Theakston Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year Longlist

2019 marks the 15th year of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year award. The prize was created to celebrate the very best in crime fiction and is open to UK and Irish crime authors whose novels were published in paperback from 1 May 2018 to 30 April 2019. The award is run in partnership with T&R Theakston Ltd, WHSmith, and The Mail on Sunday. The longlist of 18 titles were selected by an Academy of crime writing authors, agents, editors, reviewers and members of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival Programming Committee.

The shortlist of six titles will be announced on 19 May.

The winner will be announced at an award ceremony hosted by broadcaster Mark Lawson on 18 July on the opening night of the 17th Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival at the Old Swan Hotel, Harrogate.

LONGLIST:

Snap by Belinda Bauer – Transworld

Our House by Louise Candlish – Simon & Schuster UK

Thirteen by Steve Cavanagh – Hachette

Wild Fire by Ann Cleeves – Pan Macmillan

This Is How It Ends by Eva Dolan – Bloomsbury Publishing

Take Me In by Sabine Durrant – Hodder & Stoughton

The Dark Angel by Elly Griffiths – Quercus

London Rules by Mick Herron – John Murray Press

Broken Ground by Val McDermid – Little, Brown Book Group

The Quaker by Liam McIlvanney – HarperCollins

The Way of All Flesh by Ambrose Parry – Canongate Books

East of Hounslow by Khurrum Rahman – HarperCollins

Hell Bay by Kate Rhodes – Simon & Schuster UK

Salt Lane by William Shaw – Quercus

The Chalk Man by C. J. Tudor – Penguin Random House

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton – Bloomsbury Publishing

Anatomy of a Scandal by Sarah Vaughan – Simon & Schuster UK

Changeling by Matt Wesolowski – Orenda Books

Executive director of T&R Theakston, Simon Theakston, said: “So many authors on our longlist have been nominees for major mainstream awards. The literary world is perhaps catching up to the fact that crime fiction is leading the publishing world and shaping our cultural landscape. In 2018, sales of crime novels outstripped general fiction for the first time. It’s a genre that dominates the small and big screen, and attracts critical acclaim, as well as being incredibly popular. There is however, only one Crime Novel of the Year, and the reputation of our Award, built over 15 years, makes this accolade hotly contended.”