JON COATES AND MATT NIXSON TAKE DOWN THE PARTICULARS OF THE SIX THEAKSTON OLD PECULIER NOVEL OF THE YEAR FINALISTS

THE LANTERN MEN BY ELLY GRIFFITHS (QUERCUS, £8.99)

ELLY Griffiths worked in publishing before writing her first book, The Crossing Places, while on maternity leave with her twins.

The inspiration for her Dr Ruth Galloway series came from a chance remark made by her archaeologist husband Andy while on holiday in Norfolk. Elly said: “While walking across Titchwell Marsh he mentioned prehistoric man had thought that marshland was sacred. Because it’s neither land nor sea, but something in-between, they saw it as a kind of bridge to the afterlife. Neither land nor sea, neither life nor death. As he said these words the entire plot of The Crossing Places appeared, fully formed, in my head and, walking towards me, I saw Dr Ruth Galloway.”

The Lantern Men, the 12th novel in the bestselling series, was inspired by a legend about mysterious cloaked figures seen on marshland carrying flickering lanterns to entice victims to their doom. Elly, 57, said: “I’m absolutely thrilled to be on the Theakston shortlist. The great thing about setting the books in Norfolk is I will never run out of archaeology or spooky legends.”

THE LAST CROSSING BY BRIAN McGILLOWAY (LITTLE, BROWN, £8.99)

MULTI-AWARD winning Northern Irish author Brian McGilloway combines writing with working full-time as head of sixth form at Holy Cross College in Strabane, west Tyrone, where he lives with wife Tanya, and their four children, Ben, Tom, David and Lucy.

At one point he took a two-year break to write full-time but returned to work because he missed seeing pupils and talking about books: “Because writers are magpies and pick up stuff all the time, I worried if I was in the house all the time I would end up repeating the same stories.”

His first novel, Borderlands, featuring Inspector Ben Devlin, was published in 2007. His Theakston-nominated novel, The Last Crossing, his tenth, reunites three former friends, bringing the past sharply into focus. Brian, 47, says: “I’m delighted to be shortlisted and honoured to be among such a fine group of writers. The Last Crossing came out at the start of lockdown, after a challenging path to publication, so I’m grateful to everyone who has supported it and helped it find a second wind of sorts.”

DEATH IN THE EAST BY ABIR MUKHERJEE (VINTAGE, £8.99)

ABIR Mukherjee is the bestselling author of the Wyndham and Banerjee series of crime novels set in Raj-era India which have been translated into 15 languages.

He’s twice won the CWA Dagger for best Historical Novel, as well as the Prix du Polar Européen and the Wilbur Smith Award for Adventure Writing. His new novel, The Shadows of Men, will be released this November.

Abir, 47, grew up in Scotland and now lives in Surrey with wife, Sonal and two sons, Milan and Aran.

Death in the East, the fourth in his gripping detective series, sees Captain Sam Wyndham confronted by a ghost from his Whitechapel past while being treated for his opium addiction at an Assam clinic.

Abir, who has twice been shortlisted, says: “The Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year is one of the greatest awards in global crime writing. It’s humbling to have made the shortlist again. I just hope I can go on to win this year, because right now I feel a bit like Ivan Lendl at Wimbledon.”

WE BEGIN AT THE END BY CHRIS WHITAKER (BONNIER, £8.99)

BEING stabbed by a mugger for his mobile phone when he was 19 plunged Chris Whitaker into a downward spiral that left him considering suicide. Finding it cathartic to get his thoughts down on paper, he started writing. Having worked as a stockbroker in the City he quit to become a full-time writer in 2012.

His debut novel Tall Oaks won the Crime Writers’ Association New Blood Dagger in 2016 and his second, Wicked Girls, followed a year later, but it took him three years to finish We Begin At The End.

This coming-of-age epic tells the story of a 13-year-old girl called Duchess as she tries to protect her family from a convicted killer who returns to their small US town. On being shortlisted Chris, 39, who lives in Hertfordshire with wifeVictoria and their three children, said: “I started writing this book almost 20 years ago and didn’t ever imagine it being published. So to say that being recognised by Theakston, alongside so many wonderful writers, is a dream come true would be a lie – I didn’t dream this big.”

THREE HOURS BY ROSAMUND LUPTON (VIKING, £8.99)

ROSAMUND Lupton has written stories since she was a young girl, saying her mother used to tie pages together to make little books. After studying literature at Cambridge University she became a screenwriter “on a couple of low budget films and on TV series, including The Bill”.

She turned her hand to writing novels when her two children were at school and her first psychological thriller, Sister, won the Richard and Judy best debut novel award in 2010, and became a bestseller in the UK and US. Rosamund, 56, lives in Surrey with husband Martin, an obstetrician, and has since written three more novels, of which the latest is Three Hours.

This gripping thriller sees pupils and teachers barricade themselves into classrooms when armed gunmen lay siege to a rural Somerset school. Rosamund said: “I felt I needed to hear from everyone – families desperate for news, police trying to get an insight into the gunman’s motives. I think the different voices help to build the tension and propel the story along.”

THE MAN ON THE STREET BY TREVOR WOOD (QUERCUS, £8.99)

HAVING enjoyed multiple careers – including a 16-year stint in the Royal Navy and a successful spell as a spin doctor then playwright – Trevor Wood turned to fiction later in life. At 62, he’s the oldest of this year’s Harrogate finalists, for his brilliant debut novel. The Man On The Street introduces his homeless Navy veteran turned investigator Jimmy Mullen.

In a satisfying piece of symmetry, Trevor – born in Bristol but now living in Newcastle where his wife Pam Briggs is a professor at Northumbria University (their daughter, Becca, is studying criminology inVancouver) – was one ofVal McDermid’s New Blood picks last year for The Man On The Street. Its sequel, One Way Street, was published earlier this month.

“I might not be the best writer on this list but I’d wager I’m the most thrilled and surprised,” says Trevor.

●Vote for your crime novel of the year, supported by the Daily Express andWH Smith, via harrogatetheakston crimeaward.com