Indies dominate Bloody Scotland's McIlvanney Prize longlist 

Independent Scottish publishers Canongate and Polygon claim half the titles longlisted for this year’s McIlvanney Prize, organised by the Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary. 

The annual award goes to the best Scottish crime book of the year. Canongate’s trio of nominations consists of May God Forgive by Alan Parks, A Corruption of Blood by Ambrose Parry and The Second Cut by Louise Welsh. Polygon’s two are Rizzio by Denise Mina, who won the prize in 2017, and A Rattle of Bones by Douglas Skelton. 

Returning winners who have made the cut include Liam McIlvanney, who is listed for The Heretic (HarperCollins), and Chris Brookmyre, who is one half of the pseudonym Ambrose Parry. To date, he has appeared on every McIlvanney longlist either as himself or his alter ego.

Previous Bloody Scotland Debut Prize winners are now featuring on the main prize list too. Claire Askew was the inaugural winner of the award in 2019, and is listed for A Matter of Time (Hodder), while Deborah Masson who won it in 2020, makes the cut with From the Ashes (Transworld).

Bob McDevitt, director of the festival, said: "I’m so pleased to see such an excellent longlist of books in the running for this year’s McIlvanney prize. Police procedurals dominate this year, set all around Scotland and from the 1970s to the present day, along with a few striking historical novels (set before the 1970s!) and some contemporary Glasgow noir. Once again, the judges have their work cut out for them."

The prize will be judged by Ayo Onatade, winner of the CWA Red Herring Award and freelance crime fiction critic, Janice Forsyth, presenter of the "Afternoon Show" on BBC Radio Scotland, and Ewan Wilson, crime fiction buyer from Waterstones Glasgow. 

Finalists for the McIlvanney Prize will be revealed at the beginning of September while the winner will be announced in Stirling on 15th September. 

The Glencairn Glass company is again sponsoring both the McIlvanney Prize and the Bloody Scotland Debut Crime Novel of the Year for 2022, which has its shortlist announcement on 28th July. 

Kirsty Nicholson, the company’s design and marketing manager commented: "This is our third year of sponsoring the McIlvanney Prize with the Glencairn Glass and once again we’re delighted to see such an exciting longlist for the award. Congratulations to all the authors who have made it this far. The books featured on the longlist provide the perfect opportunity to discover the best in crime fiction alongside a wee dram of whisky in the world’s favourite whisky glass."

The longlist in full:

A Matter of Time by Claire Askew (Hodder)

The Sound of Sirens by Ewan Gault (Leamington Books)

The Blood Tide by Neil Lancaster (HarperCollins)

From the Ashes by Deborah Masson (Transworld)

The Heretic by Liam McIlvanney (HarperCollins)

Rizzio by Denise Mina (Polygon)

May God Forgive by Alan Parks (Canongate)

A Corruption of Blood by Ambrose Parry (Canongate)

A Rattle of Bones by Douglas Skelton (Polygon)

The Second Cut by Louise Welsh (Canongate)