Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. From a shortlist of six to the overall winner

This is the first of a series of blog posts from the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival. I was at a crowded and exciting opening ceremony for the festival on Thursday night to find out who would be the winner of the Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year award. A longlist of twelve novels had been winnowed down to six, including a strong Scottish contingent of Malcom Mackay, Peter May and of course Denise Mina who won the two previous year’s awards. Many of us in the audience were wondering whether it would be a Scottish win and perhaps even a hat trick for Denise Mina.
 

After a brief pause, Simon Theakston announced the winner, Belinda Bauer for her novel Rubbernecker to a huge cheer and round of applause from the audience. Belinda Bauer said “It feels like a lucky accident, with fellow shortlisted authors being so much smarter. It’s such an honour to win this prestigious prize at such a prestigious festival.” The winning novel Rubbernecker, is centred around Patrick Fort, a medical student with Asperger’s Syndrome. Fort has been told that the dead can’t speak to us, but as Ford dissects a human body in his anatomy class, he realises this is far from true, because he finds that the dead person he is dissecting has been murdered.
 
Here’s an introduction to the other shortlisted novels - all available at WHSmith for the next couple of months.
 

Dying Fall by Elly Griffiths is the fifth Ruth Galloway novel, which finds the action moving from the usual Norwich setting to Lancashire as Galloway unravels the mysterious death of a colleague who was on the brink of a big discovery.
 
 

The Necessary Death of Lewis Winter is the first of Malcolm MacKay’s trilogy following a gunman hired to carry out a hit on a local criminal. MacKay originally wanted to write about a local setting but realising that organised crime wasn’t well represented in Stornaway and so moved the action to Glasgow instead. A truly inspired move.
 
 

The Chesssmen is the final part of Peter May’s island trilogy set in Lewis. Fin Mcleod is now head of security on the Island’s estate, investigating a case of organised poaching, but soon finds his friend’s past coming to life to finally resolve an old Island mystery. May’s approach is the opposite of MacKay’s, finding plenty of intrigue and crime even on small Hebridean island.
 
 

The Red Road is Denise Mina’s fourth DI Alex Morrow novel, with events set on the night of Diana’s death. The book is centred on two murders, although it’s only thirteen years later when the murders are connected.
 
 

Eleven Days by Stav Sherez is the second Carrigan and Miller novel. Their investigation of a fire in a catholic convent soon uncovers links to the racial politics of the 1970’s. The secrets and guilt of the past are hidden in this silent community, which provides the perfect vehicle for a crime and its cover up.
 
Look out for more posts from Harrogate, as we enjoy lots of crime as well as this year’s special Theakstons brew “Tour de Wot” celebrating the Tour de France coming to Harrogate for the first time.
 
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