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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
After Major Boothroyd (aka Q) is unexpectedly ousted from his role with British Intelligence developing technologies for MI6’s Double O agents, he is adrift, unsure of his place in a world where the stakes aren’t always life or death.
But when he learns that his childhood friend, renowned quantum computer scientist Peter Napier, has died in mysterious circumstances, Q is drawn back to his sleepy hometown of Wickstone-on-Water.
Frustrated by the police, who consider the case closed, Q is compelled to investigate, starting with a cryptic note Napier sent him on the day of his death. Q soon discovers that Napier’s ground-breaking work may have attracted sinister forces… but can he decode the truth before danger closes in?
Read the first chapter: Quantum of Menace – Chapter 1
About the author
Vaseem Khan is the author of two award-winning crime series set in India, the Baby Ganesh Agency series set in modern Mumbai, and the Malabar House historical crime novels set in 1950s Bombay.
He is also the author of The Girl in Cell A, a psychological thriller set in small town America. His first book, The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra, was selected by the Sunday Times as one of the 40 best crime novels published 2015-2020, and is translated into 17 languages. In 2021, Midnight at Malabar House won the Crime Writers Association Historical Dagger.
Vaseem was born in England, but spent a decade working in India. In 2006, he returned to the UK and joined University College London’s Department of Security and Crime Science, where he has helped manage the Dawes Centre for Future Crime.
In 2023, Vaseem was elected Chair of the UK Crime Writers’ Association.
Buy the Book
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.