Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award

The Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award is the UK's top crime-fiction award, sponsored by Theakston's Old Peculier.^[1] It is awarded annually at Harrogate Crime Writing Festival in the UK, held every July, as part of the Harrogate International Festivals.^[2] The winner receives £3000 and a small hand-carved oak beer cask carved by one of Britain's last coopers.^[3] Novels eligible are those crime novels published in paperback any time during the previous year,^[4] thus making the shortlists seem more out-of-date than for most prizes. Voting is by the public with decisions of a jury-panel also taken into account,^[5] a fact not-much publicised by the award organisers, who are keen to emphasize the public-voting aspect of the award.

Winners and nominees

2005

• Mark Billingham – Lazybones
  • Simon Kernick – The Murder Exchange
  • Val McDermid – The Distant Echo
  • Ian Rankin – A Question of Blood
  • Andrew Taylor – The American Boy
  • Minette Walters – Disordered Minds

2006

• Val McDermid – The Torment of Others
  • Lindsay Ashford – Strange Blood
  • Stephen Booth – One Last Breath
  • Martin Edwards – The Coffin Trail
  • Susan Hill – The Various Haunts of Men
  • Ian Rankin – Fleshmarket Close

2007

• Allan Guthrie – Two-Way Split
  • Stephen Booth – The Dead Place
  • Christopher Brookmyre – All Fun and Games until Somebody Loses an Eye
  • Michael Jecks – The Death Ship of Dartmouth
  • Stuart MacBride – Cold Granite
  • Graham Hurley – Blood and Honey

2008

• Stef Penney – The Tenderness of Wolves^[6]
  • Simon Beckett - “The Chemistry of Death”
  • Mark Billingham - “Buried”
  • Christopher Brookmyre - “A Tale Etched in Blood and Hard Black Pencil”
  • Reginald Hill - “The Death of Dalzeil”
  • Graham Hurley - “One Under”
  • Peter James - “Not Dead Enough”
  • Simon Kernick - “Relentless”
  • Stuart MacBride - “Dying Light”
  • Alexander McCall Smith - “Blue Shoes and Happiness”
  • Peter Robinson - “Piece Of My Heart”
  • C.J. Sansom - “Sovereign”

2009

• Mark Billingham – Death Message^[7]
  • Reginald Hill - A Cure for All Diseases^[8]
  • Lee Child - Bad Luck and Trouble^[8]
  • Val McDermid - Beneath The Bleeding^[8]
  • Stuart MacBride - Broken Skin^[8]
  • Peter James - Dead Man’s Footsteps^[8]
  • Ian Rankin - Exit Music^[8]
  • Peter Robinson - Friend of the Devil^[8]
  • David Hewson - Garden of Evil^[8]
  • John Harvey - Gone to Ground^[8]
  • Mo Hayder - Ritual^[8]
  • Chris Simms - Savage Moon^[8]
  • Tom Cain - The Accident Man^[8]
  • Declan Hughes - The Colour of Blood^[8]

2010

• R J Ellory – A Simple Act of Violence
  • Mark Billingham - “In The Dark”
  • Tania Carver - “The Surrogate”
  • Elly Griffiths - “The Crossing Places”
  • Peter James - “Dead Tomorrow”
  • Brian McGilloway - “Gallows Lane”
  • Ian Rankin - “Doors Open”
  • Tom Rob Smith - “Child 44”

2011

• Lee Child – 61 Hours
  • Mark Billingham - “From the Dead”
  • S.J. Bolton - “Blood Harvest”
  • Stuart MacBride - “Dark Blood”
  • William Ryan - “The Holy Thief”
  • Andrew Taylor - “The Anatomy of Ghosts”

2012

• Denise Mina - The End of the Wasp Season^[9]
  • S.J. Bolton - Now You See Me
  • Christopher Brookmyre - Where the Bodies are Buried
  • John Connolly - The Burning Soul
  • Steve Mosby - Black Flowers
  • S. J. Watson - Before I Go to Sleep

2013

• Denise Mina - Gods and Beasts^[10]
  • Mark Billingham - Rush of Blood
  • Chris Ewan - Safe House
  • Peter May - The Lewis Man
  • Stuart Neville - Stolen Souls
  • Stav Sherez - A Dark Redemption

2014

• Belinda Bauer - Rubbernecker
  • Elly Griffiths - Dying Fall
  • Malcolm Mackay - Death of Lewis Winter
  • Peter May - The Chess Men
  • Denise Mina - The Red Road
  • Stav Sherez - Eleven Days

2015

• Sarah Hilary - "Someone Else's Skin"
  • Antonia Hodgson - "The Devil in the Marshalsea"
  • Ray Celestin - "The Axeman’s Jazz"
  • Belinda Bauer - "The Facts of Life and Death"
  • Peter May - "Entry Island"
  • Elly Griffiths - "The Outcast Dead"

2016

• Clare Mackintosh - I Let You Go^[11]
  • Mark Billingham - Time Of Death
  • Robert Galbraith - Career Of Evil
  • Eva Dolan - Tell No Tales
  • Renee Knight - Disclaimer
  • Adrian McKinty - Rain Dogs

References

1. "Theakstons Crime Writing Festival -". www.oldpeculiercrimefestival.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-06-11.
2. "Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2015 | Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival". harrogateinternationalfestivals.com. Retrieved 2016-06-11.
3. "Local author lands top crime writing award". Glamorgan Gem Ltd. Retrieved 2016-06-11.
4. "Theakstons Old Peculier Prize | Book awards | LibraryThing". www.librarything.com. Retrieved 2016-06-11.
5. "2016 Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel Of The Year Longlist Revealed | Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival". harrogateinternationalfestivals.com. Retrieved 2016-06-11.
6. "Theakston's Crime award goes to mainstream first novel". The Guardian. London. 2008-07-18. Retrieved 2010-03-06.
7. Flood, Alison (2009-07-27). "Mark Billingham wins crime novel of the year award". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2010-03-06.
8. "Book Prize Information". Retrieved 2013-05-07.
9. Alison Flood (20 July 2012). "Denise Mina wins crime novel of the year award". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
10. Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2013
11. Sian Cain (21 July 2016). "Clare Mackintosh takes crime novel of the year award". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 July 2016.