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15
Jun 2021
Harrogate's top crime-writing prize down to shortlist
Readers have whittled the potential winners of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year award down to six authors.
Organised by Harrogate International Festivals, the award is widely regarded as the most prestigious in crime fiction.
The shortlist is designed to celebrate the best of crime writing and transports readers around the world from Calcutta to California.
Author Chris Whitaker hopes to claim the trophy on his first ever nomination with We Begin at The End, which is a story of crime, punishment, love and redemption in California.
Sunday Times bestselling author Rosamund Lupton’s Three Hours tells the story of gunmen opening fire on a school in Somerset and explores white supremacy and radicalisation.
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Elly Griffiths is hoping that her seventh prize nomination, The Lantern Men, lead to the title. The story sees Ruth Galloway return to the fens to hunt down a serial killer.
Trevor Wood’s meteoric rise continues with his novel The Man on the Street, which provides insight into the story of a homeless Falklands veteran with severe PTSD turned criminal investigator.
Scottish-Bengali author Abir Mukherjee's Death in the East is a mesmerising portrait of India, Assam and East End London, which could be a case of third nomination lucky.
The final title on this year’s shortlist is Northern Irish author Brian McGilloway’s The Last Crossing, which looks at The Troubles from the perspective of a view of former operatives.
People can vote for the winner here.
Simon Theakston, executive director of T&R Theakston, said:
The winner receives £3,000 and a handmade, engraved beer barrel from Theakston Old Peculier.
The full shortlist for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2021 is:
- The Lantern Men by Elly Griffiths (Quercus, Quercus Fiction)
- Three Hours by Rosamund Lupton (Penguin Random House UK, Viking)
- The Last Crossing by Brian McGilloway (Little, Brown Book Group, Constable)
- Death in the East by Abir Mukherjee (VINTAGE, Harvill Secker)
- We Begin At The End by Chris Whitaker (Bonnier Books UK, Zaffre)
- The Man on the Street by Trevor Wood (Quercus, Quercus Fiction)
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