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And don’t forget to cast your vote to decide who will take home the UK and Ireland’s most coveted crime fiction writing award.
Tell us your story – when and how did you start writing fiction?
I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t writing fiction, although in my much younger days almost all my stories revolved around football and cricket. It wasn’t until I was shortlisted for the Crime Writers’ Association Debut Dagger in 2013 (I met the late, great Frederick Forsythe at the awards dinner) that I thought that this was maybe something I could do.
We’ve heard of some unusual writing habits over the years, what would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?
I can’t write in silence and I can’t listen to any music that wasn’t recorded by spiky haired ruffians between 1977 and 1980.
What’s the one line or paragraph you’re most proud of in your shortlisted book?
‘That’s supposed to be Jesus?’ Poe said. ‘I thought it was Bjorn Börg.’
Let’s say you’re going rogue: which crime fiction villain would you most enjoy being (just for research, of course)?
Dr. No. I like the idea of constructing an obstacle course of torture (complete with giant squids, of course)
Which writers have influenced your own writing the most?
Michael Connelly, Terry Pratchett, Ian Fleming, Stephen King
You’re cast in a gritty crime drama. Are you the detective, suspect or the wildcard witness?
I’m the blunt instrument who gets taught a necessary lesson in humility very early on in the show
What book would you always recommend to someone who “doesn’t usually read crime”?
Darkness, Take My Hand by Dennis Lehane is my most recommended crime book.
What’s the best book you’ve read recently?
Pagans by James Alistair Henry, an alternative history novel that asks the question – what if the Norman Conquest never happened? The tagline – Two cops. One killer. Hundreds of Gods – was enough for me to spend my pocket money. Thankfully, Pagans is the first in a planned trilogy.
About the Book
Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin… Washington Poe has a story to tell. And he needs you to listen. You’ll hear how it started with the robber birds. Crows. Dozens of them. Enough for a murder…
He’ll tell you about a man who was tied to a tree and stoned to death, a man who had tattooed himself with a code so obscure, even the gifted analyst Tilly Bradshaw struggled to break it. He’ll tell you how the man’s murder was connected to a tragedy that happened fifteen years earlier when a young girl massacred her entire family. And finally, he’ll tell you about the mercy chair. And why people would rather kill themselves than talk about it…
Poe hopes you’ve been paying attention. Because in this story, nothing is as it seems…
About the Author
Multi-award-winning author M.W. Craven was born in Carlisle but grew up in Newcastle. He joined the army at sixteen, leaving ten years later to complete a social work degree. Seventeen years after taking up a probation officer role in Cumbria, at the rank of assistant chief officer, he became a full-time author.
He is an instant Sunday Times bestseller and, for his Cumbria-set Washington Poe series, a recipient of the 2019 Crime Writers’ Association Gold Dagger, the 2022 Ian Fleming Steel Dagger and the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2023. The series has now been translated into twenty-seven languages.
About the Awards
The most prestigious award in crime fiction, the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of The Year marks its 21st year in 2025.
The award celebrates excellence, originality, and the very best in crime fiction from UK and Irish authors. A highlight in the literary calendar, past winners include Denise Mina, Lee Child, Val McDermid and 2024’s winner Jo Callaghan.
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.
The winner will be announced at the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Awards and Party on Thursday 17 July 2025.
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