The Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award is one of the UK's top crime-fiction awards, sponsored by Theakston's Old Peculier. It is awarded annually at Harrogate Crime Writing Festival in the UK, held every July, as part of the Harrogate International Festivals. The winner receives £3000 and a small hand-carved oak beer cask carved by one of Britain's last coopers. Novels eligible are those crime novels published in paperback any time during the previous year. Voting is by the public with decisions of a jury-panel also taken into account, a fact not-much publicised by the award organisers, who are keen to emphasise the public-voting aspect of the award.
Recipients +Award winners and nomineesYearAuthorTitleResultRef.2005LazybonesWinnerShortlistDisordered Minds2006WinnerShortlistFleshmarket CloseOne Last BreathStrange Blood2007Two-Way SplitWinnerShortlistAll Fun and Games Until Somebody Loses an EyeBlood and HoneyCold Granite2008The Tenderness of WolvesWinnerBlue Shoes and HappinessShortlistBuriedDying LightNot Dead EnoughOne UnderPiece of My HeartRelentlessSovereign2009Death MessageWinnerShortlistBad Luck and TroubleBeneath the BleedingBroken SkinDead Man's FootstepsExit MusicFriend of the DevilGarden of EvilGone to GroundRitualSavage Moon2010WinnerShortlistChild 44Dead TomorrowDoors OpenGallows LaneIn the Dark201161 HoursWinnerShortlistBlood HarvestDark BloodFrom the Dead2012WinnerShortlistBefore I Go to SleepBlack FlowersNow You See MeWhere the Bodies are Buried2013Gods and BeastsWinnerShortlistRush of BloodSafe HouseStolen Souls2014RubberneckerWinnerShortlistDeath of Lewis WinterDying FallEleven Days2015Someone Else's SkinWinnerShortlistEntry Island2016I Let You GoWinnerCareer of EvilShortlistDisclaimerRain DogsTell No TalesTime of Death2017Black WidowWinnerAfter You DieShortlistLie with MeMissing, PresumedOut of BoundsReal Tigers2018WinnerShortlistInsidious IntentPersons UnknownSpook Street2019ThirteenWinnerShortlistBroken GroundEast of HounslowLondon RulesSnap2020WinnerShortlistJoe CountryMy Sister, the Serial KillerSmoke and AshesWorst Case Scenario2021We Begin at the EndWinnerShortlistDeath in the East2022Slough HouseWinnerLaura Shepherd-RobinsonDaughters of Night ShortlistMidnight at Malabar House Will DeanJoseph KnoxTrue Crime Story2023M. W. CravenThe BotanistWinnerFiona CumminsInto the DarkShortlistElly GriffithsThe Locked RoomDoug JohnstoneBlack HeartsGillian McAllisterWrong Place, Wrong timeRuth WareThe It Girl2024Jo CallaghanIn the Blink of an EyeWinnerMark BillinghamThe Last DanceShortlistMick HerronThe Secret HoursWilliam HusseyKilling JerichoLisa JewellNone of This is TrueLiz NugentStrange Sally Diamond2025Abir MukherjeeHuntedWinnerChris BrookmyreThe Cracked MirrorShortlistM W CravenThe Mercy ChairElly GriffithsThe Last WordMarie TierneyDeadly AnimalsChris WhitakerAll the Colours of the Dark
Outstanding Contribution YearAuthorResultRef.2022Michael ConnellyAwarded2023Ann CleevesAwarded2024Martina ColeAwarded
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