helping hand from the Legend Programme, a secret intelligence effort to prepare impenetrable backstories for undercover agents. Real people, living real lives, willing to hand over their identities for a few weeks in return for a helping hand with plum jobs, influence and access. When his tap on the shoulder finally comes, it's swiftly followed by the thud of a body. Arriving at a French airport ready to hand over his identity, Jamie finds his primary contact dead, the agent who's supposed to step into his life AWOL and his options for escape non-existent. Pitched into a deadly mission on hostile territory, Jamie must contend with a rogue Russian general, arms dealers, elite hackers, CIA tac-ops and the discovery of a brewing plan for war. Dangerously out of his depth, he must convince his sceptical mission handler he can do the job of a trained field agent while using his own life story as convincing cover. Can Jamie play himself well enough to avoid being killed - and to avert a lethal global conflict?

More information about the author and his writing can be found on his website. You can also follow him on X @WordsByGoodman and on Instagram @davidgoodmanauthor

Friday, 5 April 2024

Forthcoming books from Headline Publishing

 July 2024

It's the event of the year - the company summer party. Mel can't wait. Sun, sea, cocktails, her sights set on her work crush, and letting her hair down with her colleagues. One big happy family. What could go wrong? But as the Champagne flows and the sun begins to set, cracks in the team start to appear. Secrets, lies, revenge. No one is as innocent as they seem.  But could someone be guilty of murder? Mel soon realises someone is orchestrating a deadly plan. And she needs to uncover the truth if she's going to get out alive . . . The Summer Party is by Kate Gray.


August 2024

Abel Bac, a police officer, has been suspended from duty for unknown reasons. Haunted by a recurring nightmare, he walks the streets of Paris hoping to lose himself in the city, but somehow, he always finds his way home. Solitary by nature, he retreats from the extroversion of his new neighbour Elsa, and his former colleague Camille who is pained by her unrequited love for him. All that gives Abel comfort are the ninety-four orchids which populate his small apartment.  In museums across Paris something strange is happening. A white horse appears in the library of the Pompidou Centre. In a small museum, stuffed wolves are displayed in fine garments drinking tea. The police are baffled and Abel, who is somehow linked to it all, is becoming more and more unnerved.  Soon, the hidden darkness of his life will rise to the surface and lead him to Mila, the mysterious artist at the heart of this enigma. And it is not long before we discover that nothing about these events is coincidental. Artifice is by Claire Berest.

Ruby Johnson is a nanny and maid to wealthy families in Manhattan's West 74th Street. 
She knows their routines. Their secrets. One night, on her way home, Ruby witnesses a neighbour's murder. She knows the victim. She knows the killer. She makes an anonymous call to the police and names the murderer. But Ruby didn't tell the truth... Because there's something wrong with Ruby Johnson. Eddie Flynn, conman turned trial lawyer, must defend an innocent man accused of this terrible crime. As Ruby's deadly game begins, one thing is certain. It won't be the last murder this witness is involved in. Witness 8 is by Steve Cavanagh. 

Buried too Deep is by Karen Rose. Cora-Jane Winslow's father walked out on her family 23 years ago; his letters to her over the years the only connection she has had to him. When his body is discovered in an abandoned building, she is shocked to discover he has been dead all this time. What happened to him and who would cover up his murder by writing the letters? After his post-traumatic stress disorder forced him to run away from his life, Phin Bishop returns to the Burke Broussard Private Detective Agency, only to stumble upon an armed break-in. Cora-Jane is seen running from the building and his colleague Joy has been shot.  When it appears the shooting is related to Cora-Jane's father, the Agency step in to offer protection while they hunt for the perpetrator. Someone knows what really happened to Cora Jane's father and will stop at nothing to prevent their long-buried secrets being discovered . . .

Would you keep a secret for a stranger, if it meant the blood was on your hands? Celia, Juliette and Nadia are complete strangers with one thing in common: they have all been wronged by Ellis Cobain. A wealthy philanthropist on course for a knighthood, Ellis' public persona is bulletproof - but lurking beneath this veneer is a sinister side that only the women closest to him have seen. When they meet at a boutique hotel on the Cornish coast, brought together by the blind arrogance of their tormentor, they realise what connects them and form a pact: to blackmail him and free themselves from his grasp. But when he is discovered the next morning, murdered in cold blood, they are left scrambling. None of them knows who did it, and now they must desperately cover their tracks. Will they keep each other's secrets, now they are all implicated in his death? Will one turn on the others, when any of them could be next? The Last Time I saw Him is by Rachel Abbott.

September 2024

Going to the Dogs is by Pierre Lemaitre. With Mathilde, there is never a stray bullet, her work is clean and neat. Tonight was an exception. A little whim. Obviously, she could have taken the shot from a distance, done less damage; obviously she could have made the hit with a single bullet. What can I say? I don't know what came over me. This is what she will say if anyone asks. And anyway, who cares? All that matters is that the guy is dead, right?  1985. Paris. Sixty-three-year-old Mathilde Perrin is on another mission. A widow, mother and decorated hero of the Resistance, she is also a ruthless and skilled contract killer, and the most unlikely suspect. But tonight, something has changed. Mathilde is agitated, forgetful and impulsive - so much so that even Ludo, her loyal and long-suffering Dalmatian, has noticed a dangerous shift in her mood.  For Mathilde, retirement is not an option. And no superior, nor police detective nor meddling neighbour will stand in her way. But as Mathilde's mind unravels and the bodies pile up, how long will it take before the killer herself becomes the target?

It's a prize anyone would kill to win. Ten celebrities have arrived to take part in the most gruelling - and lucrative - reality survival show ever devised: two weeks completely alone on a remote Scottish island, in the depths of winter.  With a production team that seems incapable of keeping them safe, a gathering storm and the unrelenting gaze of hidden cameras, the contestants are stretched to the limit as they try and outshine their fellow competitors and hide their darkest secrets. But when a contestant winds up dead, it soon becomes clear that the players are not just fighting for the prize, but for their lives. Isolation Island is by Louise Minchin.

Twelve year old Phoebe's world is falling apart. It's the summer of 1985 and she has just buried her parents, a fire at their family home claiming both in a freak accident. Her life is uprooted in an instant, and she takes little solace in the fact that her uncle Louis and aunt Maude have generously offered to take her in at their home in the Welsh woods. Under the summer sun, though, Phoebe falls into the rhythm of life with her eccentric guardians in their curious idyllic home, the hum of her aunt Maude's beehives filling the air. While exploring the surrounding woods, she strikes up a friendship with a strange girl, Gwyneth, but when she mentions this to her aunt she tells Phoebe that there are no children by that name in the village. Over the course of the summer the two girls strike up a strong bond, though nobody else seems to believe that Gwyneth exists. Soon, Phoebe begins to see the woods for what they truly are - a strange place where the line between life and death is blurred, where spirits roam and secrets fester. But has she learned this truth too late to escape it? Broken Ghosts is by J D Oswald.

October 2024

A Reluctant Spy is by David Goodman. Jamie Tulloch is a successful exec at a top tech company, a long way from the tough upbringing that drove him to rise so far and so quickly. But he has a secret...since the age of 23, he's had a helping hand from the Legend Programme, a secret intelligence effort to prepare impenetrable backstories for undercover agents. Real people, living real lives, willing to hand over their identities for a few weeks in return for a helping hand with plum jobs, influence and access. When his tap on the shoulder finally comes, it's swiftly followed by the thud of a body. Arriving at a French airport ready to hand over his identity, Jamie finds his primary contact dead, the agent who's supposed to step into his life AWOL and his options for escape non-existent. Pitched into a deadly mission on hostile territory, Jamie must contend with a rogue Russian general, arms dealers, elite hackers, CIA tac-ops and the discovery of a brewing plan for war. Dangerously out of his depth, he must convince his sceptical mission handler he can do the job of a trained field agent while using his own life story as convincing cover. Can Jamie play himself well enough to avoid being killed - and to avert a lethal global conflict?

Guilty by Martina Cole and Jacqui Rose is due to be published in October.

November 2024


Thirty-one On The Run . . . Stephanie Plum, New Jersey's hardest working, most under-appreciated bounty hunter, returns with a bang in her latest adventure. While Stephanie's personal life is hanging by a thread, a killer case lands on her doorstep that changes everything. 

One of Us is Guilty is by Simon Kernick will be published in November.

It's 1952, and London is victorious but broken, a cityof war ruins and rationing, run by gangsters and black-market spivs. An elaborate midnight heist, the biggest robbery in British history, sends newspapers into afrenzy. Politicians are furious, the police red-faced. They have suspicions but no lead. For two families, it is more than just a sensational headline, as their fathers fail to return home on the day of the robbery. Young Addie Rowe, daughter of a missing Jamaican postman and drunk ex-club hostess mother, struggles to care for her little ssister ina dilapitaed Briston rooming house. Claire Martin increasingly rsentfu of roads not taken, strives to maake the rent and to keep her teenage son Ray from falling under unsavoury influences in Noting Dale. She finds herself caught between the interests of dangerous men who may the truth behind her husband's disappearance: Dave Lander, whose reserved nature she fnds difficult to reconcile with his reputation as a violent gang enforcer, and Teddy 'Mother' Nunn, sociopathic, evangelising outlaw and top lieutenant in Billy Hill's underworld. Drawn together through the years in the city's invisible web of crime and poverty, the fates of the broken families and violent men collide in 1958, as the West Indian community of Notting Hill's slums come under attack from thugs and Teddy Boys. For Addie, Claire, Dave and Mother, old scores will be settled and new dreams chased in the crucible of London's violent summer. White City is by Dominic Nolan.