Winners of the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize and the McIlvanney Prize revealed

Tariq Ashkanani has been crowned winner of the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize with Welcome to Cooper (Thomas & Mercer), while Alan Parks has won the McIlvanney Prize for May God Forgive (Canongate).

The prizes are part of Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival and were announced on 15th September at the Albert Halls after all finalists led a torchlit procession there from Stirling Castle.

The McIlvanney Prize—named the Bloody Scotland Prize for Scottish Crime Writing until 2016, when it was renamed—recognises excellence in Scottish crime writing and includes a prize of £1,000 and nationwide promotion in Waterstones.

Ayo Onatade, chair of the McIlvanney Prize judges, described May God Forgive as: “A terrific continuation of Alan Parks’ police procedural ‘month’ series. May God Forgive is every bit as entertaining, gritty, darkly humorous and steeped in the grimy underbelly of Glasgow as the previous books.

“A fantastic book with an intriguing cast of characters that not only keeps to a tight timeframe, but is fast, hard, edgy and thought-provoking; 1970s Glasgow has never been so thoroughly invoked. A truly gripping read.”

May God Forgive is the fifth outing for Alan Parks’ Glasgow detective Harry McCoy and sees a desperate search for two kidnapped boys. Parks was also a finalist for the McIlvanney Prize in 2021.

Arusa Qureshi, chair of the judges for the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize, described Ashkanani’s Welcome to Cooper as “well-structured, bleak and just the right amount of disturbing”.

“Tariq Ashkanani has crafted a terrific debut that doesn’t provide an obvious hero, but instead draws out the flaws and bad choices of its central characters. This provides a sense of discomfort that stays with you throughout but that’s where the beauty lies. I found myself going back and re-reading once I’d finished to make sure I had every detail right, which I think is the mark of a really clever and riveting story,” she said.

Ashkanani is a solicitor based in Edinburgh. His debut was the first in a two-book deal with Thomas & Mercer. His second novel, Follow Me to the Edge, was published in March 2022.

The Glencairn Glass once again sponsored both prizes. The winners were presented with a trophy by Kirsty Nicholson, design and marketing manager at Glencairn Crystal, who said: “A huge congratulations to Tariq Ashkanani and Alan Parks for winning this year’s awards.

“It has been a privilege and a delight to once again support these prestigious awards with the Glencairn Glass— both of which are uniquely Scottish—and to celebrate the array of talented writers in the world of Scottish crime fiction.”