THEAKESTON OLD PECULIER CRIME WRITERS AWARD

The full shortlist for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2020 is:

My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite (Atlantic Books)
Worst Case Scenario by Helen Fitzgerald (Orenda Books)
The Lost Man by Jane Harper (Little, Brown Book Group, Little, Brown)
Joe Country by Mick Herron (John Murray Press)
The Chain by Adrian McKinty (Orion Publishing Group, Orion Fiction)
Smoke and Ashes by Abir Mukherjee (VINTAGE, Harvill Secker)

The shortlist was selected by an academy of crime writing authors, agents, editors, reviewers, members of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival Programming Committee, representatives from T&R Theakston Ltd, the Express, and WHSmith, alongside a public vote.
The public vote for the winner is now open on  www.harrogatetheakstoncrimeaward.com, with the champion set to be revealed in a virtual awards ceremony on Thursday 23 July marking what would have been the opening evening of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival.
The event – which formed part of Harrogate International Festival Summer Season - was cancelled due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. 
The winner will receive £3,000 and an engraved oak beer cask, hand-carved by one of Britain’s last coopers from Theakstons Brewery.

How can I argue with this selection of books and authors that are now short listed for this award? From the long list I have read six and started on a seventh book. That one is ‘Nothing Important Happened Today’ by Will Carver. The cover proclaims “Nine suicides. One cult. No leader” and the comment from the Independent “Arguably the most original crime novel published this year”. I am struggling to read it and may even give up on it, but the title, the perceived subject matter and my stubbornness may see it through to the end. However, it is not a ‘must’ read and it has not made it into the final six.

Only two, Jane Harper with ‘The Lost Man’ set in Australia and Abir Mukherjee with ‘Smoke and Ashes’ describing his detective abilities during the British dominance of India. I have read and I enjoyed both immensely and I would recommend them to crime novel enthusiasts. However of the books that I have read recently two stand out high above the other stories.

Eva Dolan and her gripping tale entitled ‘Between Two Evils’ (not even in the long list) and Alex North with ‘The Whisper Man’. The latter, I predicted would be this year's winner. How wrong I was and how could they possibly leave it out of the short list? Perhaps if I read the other four in that list I may change my mind, but I doubt it.

The question for me is how can I vote for anyone else when my ‘winner’ is not there?
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