McILVANNEY PRIZE SHORTLIST 2024

The Shortlist for the McIlvanney Prize has been announced by Bloody Scotland. The award, previously known as the Bloody Scotland Prize for Scottish Crime Writing, will be presented on Friday, September 13, on the first night of the Bloody Scotland Festival. Congratulations to all!

2023 McIlvanney Prize Shortlist: Bloody Scotland

The Shortlist for the 2023 McIlvanney Prize for Scotland's prestigious annual crime writing award, was announced. The Prize is named in memory of the 'Godfather of Tartan Noir', the great William McIlvanney: 

SQUEAKY CLEAN by Callum McSorley (Pushkin): the judges said: "A wonderfully rich and funny new voice in Scottish crime. McSorley has created characters you invest in and plot that keeps you hooked right from the start."

 

THE SECOND MURDERER by Denise Mina (Vintage): the judges said: "Seriously stylish and oozing with attitude, this Philip Marlowe mystery is an exquisite read."

 

CAST A COLD EYE by Robbie Morrison (Macmillan): the judges said: "A story inhabited by brilliantly drawn characters. Not just a crime novel but a vivid and immersive account of life in Glasgow in the 1930s."

 

THE DEVIL'S PLAYGROUND by Craig Russell (Little, Brown): the judges said: "Mesmerising from the start. Devilishly dark and dripping with menace. A breath-taking masterclass in twisty crime writing."

These events are part of a three-day annual showcase of crime writing at Bloody Scotland, which is Scotland's international crime writing festival. Both prizes are again sponsored by The Glencairn Glass, Kirsty Nicholson, Design and Marketing Manager at Glencairn Crystal, said: 

"Now in our third year of sponsoring these prestigious awards with the Glencairn Glass, we’re very proud to be a part of this amazing Scottish annual event in the world of crime fiction. We continue to be impressed and enthralled by the talented authors who enter and we wish everyone the very best of luck."

The 2023 Bloody Scotland festival begins at 1: 30pm on Friday, September 15 , with the final event concluding at 2pm on Sunday September 17. It takes place at various venues in the historic centre of Stirling, including the Albert Halls, Trinity Church, and the Golden Lion Hotel. 

McILVANNEY PRIZE FINALISTS 2022: BLOODY SCOTLAND

Bloody Scotland revealed the finalists for The McIlvanney Prize 2022:

Liam McIlvanney – The Heretic (HarperCollins)
Alan Parks – May God Forgive (Canongate)
Ambrose Parry – A Corruption of Blood (Canongate)
Louise Welsh – The Second Cut (Canongate)

The McIlvanney Prize recognizes excellence in Scottish crime writing, includes a prize of £1000 and nationwide promotion in Waterstones.

The winners will be revealed in Stirling on Thursday 15 September.  There will be a VIP reception at the Church of the Holy Rude at 7pm and to lead the torchlit procession from Stirling Castle to The Albert Halls where the winner of both the McIlvanney and the Bloody Scotland Debut Prizes will be revealed at approximately 8.30pm. They will then be interviewed on stage by BBC Radio Scotland’s Janice Forsyth.

Read more here. 

The shortlist for The Bloody Scotland Debut Prize for crime fiction:

Tariq Ashkanani, Welcome to Cooper (Thomas & Mercer, Amazon).
Frankie Boyle, Meantime (John Murray).
Amanda Mitchison, The Wolf Hunters (Fledgling Press).
George Paterson, The Girl, The Crow, The Writer and The Fighter (Into Books).
Sarah Smith, Hear No Evil (Two Roads).

MCILVANNEY PRIZE LONGLIST: Scottish Crime Book of the Year

The Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival (September 20-22, 2019) organizers announced the shortlists for the McIlvanney Prizes. 

McIlvanney Prize Longlist:
• All the Hidden Truths, by Claire Askew (Hodder)
• No Man’s Land, by Neil Broadfoot (Little, Brown)
• Fallen Angel, by Chris Brookmyre (Little, Brown)
• Breakers, by Doug Johnstone (Orenda)
• All That’s Dead, by Stuart MacBride (HarperCollins)
• In the Silence, by M.R. Mackenzie (Bloodhound)
• Broken Ground, by Val McDermid (Little, Brown)
• A Breath on Dying Embers, by Denzil Meyrick (Polygon)
• Conviction, by Denise Mina (Vintage)
• The Way of All Flesh, by “Ambrose Parry” (Canongate), aka Chris Brookmyre and Marisa Haetzman
• In a House of Lies, by Ian Rankin (Orion)
• A Treachery of Spies, by Manda Scott (Transworld)
• Thunder Bay, by Douglas Skelton (Polygon)

McIlvanney Debut Prize Shortlist:
• All the Hidden Truths, by Claire Askew (Hodder)
• From the Shadows, by G.R. Halliday (Vintage)
• Black Camp 21, by Bill Jones (Polygon)
• In the Silence, by M.R. Mackenzie (Bloodhound)
• The Peat Dead, by Allan Martin (Thunderpoint)

The winners of both awards will be announced on Friday, September 20, during the opening reception at the Bloody Scotland convention in Stirling.

These annual awards recognize “excellence in Scottish crime writing,” are named in honor of William McIlvanney, author of the novel Laidlaw.

HT: The Rap Sheet

THE McILVANNEY PRIZE LONGLIST: SCOTTISH CRIME BOOK OF THE YEAR

2018 McIlvanney Prize Shortlist: Scottish Crime Book of the Year. The winner will be announced on September 21 at the opening gala at the Church of the Holy Rude in Stirling at Bloody Scotland.

Forty-one years ago, William McIlvanney rocked the British literary world with Laidlaw, a gritty and socially conscious crime novel that brought Glasgow to life more vividly than anything before. This year’s longlistees for the McIlvanney Prize demonstrate how modern Scottish crime writing has flourished from those seeds. From debutants to authors with more than 20 books, spy thrillers to long-running detective series, nineteenth-century mysteries to futuristic space station noir, there’s an amazing range of talent on show. – Craig Sisterson, chair of the 2018 judges  

2018 McIlvanney Prize Shortlist

Lin Anderson, Follow the Dead (Macmillan)
Chris Brookmyre, Places in the Darkness (Little, Brown)
Mason Cross, Presumed Dead (Orion)
Charles Cumming, The Man Between (Harper Collins)
Oscar De Muriel, The Loch of the Dead (Michael Joseph)
Helen Fields, Perfect Death (Harper Collins)
Alison James, Now She’s Gone (Bookouture)
Liam McIlvanney, The Quaker (Harper Collins)
James Oswald, No Time to Cry (Headline)
Caro Ramsay, The Suffering of Strangers (Severn House)
Andrew Reid, The Hunter (Headline)
Craig Robertson, The Photographer (Simon & Schuster)

McIlvanney Prize: Scottish Book of the Year Shortlist

Shortlist for the McIlvanny Prize - Scottish Crime Book of the Year.


Craig Robertson – Murderabilia (Simon & Schuster)

Val McDermid - Out of Bounds (Little, Brown)

Denise Mina - The Long Drop (Random House)

Craig Russell - The Quiet Death of Thomas Quaid (Quercus)

Jay Stringer - How to Kill Friends and Implicate People (Thomas & Mercer)

Scottish Crime Novel of the Year

The Ghosts of Altona by Craig Russell won the fourth annual Scottish Crime Book of the Year. it was announced last night at Bloody Scotland.

Read more at CrimeWatch

HT: Craig Sisterson

Bloody Scotland Scottish Crime Book of the Year Award

The shortlist for the inaugural Bloody Scotland Scottish Crime Book of the Year award: 
 
• A Foreign Country, by Charles Cumming (Harper Collins)
• Dead Men and Broken Hearts, by Craig Russell (Quercus)
• Gods and Beasts, by Denise Mina (Orion)
• The Lewis Man, by Peter May (Quercus)
• Prague Fatale, by Philip Kerr (Quercus)
• Redemption, by Will Jordan (Random House)

The winner will be announced on Sunday September 16th during Bloody Scotland, where the winner will be presented with a trophy and a cheque for £3,000.

The Award seeks to recognise and reward excellence in Scottish crime writing, first published between 1 August 2011 and 31 July 2012. Over 40 books of fiction and non-fiction were submitted by UK publishers. Eligible books were by writers born in Scotland, by writers living in Scotland, or books set in Scotland.

Bloody Scotland which is Scotland's first International Crime Writing Festival will take place in Stirling September 14-16, 2012.

Congratulations to all.

HT: Shotsmag Confidential