Adam Gordon wins Criminal Lines competition

Adam Gordon has been crowned winner of Criminal Lines, a competition run in collaboration between A M Heath, Orion Publishing Group and Crime Monthly magazine, focused on finding new voices in the crime, thriller, mystery and suspense fiction genres.  

Gordon was selected by a panel of judges including authors Vaseem Khan and Mari Hannah. As winner, Gordon receives a £3,500 cash prize, and an offer of representation from A M Heath. The prize runner-up, Lucy Andrew, will receive mentorship from Orion Fiction.  

Gordon’s winning submission, Beasts, is set in Glasgow in 1871, where a series of grotesque murders is seemingly inspired by Charles Darwin’s newly published The Descent of Man. The investigation leads one detective to confront his past. 

Andrew’s submission, Harriet Smith and the Homicidal Heir, is a cosy crime retelling of Jane Austen’s Emma that transforms Emma’s gullible sidekick, Harriet Smith, into a feisty conwoman-turned-detective.  

Gordon said: “I’m delighted to win. It’s a wonderful opportunity to start building a career doing something I love. Competitions like this are vital to new writers – it’s so hard to get your work out there and seen by agents and publishers. Winning Criminal Lines is a huge step forward, and the prize money will let me focus on the important thing: writing more.” 

Khan added: “It’s rare for a new writer to exhibit subtlety as well as a strong command of prose, atmosphere, and an understanding of key genre beats. And then to combine that with a compelling proposition. Beasts does all this, with an added dollop of historical goodness. The best thing I can say? If this book goes on to hit the shelves, I would buy a copy.”