CrimeFest Awards 2023 - Winners

The winners of the CrimeFest Awards 2023 have been announced. You can find details of all the nominees here.

 

From the Press Release:

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

 

Now in their 16th year, the awards honour the best crime books released in the UK last year.

 

The winner of the highly anticipated Specsavers Debut Crime Novel Award, and £1,000 prize monies, is Stacy Willingham for A Flicker in the Dark published by HarperCollins.

 

A psychological serial killer thriller with a shocking twist, A Flicker in the Dark was an instant New York Times bestseller and Sunday Times Thriller of the Year and is set to be adapted into a major TV series.

 

Dame Mary Perkins, co-founder of Specsavers who sponsors the award, said: “We’re thrilled to support the debut author prize. As one of the judges, I thoroughly enjoyed reading all the shortlisted titles. Stacy Willingham’s debut, however, was a book I simply couldn’t put down until I had finished it.”

 

The eDunnit Award for the best e-book goes to Sara Gran for The Book of the Most Precious Substance, published by Faber & Faber. The absorbing occult thriller combining intrigue, magic and antiquarian bookselling was praised as “deeply atmospheric” by The Guardian.

 

Winner of the H.R.F Keating Award for best biographical or critical book on crime fiction is The Life of Crime: Detecting the History of Mysteries and their Creators by Martin Edwards, published by Collins Crime Club. Edward’s opus on the genre, described by the New York Times as a “impressive feat,” recently won a 2023 Edgar Award.

 

The Last Laugh Award goes posthumously to Christopher Fowler for Bryant & May's Peculiar London published by Doubleday. The author died aged 69 in March this year, having being diagnosed with cancer three years ago. His curious world of the nation’s oldest serving detectives, has been described as “deliriously eccentric” in the Financial Times, and “devilishly clever” by Val McDermid.

 

Best Crime Novel for Children, aged 8-12, goes to Sharna Jackson for The Good Turn published by Puffin. With themes of social activism, the spooky mystery from the former Waterstones Children's Book Prize Category Winner revolves around an internet-loving girl determined to start her own scout troop.

 

Best Crime Novel for Young Adults, aged 12-16, is awarded to Holly Jackson for Five Survive published by Electric Monkey. A gripping cat-and-mouse thriller, it was The Guardian Best Children’s Book of 2022. 

 

The Thalia Proctor Memorial Award for Best Adapted TV Crime Drama goes to Slow Horses (seasons 1 & 2), based on the books by Mick Herron. Produced by See-Saw, shown on Apple TV+, the drama, which follows a dysfunctional and disgraced team of MI5 agents, stars Gary Oldman.

 

The award is named in honour of Thalia, a CrimeFest team member and a much-loved figure in the world of crime fiction, and is decided by public vote.

 

Adrian Muller, Co-host of CRIMEFEST, said: “We are proud to be one of the few genre awards that celebrate e-books, humour, children, and Young Adult novels. Our inclusive awards reflect the values of our convention as accessible and open to all. These awards are a true celebration of the crime genre, which continues to entertain and enlighten so many readers of all ages. We would like to thank Specsavers for their on-going support in celebrating new talent.”

 

Hosted in Bristol, CrimeFest 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. Featured Guests at the convention this May are Mark Billingham and Elly Griffiths.

 

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.

 

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 fans, readers, and commercially published authors.

 

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

 

2023 CrimeFest Award Winners

 

SPECSAVERS DEBUT CRIME NOVEL AWARD

- Stacy Willingham for A Flicker in the Dark (HarperCollins)

 

eDUNNIT AWARD

- Sara Gran for The Book of the Most Precious Substance (Faber & Faber)

 

H.R.F. KEATING AWARD

- Martin Edwards for The Life of Crime: Detecting the History of Mysteries and their Creators (Collins Crime Club)

 

LAST LAUGH AWARD

- Christopher Fowler for Bryant & May's Peculiar London (Doubleday)

 

BEST CRIME FICTION NOVEL FOR CHILDREN

- Sharna Jackson for The Good Turn (Puffin)

 

BEST CRIME FICTION NOVEL FOR YOUNG ADULTS

- Holly Jackson for Five Survive (Electric Monkey)

 

THALIA PROCTOR MEMORIAL AWARD FOR BEST ADAPTED TV CRIME DRAMA

- Slow Horses (seasons 1 & 2), based on the books by Mick Herron. Produced by See-Saw. Shown on Apple TV+.

 

CWA Dagger Awards 2023 - Shortlist for the Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger

The CWA Dagger Shortlists were announced on Friday at CrimeFest. As mentioned before, the most important one to me is the Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger, formerly the International Dagger for which I was a judge over ten years ago now. 

The shortlist is below and you can check out the longlist, and also my extensive but not exhaustive list of eligible titles here.

Winners will be announced on 6 July at the CWA Awards Dinner.

Shortlist:

Morgan Audic - Good Reasons to Die Sam Taylor (France, M, Mountain Leopard Press)

Michel Bussi - The Red Notebook tr. Vineet Lal (France, M, W&N)

Javier Cercas - Even the Darkest Night tr. Anne McLean (Spain, M, MacLehose Press)

Zijin Chen - Bad Kids tr. Michelle Deeter (China, M, Pushkin Vertigo)

Anne Mette Hancock - The Corpse Flower tr. Tara Chace (Denmark, F, Swift Press)

Hervé le Tellier - The Anomaly tr. Adriana Hunter (France, M, Michael Joseph)

Other shortlists can be viewed on the CWA Website by clicking on the individual categories.

Website Updates: May 2023

I've recently updated the main files on the Euro Crime website. "Euro Crime" includes both British and other European crime fiction writers (that have been published in English); non-British/European born crime writers who are strongly associated with British/European crime fiction (eg. Donna Leon), and crime writers in translation from outside of Europe.

My usual reminders regarding the New Releases page: 

1. The main by month/by author pages refer to when a book is published (in English) anywhere in the world however the 'by category ie historical, translated etc' is specific to when it's published in the UK.

2. When a book is released "early" in ebook I am taking the publication date as to be when the print edition comes out (this is the rule we use for determining Petrona Award eligibility).

As always, if you spot something wrong or missing, please do let me know.

Here's a summary of the usual updates:

The Author Websites page lists 1090 sites.

In Bibliographies there are bibliographies for 3026 authors (16298 titles of which 3108 are reviewed**).
**Some reviews will be provided by the Crime Review website. 

I've added new bibliographies for: Shimon Adaf, Leye Adenle, E C Bateman, Katie Bishop, Stella Blómkvist, Frankie Boyle, Colleen Cambridge, Simone Campos, Amanda Cassidy, Zijin Chen, Mahi Cheshire, Richard Coles, Elle Connel, Lucy Connelly, Catherine Cooper, Amy Cronin, Judi Daykin, Concita De Gregorio, Florian Dennisson, Anna Downes, M H Eccleston, Sven Elvestad, Sarah Engell, Pascal Engman, Helen Erichsen, Natalia García Freire, C P Giuliani, Lucy Goacher, Robert Gold, Andrew Goldspink, Anne Mette Hancock, Izzie Harper, Jane Heafield, Hannah Hendy, Kate High, Sam Holland, Victor Jestin, Alan Johnson, Anthony Johnston, Carole Johnstone, Anna Karolina, Scott Kershaw, Kate Khavari, Camilla Lackberg & Henrik Fexeus, Sergei Lebedev, Jo Leevers, John Lincoln, Robert J Lloyd, Natalie Marlow, Laurent Mauvignier, Fernanda Melchor, Robbie Morrison, T Orr Munro, Christie J Newport, L C North, Oriana Ramunno, Petra Rautianen, Antoine Renand, Paula Rodríguez, Joachim B Schmidt, Im Seong-Sun, Alice Slater, Sofia Slater, Cailean Steed, Alison Stockham, Jacqueline Sutherland, Gerwin van der Werf, Kate Webb, M J White, Patrick Worrall, Glenda Young and Zhang Yueran.

 

I've updated the bibliographies (ie added new titles) for: Cathy Ace, Jane Adams, R G Adams, Jussi Adler-Olsen, Maria Adolfsson, Eva Björg Ægisdóttir, Tasha Alexander, Tove Alsterdal, Lin Anderson, M J Arlidge, Jennifer Ashley, Claire Askew, Stephanie Austin, Yukito Ayatsuji, Elizabeth Bailey, Tina Baker, Jackie Baldwin, Lisa Ballantyne, Jean-Luc Bannalec, John Banville, Fiona Barton, M C Beaton, David Belbin, Alison Belsham, Tom Benn, S J Bennett, Jane Bettany, Billy Billingham, Mark Billingham, D V Bishop, Cara Black, Jenny Blackhurst, Sara Blaedel,Robin Blake, Sam Blake, Rachael Blok, R P Bolton, Sharon Bolton, Sarah Bonner, Roxanne Bouchard, Rhys Bowen, Tom Bradby, Rebecca Bradley, Simon Brett, Neil Broadfoot, Steph Broadribb, Frances Brody, Christopher Brookmyre, Alison Bruce, Camilla Bruce, Marion Brunet, Simone Buchholz, James Buckler, Fiona Buckley, Sheila Bugler, Steve Burrows, Michel Bussi, Dorothy Cannell, Donato Carrisi, Chris Carter, Will Carver, Jane Casey, Steve Cavanagh, Javier Cercas, Julia Chapman, Karen Charlton, Clare Chase, A A Chaudhuri, Lee Child, Ajay Chowdhury, Alys Clare, Cassandra Clark, Ann Cleeves, Rory Clements, John Connolly, Simon Conway, Caroline Corcoran, Colin Cotterill, Helen Cox, James Craig, M W Craven, Deborah Crombie, A J Cross, Julia Crouch, Fiona Cummins, Judith Cutler, Lisa Cutts, Alex Dahl, Kjell Ola Dahl, Lindsey Davis, N R Daws, Maurizio De Giovanni, Oscar de Muriel, Jason Dean, John Dean, Will Dean, J P Delaney, Joël Dicker, P C/Paul Doherty, Claire Douglas, Victoria Dowd, Charlotte Duckworth, Sabine Durrant, Philippa East, M T Edvardsson, Martin Edwards, Jim Eldridge, Jessica Ellicott, Bella Ellis, Joy Ellis, Kate Ellis, Mark Ellis, R J Ellory, Katrine Engberg, Caroline England, Fiona Erskine, Kate Evans, Chris/C M Ewan, John Fairfax, Eric Faye, Lyndsay Faye, Alice Feeney, Jessica Fellowes, David Fennell, T P Fielden, Helen Fields, Paul Finch, Caz Finlay, Trish Finnegan, Sebastian Fitzek, Helene Flood, Christopher Fowler, Dick Francis, Nicci French, John Fullerton, Robert Galbraith, Robert Goddard, Juan Gomez-Jurado, J G Goodhind, Claire Gradidge, Ann Granger, Alex Gray, Lisa Gray, Susanna Gregory, Elly Griffiths, Rebecca Griffiths, Johana Gustawsson, Janice Hallett, G R Halliday, Adam Hamdy, Kate Hamer, Penny Hancock, Mari Hannah, Sophie Hannah, C S Harris, Robert Harris, Cora Harrison, Cynthia Harrod-Eagles, Alis Hawkins, Paula Hawkins, Sarah Hawkswood, Sam Hayes, Ruth Heald, Veronica Heley, Mick Herron, Keigo Higashino, G D Higgins, M K Hill, Reginald Hill, Matt Hilton, Tom Hindle, SJI/Susi Holliday, Noelle Holten, Anthony Horowitz, Jorn Lier Horst & Thomas Enger, Catherine Ryan Howard, Debbie Howells, Anna Lee Huber, James Humphreys, Arlene Hunt, Graham Hurley, Arnaldur Indridason, Katja Ivar, David Jackson, Jo Jakeman, Christina James, Peter James, Michael Jecks, Diane Jeffrey, Lisa Jewell, Doug Johnstone, Ragnar Jonasson, Philip Gwynne Jones, Will Jordan, Alan Judd, Jessie Keane, Erin Kelly, Christobel Kent, Lars Kepler, Vaseem Khan, Olivia Kiernan, T E Kinsey, Erin Kinsley, Bill Kitson, Emily Koch, Giles Kristian, Lynda La Plante, Camilla Lackberg, David Lagercrantz, Deryn Lake, Asa Larsson, Liz Lawler, John Lawton, Herve Le Corre, Stephen Leather, Jung-myung/J M Lee, Georgina Lees, Simon Lelic, Donna Leon, Ruth Lillegraven, Douglas Lindsay, Sarah Linley, Howard Linskey, Catherine Lloyd, Chris Lloyd, Gytha Lodge, TM Logan, M L Longworth, Peter Lovesey, Rachel Lynch, Bonnie MacBird, Stuart MacBride Lorraine Mace, Niki Mackay, Clare Mackintosh, Shona/S G MacLean, Torquil MacLeod, Gilly Macmillan, Molly MacRae, Karen Maitland, G M Malliet, Marco Malvaldi, Louise Mangos, Tom Marcus, Scott Mariani, David Mark, Patricia Marques, Laura Marshall, Edward Marston, Faith Martin, Alex Marwood, Deborah Masson, Priscilla Masters, S R Masters, Nadine Matheson, Alyssa Maxwell, Peter May, Val McDermid, Andy McDermott, Lynne McEwan, Brian McGilloway, Adrian McKinty, Andy McNab, Fergus McNeill, Catriona McPherson, Dervla McTiernan, Stephanie Merritt, Ant Middleton, Mark Mills, Denise Mina, D A Mishani, Dreda Say Mitchell, J S Monroe, Allison Montclair, Ian Moore, Peter Morfoot, Mandy Morton, Frank/T F Muir, Margaret Murphy, Amy Myers, Barbara Nadel, Fuminori Nakamura, Jo Nesbo, Hakan Nesser, Chris Nickson, Olivier Norek, Lauren North, Alex North, Liz Nugent, Carlene O'Connor, Nick Oldham, Sergio Olguin, Riku Onda, Judith O'Reilly, Richard Osman, Sólveig Pálsdóttir, B A Paris, Kate Parker, Alan Parks, Tony Parsons, Vikki Patis, Nell Pattison, Chris Pavone, Andrea Penrose, Anne Perry, S W Perry, Christoffer Petersen, Louise Phillips, Sarah Pinborough, Alex Pine, Caro Ramsay, Danielle Ramsay, Ian Rankin, Deanna Raybourn, Sarah Rayne, Alex Reeve, Linda Regan, Rebecca Reid, Allie Reynolds, Amanda Reynolds, Kate Rhodes, Rachel Rhys, Matthew Richardson, Marnie Riches, Michael Ridpath, Stella Rimington, Mike Ripley, Peter Robinson, Michael Robotham, Gemma Rogers, Mercedes Rosende, Anders Roslund, Rosemary Rowe Laura Joh Rowland, Pauline Rowson, Michael Russell, Leigh Russell, Sadie Ryan, Kate Saunders, Vanessa Savage, Louisa Scarr, Alex Scarrow Simon Scarrow, Katharine Schellman, Claire Seeber, Max Seeck, Victoria Selman, Gerald Seymour, Louise Sharland, William Shaw, Paige Shelton, Mel Sherratt, Will Shindler, Lilja Sigurdardottir, Yrsa Sigurdardottir, Gustaf Skördeman, Joanna Campbell Slan, Alex Smith, Alexander McCall Smith, Anna Smith, Martin Cruz Smith, Jo Spain, Ruby Speechley, Sally Spencer, Lyndon Stacey, David Stafford, Mel/Melvin R Starr, Catherine Steadman, Jane Steen, Peter Steiner, Viveca Sten, Linda Stratmann, Emma Tallon, C L Taylor, Andrew Taylor, Aline Templeton, Russ Thomas, Sherry Thomas, Will Thomas, Lesley Thomson, Robert Thorogood, Peter Tickler, Marion Todd, Rebecca Tope, Peter Tremayne, S K Tremayne, Camilla Trinchieri, M J Trow, C J Tudor, Antti Tuomainen, A K Turner, L C Tyler, P D Viner, Ferdinand von Schirach, Alexandra Walsh, B P Walter, Alex Walters, Rachel/RM Ward, Sarah Ward, Ruth Ware, Julie Wassmer, Holly Watt, Kerry Watts, Tim Weaver, Ashley Weaver, Jeri Westerson, S R White, Claire Whitfield Susan Wilkins, Kerry Wilkinson, Andrew Williams, Jacqueline Winspear, Olga Wojtas, James Wolff, Michael Wood, Tom Wood, Trevor Wood, A Yi and Seishi Yokomizo.

New Releases - May 2023

Here's a snapshot of what I think is published for the first time in May 2023 (and is usually a UK date but occasionally will be a US or Australian date). May and future months (and sometimes years) can be found on the Future Releases page. If I've missed anything or got the date wrong, do please leave a comment.

Please note that, unless specifically mentioned, when a book has differing print and ebook release date, I use the print release date. Translators' names are included where known.

• Allingham, Merryn - Murder at Abbeymead Farm #6 Flora Steele, Sussex, 1955
• Atkinson, Heather - Savage Sisters (ebook only)
• Baldwin, Jackie - Murder by the Seaside #1 Detective Grace McKenna, Edinburgh
• Bell, Alice - Grave Expectations
• Billingham, Mark - The Last Dance #1 Detective Declan Miller, Blackpool
• Bishop, Katie - The Girls of Summer
• Brett, Simon - Blotto, Twinks and the Conquistadors' Gold #11 Brother and sister sleuths, Blotto and Twinks
• Buckley, Fiona - The Net of Steel #22 Ursula Blanchard, an Elizabethan lady
• Chase, Clare - Mystery at Farfield Castle #10 Eve Mallow, Saxford St Peter
• Clare, Alys - The Cargo From Neira #5 Gabriel Taverner, Former ship's surgeon, C17 Devon
• Comley, M A - To Endanger Lives (ebook only) #9 DI Sam Cobbs
• Dean, Will - The Last Passenger (apa The Last One)
• Denzil, Sarah A with SL Harker - The Nice Guy (ebook only)
• Edwards, Mark - Keep Her Secret
• Edwards, Martin - Sepulchre Street #4 Rachel Savernake & Jacob Flint, 1930s
• Ellicott, Jessica - Murder on the Home Front #2 WPC Billie Harkness, Hull, 1940
• Erichsen, Helen - Murder by Natural Causes #1 Cilla, Contract Killer
• Gatland, Jack - Covert Action (ebook only) #3 Tom Marlowe
• Gatward, D J - Silent Ruin (ebook only) #14 DCI Harry Grimm
• Glister, Tim - A Game of Deceit #3 Richard Knox, MI5 Agent, London, 1966
• Goldis, Jaclyn - The Chateau
• Grant, Tracy - The Seven Dials Affair (ebook only) #27 Rannoch Fraser
• Hawkswood, Sarah - Too Good to Hang #11 Bradecote and Catchpoll, Worcestershire, C12 Bradecote and Catchpoll, Worcestershire, C12
• Higson, Charlie - On His Majesty's Secret Service - James Bond
• Hilton, Matt - Cold Fire #10 Grey and Villere, Louisiana
• Holland, Sam - The Twenty #2 Major Crimes
• Hunter, Alice - The Serial Killer's Sister #3 Serial Killer
• Hunter, E V - A Contest To Kill For #2 Hopgood Hall Murder Mysteries
• Hunter, M A - Adrift
• Hurst, Daniel - The Bride to Be
• Isaac, Jane - In the Shadows #5 DCI Helen Lavery
• James, Alison - The Woman in Carriage 3
• James, Ed - Where the Bodies Lie #2 DI Rob Marshall
• Jenkins, Victoria Happily - Married
• Johnston, Anthony - The Dog Sitter Detective #1 Gwinny Tuffel, Dog sitter
• Kabler, Jackie - The Vanishing of Class 3B
• Kaya, Kerry - Revenge #2 The Tempests
• Kelleher, Casey - The Babysitter's Secret (ebook only)
• Kepler, Lars - The Spider tr. Alice Menzies #9 DI Joona Linna, Stockholm
• Kirk, JD - The One That Got Away (ebook only) #1 DI Heather Filson
• Lackberg, Camilla & Fexeus, Henrik - Cult tr. Ian Giles #2 Detective Mina Dabiri & Mentalist Vincent Walter
• Lassa, Antonia - Skin Deep tr. Jacky Collins
• Lawton, John - Moscow Exile #4 Joe Wilderness
• Leather, Stephen - Triggers
• Leevers, Jo - Tell Me How This Ends
• Lynes, S E - The Summer Holiday
• McEwan, Lynne - The Girls in the Glen #3 DI Shona Oliver, Dumfries
• McLean, Rachel - Death and Poetry (ebook only) #2 McBride & Tanner
• Macmillan, Gilly - The Fall
• Madsen, Jenny Lund - Thirty Days of Darkness tr. Megan E Turney #1 Hannah
• Mara, Andrea - No One Saw a Thing
• Marcus, Tom - Target and Destroy #3 Matt Logan, MI5 Agent
• Mariani, Scott - The White Knight #27 Ben Hope, Ex-SAS
• Marsons, Angela - Deadly Fate #18 DI Kim Stone
• Maslen, Andy - Seven Seconds (ebook only) #14 Gabriel Wolfe
• Monaghan, S D - Toxic People
• Morton, Mandy - The Windmill Murders #11 The No. 2 Feline Detective Agency
• Munro, T Orr - Slaughterhouse Farm #2 CSI Ally Dymond, Devon
• Nadel, Barbara - Double Illusion #25 Cetin Ikmen, Policeman, Istanbul
• Nesbo, Jo - Killing Moon tr. Seán Kinsella #13 Detective Harry Hole, Oslo, Norway
• North, Lauren - My Word Against His (ebook only)
• Parks, Alan - To Die In June #6 Harry McCoy, Police Officer, Glasgow, 1973
• Pearce, Biba - Fever Pitch (ebook only) #6 Kenzie Gilmore
• Priest, Christopher - Airside
• Richardson, Matthew - The Scarlet Papers
• Ryan, Chris - Cold Red
• Salter, Michelle - The Body at Carnival Bridge #3 Iris Woodmore, 1920s
• Skelton, Douglas - A Thief's Justice #2 Jonas Flynt, C18
• Slater, K L - The Bedroom Window (ebook only)
• Smith, Martin Cruz - Independence Square #10 Chief Investigator Arkady Renko, Moscow
• Spain, Jo - Don't Look Back
• Stacey, Lyndon - Bad Blood #5 Daniel Whelan, ex-police dog handler, Dartmoor
• Swallow, James - Dark Horizon
• Watson, Sue - The Wedding Day
• Watt, Holly - The End of the Game #4 Casey Benedict, Investigative Journalist
• Whitelaw, Jonathan - The Village Hall Vendetta
• Wilkinson, Kerry - The Ones Who Are Hidden #4 A Whitecliff Bay Mystery
• Wolff, James - The Man in the Corduroy Suit

Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2023 - Longlist

Please find below the official press release announcing the longlist for the Harrogate Crime Novel of the Year. Twenty authors have been listed (12 Female, 8 Male).

Until the 18 May you can vote for your favourite book on the longlist here.

MARK BILLINGHAM | M. W. CRAVEN | FIONA CUMMINS | LUCY FOLEY | ELLY GRIFFITHS | JANICE HALLETT | MICK HERRON | LISA JEWELL | DOUG JOHNSTONE | VASEEM KHAN | CLARE MACKINTOSH | IMRAN MAHMOOD GILLIAN MCALLISTER | VAL MCDERMID | LIAM MCILVANNEY | LEONORA NATTRASS | ALAN PARKS VICTORIA SELMAN | SARAH VAUGHAN | RUTH WARE 

Harrogate, Thursday 27 April 2023: The longlist for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2023 has been announced today by Harrogate International Festivals. The search for the best crime novel of the past year gets underway as the public are now invited to vote for their favourites to reach the next stage.

The winner of the prestigious Award will be announced at the opening night of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival (20 July), which this year celebrates its 20th anniversary. To mark the momentous occasion, for the first time the longlist includes twenty outstanding authors, rather than the traditional eighteen, competing for the UK and Ireland’s most coveted crime fiction writing Award.

With thrilling stories that transport readers from a burnt-out Glasgow under threat, to the hidden backstreets of Paris, from the bustle of 1950s Bombay and a mail ship bound for Philadelphia, the longlist celebrates the very best of the crime genre.

 
A number of returning champions are hoping to take home the Award once again - Mick Herron defends his 2022 title with the latest Slough House instalment, Bad Actors, alongside Clare Mackintosh’s gripping New Year’s Day murder mystery The Last Party, two-time winner Mark Billingham’s electrifying thriller The Murder Book, and the scintillating 1989, the second in the new Allie Burns series from the doyenne of crime writing Val McDermid.

Several of the crime world’s favourite crime solving protagonists are also in the running for the coveted trophy – Elly Griffith’s penultimate mystery featuring Dr Ruth Galloway, The Locked Room, is in contention, alongside M.W. Craven’s latest Detective Sergeant Washington Poe thriller The Botanist, and Black Hearts, the explosive thriller featuring Doug Johnstone’s Skelf women.

They are joined by fellow Theakston nominees, including Sarah Vaughan with her masterful psychological page-turner Reputation, the unputdownable The It Girl from Ruth Ware, Lucy Foley’s deeply unsettling, locked room mystery The Paris Apartment as well as All I Said Was True, the ticking clock thriller from barrister-turned-author Imran Mahmood. Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival 2023 Programming Chair Vaseem Khan is vying to win with The Lost Man of Bombay, as is Blue Water – Leonora Nattrass’ atmospheric tale aboard an eighteenth-century ship on route to Philadelphia. Joining them are Liam McIlvanney’s highly anticipated The Heretic, which sees D.I. Duncan McCormack tackling brutal gang warfare on the streets of Glasgow, and the eerily unnerving new thriller Into The Dark from Val McDermid’s 2017 New Blood selection, Fiona Cummins.

A plethora of established voices join the Theakston ranks for the first time this year. The tantalisingly tense Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister and Lisa Jewell’s chilling new domestic noir The Family Remains are longlisted along with Victoria Selman’s nerve-jangling Truly Darkly Deeply, the deftly suspenseful The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett, while chilling police procedural May God Forgive gives star of ‘Tartan Noir’ Alan Parks his first longlisting.

The full Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2023 longlist is:

· The Murder Book by Mark Billingham (Little, Brown Book Group; Little Brown)
· The Botanist by M.W. Craven (Little, Brown Book Group; Constable)
· Into The Dark by Fiona Cummins (Pan Macmillan; Macmillan/Pan)
· The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley (HarperCollins; HarperFiction)
· The Locked Room by Elly Griffiths (Quercus)
· The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett (Profile Books; Viper)
· Bad Actors by Mick Herron (John Murray Press; Baskerville)
· The Family Remains by Lisa Jewell (Cornerstone; Century Fiction)
· Black Hearts by Doug Johnstone (Orenda Books)
· The Lost Man of Bombay by Vaseem Khan (Hodder & Stoughton)
· The Last Party by Clare Mackintosh (Little, Brown Book Group; Sphere)
· All I Said Was True by Imran Mahmood (Bloomsbury Publishing; Raven Books)
· Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister (Penguin Random House; Michael Joseph)
· 1989 by Val McDermid (Little, Brown Book Group; Little Brown)
· The Heretic by Liam McIlvanney (HarperCollins; HarperFiction)
· Blue Water by Leonora Nattrass (Profile Books; Viper)
· May God Forgive by Alan Parks (Canongate Books)
· Truly Darkly Deeply by Victoria Selman (Quercus)
· Reputation by Sarah Vaughan (Simon & Schuster)
· The It Girl by Ruth Ware (Simon & Schuster)

Simon Theakston, Executive Director of Theakston, added: “Each year I eagerly await the long list announcement for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year and every year I’m reminded of the phenomenal talent in the crime fiction writing world, whether a returning icon or a rising star. I’m looking forward to a celebratory toast of Old Peculier in July, but for now, we raise a glass to all the exceptional nominees as the shortlist vote is taken to the public.”

 
Chief Executive of Harrogate International Festivals, Sharon Canavar, commented: “We are delighted to announce the 2023 longlist for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, with an exceptional collection of the UK and Ireland’s best crime fiction novels from the past year. The Award is an integral part of the Festival and with a gripping mix of subgenres nominated, from psychological thrillers to murder mysteries, we can’t wait to see how the public vote this year.”

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 representatives from the media partner, Daily Express. The award is run by Harrogate International Festivals 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 2022 to 30 April 2023 by UK and Irish authors.

The public are now invited to vote to create a shortlist of six titles from 10am on Thursday 27 April at www.harrogatetheakstoncrimeaward.com. Voting closes on Thursday 18 May, with the shortlist announced and winner voting opening on Thursday 15 June. The winner will be revealed on the opening night of Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, Thursday 20 July, receiving £3,000 and a handmade, engraved beer barrel provided by T&R Theakston Ltd.

Petrona Award 2023 Entries

Here's a sneak peek at the forty-two Petrona Award 2023 entries. Full details to follow. 

New Releases - April 2023

Here's a snapshot of what I think is published for the first time in April 2023 (and is usually a UK date but occasionally will be a US or Australian date). April and future months (and sometimes years) can be found on the Future Releases page. If I've missed anything or got the date wrong, do please leave a comment.

Please note that, unless specifically mentioned, when a book has differing print and ebook release date, I use the print release date. Translators' names are included where known.

• Abell, Stig - Death Under a Little Sky #1 Jake Jackson
• Baker, Jo - The Midnight News
• Banville, John - The Lock-Up #2 Detective Inspector St John Strafford
• Bassett, Tony - Seat 97
• Beckerman, Hannah - The Forgetting
• Bonner, Sarah - Her Sweet Revenge
• Bowen, Rhys (with Clare Broyles) - All That Is Hidden #19 Molly Murphy, PI, 1900s New York
• Buchholz, Simone - The Acapulco tr. Rachel Ward #1 Chastity Riley
• Cambridge, Colleen - Mastering the Art of French Murder #1 An American In Paris Mystery
• Carson, John - Do Unto Others #17 DCI Harry McNeil
• Chapman, Julia - Date with Evil #8 The Dales Detective Series
• Chowdhury, Ajay - The Detective #3 Kamil Rahman
• Clarke, Lucy - The Hike
• Comley, M A - Son of the Dead #19 DI Sarah Ramsey
• Connelly, Lucy - An American in Scotland #1 Dr Emilia McRoy
• Conroy, Vivian - A Fatal Encounter in Tuscany #3 Miss Ashford
• Croft, Kathryn - The Lie
• Dahl, Kjell Ola - The Lazarus Solution tr. Don Bartlett
• Davis, Lindsey - Fatal Legacy #11 Flavia Albia, the adopted daughter of Marcus Didius Falco
• Daykin, Judi - The Norfolk Beach Murders #5 Detective Sara Hirst, Norfolk
• Dean, John - The Name on the Bullet #11 Detective Chief Inspector John Blizzard
• Devlin, Cara - Silence of Deceit #3 Bow Street Duchess
• Driscoll, Teresa - Tell Me Lies
• Eldridge, Jim - Murder at Down Street Station #5 Detective Chief Inspector Coburg & Sergeant Lampson
• Foster, Kate - The Maiden
• Gitsham, Paul - Web of Lies #9 DCI Warren Jones
• Greenwood, Ross - Death on Cromer Beach #1 DS Ashley Knight, Norfolk
• Harris, C S - Who Cries for the Lost #18 Sebastian St. Cyr, Regency England
• Hussey, William - Killing Jericho
• Hutton, Callie - Homicide at the Vicarage (ebook only) #5 Victorian Bookclub Mystery
• Jecks, Michael - Portrait of a Murder #1 Nick Morris
• Jensen, Louise - The Fall
• Kovach, Carla - Their Cold Hearts #13 Detective Gina Harte
• Lancaster, Neil - Blood Runs Cold #4 DS Max Craigie, Scotland
• Leadbeater, David - The Midnight Conspiracy #3 Joe Mason
• Lodge, Gytha - A Killer in the Family #5 DCI Jonah Sheens
• McCleave, Simon - The Denbigh Asylum Killings (ebook only) #15 DI Ruth Hunter
• McLean, Rachel - The Lighthouse Murders (ebook only) #8 DCI Lesley Clarke, Dorset
• Mace, Lorraine - The Guest
• Malvaldi, Marco - The Art of Killing Well tr. Howard Curtis #2 Pellegrino Artusi, Italy's first celebrity chef, 19C
• Marston, Edward - Death at the Terminus #21 Det. Insp Colbeck, Scotland Yard, mid 19th Century
• Mitchell, Dreda Say (with Ryan Carter) - Believe Me
• Moloney, Catherine - Crime in the High Street #19 DI Gilbert Markham
• Monroe, J S - No Place to Hide
• Morrison, Robbie - Cast a Cold Eye #2 Jimmy Dreghorn, Glasgow 1932
• Murphy, Kitty - Death in the Dark #2 Dublin Drag
• Perry, Anne - The Traitor Among Us #5 Elena Standish, Photographer, 1930s
• Perry, S W - The Sinner's Mark #6 Nicholas Shelby, Elizabethan Era
• Reynolds, Amanda - The Assistant
• Rigby, Sally (with Amanda Ashby) - The Ex-Wife
• Rowe, Rosemary - The Rewards of Treachery #20 Mosaicist Libertus, Glevum (modern Gloucester)
• Salisbury, Emma - Blood Sweat and Tears (ebook only) #9 DS Coupland
• Seeber, Claire - The Birthday Reunion
• Seong-Sun, Im - The Consultant tr. An Seon Jae
• Shelton, Paige - Fateful Words #8 Scottish Bookshop Mystery
• Slater, Alice - Death of a Bookseller
• Smith, Miranda - The School Trip
• Sullivan, Tim - The Monk #5 DS Cross, Bristol
• Taylor, Marsali - Death in a Shetland Lane #11 Shetland Sailing Mysteries
• Thomas, Will - Heart of the Nile #14 Barker and Llewelyn, Victorian London
• Walters, Victoria - Murder at the Village Church #3 Dedley End Mystery
• Ward, Sarah - The Birthday Girl #1 Mallory Dawson, Wales
• Wilkinson, Kerry - The One Who Fell #1 A Whitecliff Bay Mystery
• Wilkinson, Kerry - The One Who Was Taken #2 A Whitecliff Bay Mystery
• Wilkinson, Kerry - The Ones Who Are Buried #3 A Whitecliff Bay Mystery
• Wyer, Carol - A Truth for a Truth #4 DI Kate Young, Staffordshire