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Discover the opening chapters of this year’s shortlisted titles for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award.
These exclusive extracts offer the perfect introduction to the books competing for the prize, giving you a flavour of the gripping plots, unforgettable characters and thrilling suspense before casting your vote.
About the Book
The million-copy bestselling author of His and Hers, Alice Feeney, returns with a gripping and deliciously dark thriller about marriage… and revenge.
Author Grady Green is having the worst best day of his life. Grady calls his wife as she’s driving home to share some exciting news. He hears Abby slam on the brakes, get out of the car, then nothing.
When he eventually finds her car by a cliff edge, the headlights are on, the driver door is open, her phone is still there… but his wife has disappeared. A year later, Grady is still overcome with grief and desperate to know what happened to Abby.
He can’t sleep, and he can’t write, so he travels to a tiny Scottish island to try to get his life back on track. Then he sees the impossible: a woman who looks exactly like his missing wife.
Read the first chapter: Beautiful Ugly – Chapter 1
About the author
Alice Feeney is the Sunday Times and New York Times multi-million-copy bestselling author of eight novels. The Netflix adaptation of His & Hers was a Global #1 in 80 countries, and the most watched TV show in the world in January 2026. Alice was a BBC journalist for fifteen years before becoming an author. Her books have been translated into forty languages, and have been optioned for major screen adaptations, including her most recent novel, My Husband’s Wife. Her ninth novel, Twist, will be published in 2027.
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About the Awards
The Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award celebrates excellence, originality, and the very best in crime fiction by UK and Irish authors. A highlight of the literary calendar, it is recognised as one of the most prestigious accolades in the genre.
Each year, a longlist of 18 titles is carefully selected by a panel of industry experts. The public is then invited to take part in two key stages of the voting process: first, to help determine the shortlist of six novels from the longlist, and later, to help choose the overall winner from the shortlist. In both stages, the public vote is combined with the judging panel’s decision to reach the final outcome. The winner will be announced at the Opening Ceremony of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, which will next take place on Thursday 23 July 2026.
The winner will receive a £3,000 cash prize and a hand-engraved oak beer cask, crafted by one of Britain’s last remaining coopers at Theakston’s Brewery in Masham, North Yorkshire. Past winners include Mark Billingham, Denise Mina, Lee Child, Val McDermid, M.W. Craven, Jo Callaghan and 2025’s winner, Abir Mukherjee.