McIlvanney Prize Scottish Crime Novel of the Year Longlist

2025 McIlvanney Prize Scottish Crime Novel of the Year Longlist

• 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 author William McIlvanney, will be presented on Friday, September 12, during Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival. 

HT: The Rap Sheet

THEAKSTON OLD PECULIER CRIME AWARDS 2025

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)

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Hunted by Abir Mukherjee is the winner of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2025, presented by Harrogate International Festivals at a special ceremony on the opening night of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

NGAIO MARSH AWARD BEST NOVEL LONGLIST

2025 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel Longlist: New Zealand

The longlist for this year’s Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel 

· RETURN TO BLOOD by Michael Bennett (Simon & Schuster)

· THE HITCHHIKER by Gabriel Bergmoser (HarperCollins)

· A DIVINE FURY by DV Bishop (Macmillan)

· LEAVE THE GIRLS BEHIND by Jacqueline Bublitz (Allen & Unwin)

· WOMAN, MISSING by Sherryl Clark (HQ Fiction)

· HELL’S BELLS by Jill Johnson (Black & White)

· THE MIRES by Tina Makereti (Ultimo Press)

· A FLY UNDER THE RADAR by William McCartney

· HOME TRUTHS by Charity Norman (Allen & Unwin)

· 17 YEARS LATER by JP Pomare (Hachette)

· OKIWI BROWN by Cristina Sanders (The Cuba Press)

· A HOUSE BUILT ON SAND by Tina Shaw (Text Publishing)

· THE CALL by Gavin Strawhan (Allen & Unwin)

· PREY by Vanda Symon (Orenda Books)

· THE BOOKSHOP DETECTIVES: DEAD GIRL GONE by Gareth & Louise Ward (Penguin)

The finalists for Best Novel, Best First Novel, and Best Non-Fiction will be announced in mid-August, with the finalists celebrated and the 2025 Ngaio Marsh Award winners announced as part of a special event in conjunction with WORD Christchurch and the Court Theatre on Thursday, 25 September.

For more information this year’s Best Novel longlist, or the Ngaio Marsh Awards in general, please contact ngaiomarshaward@gmail.com 

Agents of Change:The Women Who Transformed the CIA: Video of the Commonwealth Discussion

Agents of Change:The Women Who Transformed the CIA: Video of the Discussion is now available. Scroll down to watch.

Scroll down to watch the video of last week's discussion with Christina Hillsberg and Terry Shames at the Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California. 

Christina Hillsberg is the author of Agents of Change: The Women Who Transformed the CIA. 

Hillsberg is a former intelligence operative who has written a narrative exploration of the agency’s history, told through exclusive interviews with current and former female CIA officers, many of whom have never spoken publicly until now. The book fills a necessary gap in the agency’s history and takes a critical view of the agency’s indisputable record of suppressing the women who would become its most valued trailblazers—and its most vocal troublemakers. These were women who sacrificed their personal lives, risked their safety, defied expectations, and boldly navigated the male-dominated spy organization, routinely passed over for promotions, recruiting assets, and managing clandestine operations. 

Terry Shames, who worked at the CIA, is the award winning mystery writer of the Samuel Craddock mysteries. Terry provided additional energy and knowledge of both the CIA and writing. Her latest series features FBI dive instructor Jessie Madison. 

 

Cartoon of the Day: Showdown

 

RETAIL MURDER: Mystery Readers Journal (41:2): Summer 2025

Retail Murders is a versatile theme, as you’ll see by the variety of articles, reviews, and author essays in this issue. Retail Murders includes mysteries that feature coffee shops, bookstores, garden shops, and many other kinds of stores. We also have articles that focus on contractors, consultants, and others who sell their services. It seems likea lot of small business owners and customers are amateur sleuths. Enjoy! 

Upcoming themes. Plans for the remainder of this year include Northern California Mysteries and Cross-Genre Mysteries. We're still looking for articles, reviews, and author essays. If you'd like to contribute to either of these issues, send a note to: janet @ mysteryreaders . org

Mystery Readers Journal: Retail Murder: Volume 41, No. 2, Summer 2025

Buy this back issue! Available in hardcopy or as a downloadable PDF.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ARTICLES

• Apprehending the Snatchers and Sneak-Thieves by Ashley Bowden
• Retail Means Shoplifting by Rona Bell
• Death in Department Stores by Aubrey Nye Hamilton

AUTHOR! AUTHOR!

• My Dead-End Retail Jobs by Elaine Viets
• Murder with Flowers by Rebecca Tope
• How Working Retail Enriched My Writing Life by Terri Thayer
• Experience as Inspiration by Karen Rose Smith
• Retail as a Character: How “The Treasure Chest” Shapes My Mystery Series by Joanna Campbell Slan
• My Contractor/Consultant Character by Dale T. Phillips
• Man’s Best Friend by Paul R. Paradise
• Hidden Rooms and Secret Passageways: Selling a Sense of Childhood Wonder by Gigi Pandian
• How a Real-Life Retail Shop Turned My Books with a Fictional Retail Shop into Best Sellers by J. Michael Orenduff
• Welcome to Suite and Savory—Can We Help You? by Donalee Moulton
• Von Stray and Mrs. Omloop’s Orderly Shop by Andrew McAleer
• Peter Fallon Sells History by William Martin
• The Shopping Center Cats by Sharon Marchisello
• A Shell of a Lot of Fun by Molly MacRae
• My Mysterious Connection to Retail by T. C. LoTempio
• Working Retail Can Be Murder by Dorothy Howell
• How a Camera Shop Led to Deadly Negatives by Russell Hill
• Learning the Spa Business with Aroma Wellness Mysteries by Daryl Wood Gerber
• Behind the Vintage Candy Series by Kaye George
• Small-Town Crime: Writing from Real Life by Trish Esden
• Finding Comfort in Bookstores and Cafés by Alex Erickson
• “Two-Eleven Just Prior” by Jim Doherty
• Serving Up the Urban Cozy by Cleo Coyle
• Come for the Mystery, Stay for the Shopping by Michael Cooper
• Flowers and Murder? by Kate Collins
• Donut Shop Drudgery by Nancy Coco
• Death of a Salesman by Lynn Cahoon
• Welcome to Deputy Donut by Ginger Bolton
• Taking a Bite Out of Crime—One Sale at a Time by Leslie Budewitz
• Murder, Mocha, and the Penny University by Ellis Blackwood
• A Cozy Shop in Omnipodge by Mike Befeler
• Selling in a Mystery by Anne Louise Bannon
• Shop Till You Drop … Dead by Tessa Aura

COLUMNS

• Mystery in Retrospect: Reviews, by Lucinda Surber and Lesa Holstine
• Children’s Hour: Retail Sales Mysteries by Gay Toltl Kinman
• Crime Seen: The Retail Murder Hallmark by Kate Derie
• From the Editor’s Desk by Janet A. Rudolph

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Subscribe now in order to be sure to receive all 4 issues for 2025: Themes: London II; Retail Sales; Northern California; Cross-Genre Mysteries. 

If you're a PDF subscriber, you should have received download instructions. Print copy subscription copies should be received this week. International subscribers will receive their issues within two weeks. 

PDF Contributor PDF copies will go out in the next few days. 

Contributors: Thanks so much for your great articles, essays, and reviews!