Val McDermid and Mick Herron up for Theakston Crime Novel of the Year

Harrogate International Festivals announced today the 18 titles longlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2024, with authors such as Val McDermid, Ann Cleeves and Mick Herron nominated. 

Established names such as McDermid, Mark Billingham, Cleeves and Herron are nominated alongside rising stars such as Jo Callaghan, William Hussey and Simon Mason.  

The longlist – voted for by an academy of crime writing authors, agents, editors, reviewers and members of the Theakston Festival Programming Committee – features “stories that transport readers from the burning heat of the Chihuahuan Desert to the chill of 1990’s Berlin, from down-at-heel Blackpool to the splendour of Georgian London,” organisers said.

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

The award, now in its 20th year, is presented by Harrogate International Festivals and sponsored by T&R Theakston Ltd, in partnership with Waterstones and the Daily Express. It is open to full-length crime novels published in paperback between 1st May 2023 and 30th April 2024. The public can vote to help decide the shortlist of six titles from 8am on 25th April here.

Voting closes on 16th May, with the shortlist announced on 13th June. The winner will be revealed on the opening night of Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival on 18 July, receiving £3,000 and a handmade, engraved beer barrel provided by T&R Theakston Ltd. 

The Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2024 longlist in full: 

• The Last Dance by Mark Billingham (Sphere; Little, Brown) 
• The Cliff House by Chris Brookmyre (Abacus; Little, Brown) 
• 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 UK) 
• 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)