Denise Mina takes home Crime Book of the Year for The Long Drop
Glasgow writer Denise Mina last night took home the Mcilvanney Award for Scottish Crime Book of the Year for her novel The Long Drop.
She beat Val Mcdermid (Out of Bounds), Craig Robertson (Murderabilia), 2015 winner Craig Russell (The Quiet Death of Thomas Quaid) and Jay Stringer (How to Kill Friends and Implicate People) to the prize, renamed in 2016 in memory of writer William Mcilvanney.
Last night’s ceremony in Stirling also marked the beginning of the Bloody Scotland crime-writing festival, which runs until tomorrow.
The book tells part of the story of murderer Peter Manuel, alternating between the December night in 1957, when he met William Watt – whose wife, sister-in-law and daughter were murdered – and Manuel’s trial in mid-1958. Wattwasinitiallysuspectedof the murders; Manuel would be found guilty of the killings.
Chairwoman of the judging panel Lee Randall said last night: “Full of astute psychological observations, this novel’s not only about what happened in the 1950s, but about storytelling itself. It shows how legends grow wings, and how memories shape-shift and mark us. For my money this is one of the books of 2017 – in any genre.”
Reviewing it in The Scotsman earlier this year, Stuart Kelly said: “The Long Drop is not just a success and a thrilling read in its own right, but a game-changer for the genre.”