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Jo Callaghan wins Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2024
Jo Callaghan’s debut novel In the Blink of an Eye has been has been announced as the winner of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2024.
Callaghan was presented with the award by Harrogate International Festival at a special ceremony on the opening night of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival.
In the Blink of an Eye introduces an intriguing detective double act, as bereaved DCS Kat Frank is chosen to lead a pilot programme that sees her paired with AI colleague Lock, as human experience combines with logic to solve a complex missing-persons case.
Callaghan was selected for the festival’s prestigious ‘New Blood’ panel in 2023 and has used her background as a strategist specialising in the future of work to create an innovative—and at times humorous—story examining the role of AI in criminal investigation. The novel, which Callaghan started writing after losing her husband to cancer in 2019, also explores grief and learning to live with loss.
Callaghan will receive a £3,000 prize, as well as an engraved beer cask handcrafted by one of Britain’s last coopers from Theakston Brewery.
In the Blink of an Eye was selected by a judging panel made up of journalists, broadcasters and representatives from the award’s sponsors, with the public vote counting as the seventh judge, from a shortlist that also included The Last Dance by Mark Billingham, The Secret Hours by Mick Herron, Killing Jericho by William Hussey, None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell and Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent.
Callaghan said: "I am so honoured to have won this award—this time last year I sat on the debut panel and I never imagined this is where I’d be now. Huge thank you to everyone on the judging panel, my fellow shortlistees, and my biggest thanks go to all the wonderful readers who have taken Kat and Lock to their hearts.”
The inaugural McDermid Debut Award, named in recognition of world-famous crime writer Val McDermid, was also announced, with Marie Tierney the winner for Deadly Animals. She receives a £500 cash prize. Nicola Sturgeon presented the award on behalf of McDermid, who is chair of the judges and helped select the winner.
Tierney said: "I’m shocked and overwhelmed by winning this incredible award because the competition was incredibly fierce."
Martina Cole received the Theakston Old Peculier Outstanding Contribution Award in recognition of her impressive writing career.
Cole said: "It is a tremendous honour to receive this award. I’d like to thank everyone in the crime-writing community—my fans, my fellow authors, my publisher, Headline, and my agent, Darley Anderson, for supporting me over the past 32 years. Opening up new worlds to readers, some of whom had never read a book before they picked up one of mine, has always given me a huge sense of pride and pleasure."
Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Awards 2024 winners in full
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WINNER of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2024: In the Blink of an Eye by Jo Callaghan (Simon & Schuster)
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WINNER of the McDermid Debut Award: Deadly Animals by Marie Tierney (Bonnier Books)
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Theakston Old Peculier Outstanding Contribution Award: Martina Cole (Headline)
Theakston said: “Tonight’s winners truly represent the very best of crime and thriller writing. In the Blink of an Eye is a boundary-pushing take on the police-procedural genre, told with heart and humour and with a plot that kept me hooked until the very last page. I was chilled and thrilled by Deadly Animals, our first McDermid Debut Award Winner, and Marie Tierney really is a star of the future. We are delighted to celebrate Martina Cole’s illustrious career, which has inspired readers and writers from around the world, with our Theakston Old Peculier Outstanding Contribution Award.”
Sharon Canavar, chief executive of Harrogate International Festivals, said: "Awards night is always a special way to open the festival and we are thrilled to celebrate the work of three extraordinary women crime writers this year. Jo Callaghan’s In the Blink of an Eye is a truly ground-breaking novel that changes the way we think about policing forever. We are delighted to reveal Marie Tierney as our first McDermid Debut Award winner. Her novel Deadly Animals impressed all the judges with the calibre of the writing and the assured handling of a harrowing story. We are thrilled to celebrate the work of the phenomenal Martina Cole with the Theakston Old Peculier Outstanding Contribution Award. Truly a crime-fiction legend, Martina has amassed a legion of devoted fans over the course of her career, captivating readers with her extraordinary characters and compelling plots.”
The award winners were revealed at the Old Swan Hotel in Harrogate.
The Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2024 is presented by Harrogate International Festivals and sponsored by T&R Theakston Ltd, in partnership with Waterstones and the Daily Express, and is open to full-length crime novels published in paperback between 1st May 2023 and 30th April 2024. The winner receives £3,000 and a handmade, engraved beer barrel provided by T&R Theakston Ltd.
