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. 

THEAKSTON OLD PECULIER CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR

Theakston Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year: M.W. Craven for The Botanist

Elly Griffiths was Highly Commended for The Locked Room

Ann Cleeves was awarded the Theakson Old Peculiar Oustanding Contribution.

Congratulations, All! Wish I could have been there! 

THEAKSTON OLD PECULIER CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR SHORTLIST

The shortlist for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2023, produced by Harrogate International Festivals, has been announced today, with six bestselling authors competing to win the UK’s most wanted crime writing prize. The public is now invited to vote for the winner here.

This award celebrates excellence, originality, and the very best in crime fiction from UK and Irish authors. Awarded annually as part of Harrogate International Festivals’ Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, the winner of the most wanted accolade in crime fiction receives a cheque for £3000, and an engraved oak beer cask, hand-carved by one of Britain’s last coopers from Theakstons Brewery. 

THEAKSTON OLD PECULIER CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR 2023 SHORTLIST

• The Botanist by M.W. Craven (Little, Brown Book Group; Constable)
• Into The Dark by Fiona Cummins (Pan Macmillan; Macmillan/Pan)
• The Locked Room by Elly Griffiths (Quercus)
• Black Hearts by Doug Johnstone (Orenda Books)
• Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister (Penguin Random House; Michael Joseph)
• The It Girl by Ruth Ware (Simon & Schuster)

THEAKSTON OLD PECULIER CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR LONGLIST

Crime Novel Of The Year longlist 

My Sister The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
Fallen Angel by Chris Brookmyre
Nothing Important Happened Today by Will Carver
Cruel Acts by Jane Casey
Blue Moon by Lee Child
The Long Call by Ann Cleeves
Red Snow by Will Dean
Platform Seven by Louise Doughty
Worst Case Scenario by Helen Fitzgerald
The Lost Man by Jane Harper
Joe Country by Mick Herron
How The Dead Speak by Val McDermid
The Chain by Adrian McKinty
Conviction by Denise Mina
Smoke And Ashes by Abir Mukherjee
The Whisper Man by Alex North
 Blood And Sugar by Laura Shepherd-Robinson
Blood Orange by Harriet Tyce

2020 marks the 16th 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 2019 to 30 April 2020. 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 later this month.

Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Shortlist

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

The winner will be determined by a panel of judges, as well as by an online public vote. Balloting  begins on Monday, July 1, and closes on Sunday, July 14. During those two weeks, the Theakston Brewing Company will post a link for voting.  

SHORTLIST:

Snap by Belinda Bauer – Transworld

Thirteen by Steve Cavanagh – Hachette

London Rules by Mick Herron – John Murray Press

Broken Ground by Val McDermid – Little, Brown Book Group
The Quaker by Liam McIlvanney --HarperCollins

East of Hounslow by Khurrum Rahman – HarperCollins

Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Longlist

The Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year was announced. 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 2017 to 30 April 2018.

2018 marks the 14^th year of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year award. The winner will be announced at the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, hosted in Harrogate each July. 

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 27 May, followed by a six-week promotion in libraries and in WHSmith stores nationwide. The overall winner will be decided by the panel of Judges, alongside a public vote. The public vote opens on 1 July and closes 14 July at www.theakstons.co.uk.

The winner will be announced at an award ceremony on 19 July at the opening night of the 16th Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate. They’ll receive a £3,000 cash prize, as well as a handmade, engraved beer barrel provided by Theakston Old Peculier. The awards night will also feature the Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction Award.

THEAKSTON OLD PECULIER CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR LONGLIST

• Want You Gone, by Chris Brookmyre (Little, Brown)
• The Midnight Line, by Lee Child (Bantam Press)
• The Seagull, by Ann Cleeves (Macmillan)
• Little Deaths, by Emma Flint (Picador)
• The Chalk Pit, by Elly Griffiths (Quercus)
• The Dry, by Jane Harper (Macmillan)
• Spook Street, by Mick Herron (John Murray)
• Death at Fountains Abbey, by Antonia Hodgson (Hodder & Stoughton)
• He Said, She Said, by Erin Kelly (Hodder & Stoughton)
• Sirens, by Joseph Knox (Doubleday)
• The Accident on A35, by Graeme Macrae Burnet (Contraband)
• You Don’t Know Me, by Imran Mahmood (Michael Joseph)
• Insidious Intent, by Val McDermid (Little, Brown)
• The Long Drop, by Denise Mina (Harvill Secker)
• A Rising Man, by Abir Mukherjee (Harvill Secker)
• Rather Be the Devil, by Ian Rankin (Orion)
• The Intrusions, by Stav Sherez (Faber and Faber)
• Persons Unknown, by Susie Steiner (The Borough Press)

HT: The Rap Sheet

Theakstons Crime Novel of the Year Shortlist

THEAKSTONS CRIME NOVEL AWARD SHORTLIST

The Red Road - Denise Mina

The Necessary Death of Lewis Winter - Malcolm Mackay

The Chessmen - Peter May

Rubbernecker - Belinda Bauer

Dying Fall - Elly Griffiths

Eleven Days - Stav Sherez

The award is open to British and Irish authors whose novels were published in paperback in the last year.

The winner will be decided by a panel, chaired by writer Steve Mosby, which includes Simon Theakston, the executive director of Theakston; Radio Times' Alison Graham and Dave Swillman, head of fiction at WH Smith. A public vote will also be included in the final decision.

The Award will be presented on opening night at Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate on July 17. The winner will receive a £3,000 cash prize - as well as a handmade, engraved beer barrel. Also on the night, Lynda La Plante will receive the Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction Award.

HT:  Karen Meek at EuroCrime