Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award Longlists

 

Harrogate International Festivals today announced the 18 titles longlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award 2026, the UK and Ireland’s most prestigious crime fiction award, now in its twenty second year. The longlist, voted for by an academy of journalists, reviewers, booksellers, bloggers, podcasters, and industry representatives, showcases stories that transport readers from gangland Yorkshire to a haunted Dartmoor country house, from wartime Glasgow to a remote Scottish island, and features a host of remarkable sleuths – from the world’s first AI detective, to a time-travelling cold case investigator. Crime fiction fans are now invited to help whittle 18 down to 6 by voting for their favorite novels to reach the shortlist, with the winner of the coveted award announced on the opening night of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival on Thursday July 23rd.

The Longlist includes:

•  What Happens in the Dark by Kia Abdullah (HarperCollins, HQ Fiction)
•  The Midnight King by Tariq Ashkanani (Profile Books, Viper)
•  The Impossible Thing by Belinda Bauer (Penguin Random House, Bantam)
•  What The Night Brings by Mark Billingham (Little, Brown Book Group, Sphere)
•  Human Remains by Jo Callaghan (Simon & Schuster)
•  The Death of Us by Abigail Dean (HarperCollins, Hemlock Press)
•  The Chemist by A.A. Dhand (HarperCollins, HQ Fiction)
•  Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney (Pan Macmillan, Pan Fiction)
•  The Frozen People by Elly Griffiths (Quercus Books)
•  The Examiner by Janice Hallett (Profile Books, Viper)
•  The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins (Penguin Random House, Doubleday)
•  Clown Town by Mick Herron (John Murray Books, Baskerville)
•  Quantum of Menace by Vaseem Khan (Bonnier Books, Zaffre)
•  Paperboy by Callum McSorley (Puskin Press, Vertigo)
•  The Good Liar by Denise Mina (Penguin Random House, Harvill)
•  Gunner by Alan Parks (John Murray Books, Baskerville)
•  We Live Here Now by Sarah Pinborough (Orion Publishing Group, Orion Fiction)
•  A Schooling in Murder by Andrew Taylor (HarperCollins, Hemlock Press)