THE longlist of books nominated for the McIlvanney Prize at this year’s Bloody Scotland event has been released.
The award, formerly known as Scottish Crime Book of the Year, is presented in memory of William McIlvanney, who established the tradition of Scottish detective fiction.
This year his son, Liam McIlvanney, has made the longlist for the prize.
The list has been chosen by an independent panel of readers and features an intriguing mix of previous winners, established crime writing luminaries, some emerging talent and a debut.
The award recognises excellence in Scottish crime writing, includes a prize of £1,000 and nationwide promotion in Waterstones.
The longlist
Lin Anderson, Follow the Dead (Macmillan)
Chris Brookmyre, Places in the Darkness (Little, Brown)
Mason Cross, Presumed Dead (Orion)
Charles Cumming, The Man Between (Harper Collins)
Oscar De Muriel, The Loch of the Dead (Michael Joseph)
Helen Fields, Perfect Death (Harper Collins)
Alison James, Now She’s Gone (Bookouture)
Liam McIlvanney, The Quaker (Harper Collins)
James Oswald, No Time to Cry (Headline)
Caro Ramsay, The Suffering of Strangers (Severn House)
Andrew Reid, The Hunter (Headline)
Craig Robertson, The Photographer (Simon & Schuster)
The judges for the next round will be chaired by Craig Sisterson and include comedian and crime fiction fan, Susan Calman, as well as crime reviewer, Alison Flood.
The finalists will be revealed at the beginning of September and the winner kept under wraps until the ceremony itself, which this year will take place at the Church of the Holy Rude in Stirling.
It will be followed by a torchlight procession – led by the winner accompanied by Denise Mina and Val McDermid – to their first event at the Albert Halls.
Both the opening ceremony and the torchlight procession are open to the public but tickets are selling fast and capacity is less than at the castle last year so people are urged to book them now.
Previous winners are Denise Mina with The Long Drop 2017, Chris Brookmyre with Black Widow 2016, Craig Russell with The Ghosts of Altona in 2015, Peter May with Entry Island in 2014, Malcolm Mackay with How A Gunman Says Goodbye in 2013 and Charles Cumming with A Foreign Country in 2012.
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