Top authors on longlist for Harrogate’s Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2024 awards

The longlist, voted for by an academy of crime writing authors, agents, editors, reviewers and members of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival Programming Committee, sees six former winners are vying for top honours, including 2023 champion MW Craven, longlisted for his high-octane US-set thriller Fearless, alongside Queen of Crime Val McDermid for cold case mystery Past Lying, and Mick Herron, the author behind Apple TV’s smash-hit series ‘Slow Horses,’ for his elegant stand-alone spy novel The Secret Hours.

Also nominated are Chris Brookmyre’s edgy thriller about a murderous hen party on a remote Scottish island, The Cliff House, two times winner Mark Billingham’s The Last Dance, the first novel in his captivating new Blackpool set detective series and Clare Mackintosh’s reality TV set thriller A Game of Lies.

Vera author Ann Cleeves, who was awarded the Theakston Old Peculier Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction Award in 2023 adds to this illustrious list, nominated for her atmospheric detective novel The Raging Storm.

The Last Dance by Mark Billingham (Sphere; Little, Brown Book Group)

The Cliff House by Chris Brookmyre (Abacus; Little, Brown Book Group)

In the Blink of an Eye by Jo Callaghan (Simon & Schuster UK)

The Close by Jane Casey (Harper Fiction; Harper Collins)

The Raging Storm by Ann Cleeves (Pan Macmillan)

Fearless by M W Craven (Constable; Little, Brown Book Group)

The Last Remains by Elly Griffiths (Quercus)

The Secret Hours by Mick Herron (Baskerville; John Murray Press)

Killing Jericho by William Hussey (Zaffre, Bonnier)

None of This is True by Lisa Jewell (Century; Cornerstone)

Conviction by Jack Jordan (Simon & Schuster)

A Game of Lies by Clare Mackintosh (Sphere; Little, Brown Book Group

The Broken Afternoon by Simon Mason (riverrun; Quercus)

Past Lying by Val McDermid (Sphere; Little, Brown Book Group)

Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent (Sandycove; Penguin Ireland)

The Square of Sevens by Laura Shepherd-Robinson (Pan Macmillan)

The Last Goodbye by Tim Weaver (Michael Joseph; Penguin Random House)

You Can Run by Trevor Wood (Quercus)

Crime fiction fans are now invited to vote for their favourite novels to reach the shortlist, with the winner announced on the opening night of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival on Thursday, July 18.

To vote, visit: www.harrogatetheakstoncrimeaward.com