2021 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year - Winner

The winner of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2021 was We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker, with a Highly Commended for The Last Crossing by Brian McGilloway.

More details can be found at the Harrogate Festivals blog.

Amazon blurb: For fans of Jane Harper's The Dry comes a powerful novel about the lengths we will go to keep our family safe. This is a story about good and evil and how life is lived somewhere in between.

Thirty years ago, Vincent King became a killer.

Now, he's been released from prison and is back in his hometown of Cape Haven, California. Not everyone is pleased to see him. Like Star Radley, his ex-girlfriend, and sister of the girl he killed.

Duchess Radley, Star's thirteen-year-old daughter, is part-carer, part-protector to her younger brother, Robin - and to her deeply troubled mother. But in trying to protect Star, Duchess inadvertently sets off a chain of events that will have tragic consequences not only for her family, but also the whole town.

Murder, revenge, retribution.

How far can we run from the past, when the past seems doomed to repeat itself?