Harrogate International Festivals are delighted to announce a three-year partnership with the UK’s most popular High Street retailer, WHSmith, to promote the most coveted award in crime fiction, the prestigious Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award.
Now in its ninth year, the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award was created to celebrate the very best in crime writing and is open to British and Irish authors whose novels are published in paperback from 1 May 2012 – 30 April 2013.
Karl O’Leary, Head of Advertising and Events, at WHSmith said: “Crime is the biggest selling genre and this award represents the best novels within that. We’re thrilled to support such a prestigious award. It really is a perfect partnership in crime fiction. When you consider that we sell in excess of 30 million books a year, we believe we can really get the nation involved voting for their favourite novel to win.”
The 2013 long-list in full:-
- The Guilty One – Lisa Ballantyne (Piatkus)
- Finders Keepers – Belinda Bauer (Transworld)
- Rush Of Blood – Mark Billingham (Little Brown)
- Dead Scared – S J Bolton (Corgi, Transworld)
- The Affair – Lee Child (Transworld)
- A Foreign Country – Charles Cumming (Harpercollins)
- Safe House - Chris Ewan (Faber and Faber)
- Not Dead Yet - Peter James (Macmillan)
- Siege – Simon Kernick (Bantam Press)
- Prague Fatale – Philip Kerr (Quercus)
- The Rage – Gene Kerrigan (Vintage)
- Birthdays for the Dead – Stuart MacBride (Harper)
- The Dark Winter – David Mark (Quercus)
- The Lewis Man – Peter May (Quercus)
- Gods And Beasts – Denise Mina (Orion)
- Stolen Souls – Stuart Neville (Vintage)
- Sacrilege – S. J. Parris (Harper)
- A Dark Redemption – Stav Sherez (Faber and Faber)
From this stellar list, a shortlist of six will be announced on 1 July, from which the overall winner will be decided by the results of a public vote online at www.theakstons.co.uk (voting opens Thursday 4 July) and the deliberation of an expert judging panel.
Sharon Canavar, CEO of Harrogate International Festivals, said: “The partnership with WHSmith is a fantastic fit for the Award, but it’s also great news for the crime fiction genre as a whole. We’re proud to have developed over the years what has become such a prestigious accolade.”
Simon Theakston, Executive Director of T&R Theakston and title sponsor said: “The award is now positioned as the most prestigious prize within crime fiction so we are delighted to welcome WHSmith on board. They are an iconic brand in retail and book selling, and it’s a partnership that will no doubt boost even further the excitement and awareness of this annual award.”
Denise Mina receives the 2012 Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award for The End of the Wasp Season
The 2012 win by highly-esteemed Scottish writer Denise Mina author further increased the prize’s standing with authors, publishers and critics as a sought after literary award.
The 2013 award ceremony hosted by radio broadcaster and Festival regular Mark Lawson will take place on 18 July at the opening night of Europe’s biggest crime writing event, the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, at the Old Swan Hotel, Harrogate.
The winner of the 2013 prize will be announced by title sponsor Simon Theakston at the Award Ceremony, and will receive a £3,000 cash prize as well as a handmade, engraved beer barrel provided by T&R Theakston.
2013 marks the ninth year of the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award. The award, run in partnership with WHSmith, was created to celebrate the very best in crime writing and is open to British and Irish authors whose novels were published in paperback over the previous twelve months.
Crime writing’s most wanted accolade, the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award returns to highlight the cream of the crop of crime novels published by British and Irish authors over the last year.The winning author receives a cash prize of £3000 an a handmade, engraved beer barrel provided by Theakstons Old Peculier.
2013 Longlist
- The Guilty One – Lisa Ballantyne (Piatkus)
- Finders Keepers – Belinda Bauer (Transworld)
- Rush Of Blood – Mark Billingham (Little Brown)
- Dead Scared – S J Bolton (Corgi, Transworld)
- The Affair – Lee Child (Transworld)
- A Foreign Country – Charles Cumming (Harpercollins)
- Safe House - Chris Ewan (Faber and Faber)
- Not Dead Yet - Peter James (Macmillan)
- Siege – Simon Kernick (Bantam Press)
- Prague Fatale – Philip Kerr (Quercus)
- The Rage – Gene Kerrigan (Vintage)
- Birthdays for the Dead – Stuart MacBride (Harper)
- The Dark Winter – David Mark (Quercus)
- The Lewis Man – Peter May (Quercus)
- Gods And Beasts – Denise Mina (Orion)
- Stolen Souls – Stuart Neville (Vintage)
- Sacrilege – S. J. Parris (Harper)
- A Dark Redemption – Stav Sherez (Faber and Faber)
2013 Shortlist Announcement and Readers’ Online Vote
The names of the six shortlisted titles will be announced on Thursday 4 July 2013 and YOU – the readers – will be able to help decide which of the six short-listed authors will take home the most coveted title in crime fiction, by casting your vote online at www.theakstons.co.uk
The result of the online vote will be counted alongside the votes of the expert judging panel in order to determine the 2013 winner. Forming the 2013 judging panel are 2013 Festival Programming Chair Val McDermid, WHSmith’s Head of Fiction David Swillman and executive director of title sponsor T&R Theakston Simon Theakston. 4th judge TBC soon, watch this space!
Nationwide crime spree hits WHSmith!
The 18 longlisted books will be available to buy in WHSmith stores nationwide from 9 May – 6 June, and the 6 shortlisted books will feature in all stores from 4 July – 1 August.