Mcdermid’s 30th book is shortlisted for Crime Novel of the Year award
Val Mcdermid will be hoping to score a win with her 30th novel, which has been shortlisted for a major crimewriting prize.
The Scot is nominated for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year award alongside five of her contemporaries.
Last year, Mcdermid won the ceremony’s top prize as she was awarded the Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction.
Mcdermid’s 2016 book Out Of Bounds, part of her Inspector Karen Pirie series, is up for the Crime Novel of the Year award this year.
She will go up against Christopher Brookmyre for Black Widow, Eva Dolan for After You Die, Sabine Durrant for Lie With Me, Mick Herron for Real Tigers and Susie Steiner for Missing, Presumed.
Last year’s winner of the novel prize was Clare Mackintosh for I Let You Go, which has sold more than a million copies worldwide.
Simon Theakston, the executive director of the ceremony’s title sponsor T&R Theakston, said: “As these novels show, crime novels explore issues at the heart of our society and tap into the zeitgeist. 2017’s winner will join the list of gamechanging authors who have won this most coveted award over the last decade, including Denise Mina, Lee Child and Sarah Hilary.”
The winner for the Crime Novel of the Year award will be announced on 20 July, on the opening night of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate.
Jack Reacher creator Child has also been revealed as the winner of the Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction award for 2017.
The British author, who follows in the footsteps of Mcder author mid, Lynda La Plante, Ruth Rendell, PD James and Colin Dexter for the top accolade, has said the prize seems “a bit absurd”.
The Jack Reacher series has been adapted into movies starring Tom Cruise and tops bestseller lists worldwide, with 100 million books sold.
The winner for will be decided by the panel of judges as well as a public vote. Voting opens on 1 July and closes on 15 July at www.theakstons.co.uk.