Theakstons longlist

Shots has just announced the longlist for the 2015 Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year award, and I'm amazed and very pleased that The Killing Season is on it.

This is a pretty big deal, as the longlist of 18 is cut down from hundreds of submissions. All of these titles will be promoted by WHSmith in the runup to the announcement of the shortlist on 15 June and the eventual winner on 16 July.

I'm actually kind of astounded to be in the running for the most prestigious British crime novel award for my debut novel. I always wanted to write an enjoyable, page-turning book, but awards have frankly never crossed my mind. Anyway, it's still a longshot since I'm up against 17 other great books (including some of my literary heroes), but it's a very nice place to be.

Here's the list in full:

 

• Eeny Meeny by M.J. Arlidge, Michael Joseph
• The Facts Of Life And Death by Belinda Bauer, Black Swan
• The Ghost Runner by Parker Bilal, Bloomsbury
• The Strangler Vine by M.J. Carter, Fig Tree
• The Axeman's Jazz by Ray Celestin, Mantle
• Personal by Lee Child, Bantam
• The Killing Season by Mason Cross, Orion Fiction
• Bryant& May - The Bleeding Heart by Christopher Fowler, Bantam
• The Outcast Dead by Elly Griffiths, Quercus
• The Telling Error by Sophie Hannah, Hodder & Stoughton
• Darkness, Darkness by John Harvey, Arrow
• Someone Else's Skin by Sarah Hilary, Headline
• The Devil in the Marshalsea by Antonia Hodgson, Hodder & Stoughton
• Entry Island by Peter May, Quercus
• Disappeared by Anthony Quinn, Head of Zeus
• Saints of the Shadow Bible by Ian Rankin, Orion Fiction
• The Farm by Tom Rob Smith, Simon & Schuster
• A Lovely Way to Burn by Louise Welsh, John Murray Publishers