We are so excited to announce the five finalists from our longlist of thirteen for the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year 2021. The shortlisted five are:
The Silent Daughter by Emma Christie
The Coffin Maker’s Garden by Stuart MacBride
Edge of the Grave by Robbie Morrison
The April Dead by Alan Parks
Hyde by Craig Russell
Congratulations to all!
The winners of both the McIlvanney Prize and the Scottish Crime Debut of the Year will be revealed at the Albert Halls in Stirling at 5.15pm on Friday 17 September and broadcast live on-line. This year, the prize ceremony will be free but ticketed to watch or attend! Get your free ticket for in-person attendance or online viewing.
We’ll see you there!
The McIlvanney Prize judges this year include Karen Robinson, formerly of The Times Crime Club and a CWA judge; Ayo Onatade, winner of the CWA Red Herring Award and freelance crime fiction critic and Ewan Wilson, crime fiction buyer from Waterstones Glasgow.
The Glencairn Glass, the World’s Favourite Whisky Glass and the Official Glass for Whisky is again sponsoring both The McIlvanney Prize and The Bloody Scotland Debut Crime Novel of the Year. Culture & Business Fund Scotland have generously given matched funding.
About the Books
Our judges said…
“taking the domestic noir genre and offering something fresh and different with well controlled characters.”
Our judges said…
“dark, edgy and original novel, full of action and a great sense of place with just the right kind of humour.”
Our judges said…
“a compelling exploration of gangland Glasgow, with a brilliant sense of period. They enjoyed the pace of the novel and the unforeseen twist at the end.”
Our judges said…
“continues to innovate” and that said they “enjoyed the well-drawn characters and cliffhanger ending.”
Our judges said…
“[Russel is] an author who never disappoints and always gets to the heart of a story” and they “loved the presentation of Victorian Edinburgh and Celtic myths.”
Bloody Scotland 2021 is almost here…
Can’t make it to Stirling? As part of our hybrid nature, we’re offering a digital pass – which will give you access to all events (excl. Masterclass) live across the weekend and on-demand until the 30th September.
Get in quick! The pass is currently at the early bird price of £35 until the 16 Sept. You can grab your digital pass here.
We have an absolutely stacked programme, that includes names such as Kathy Reichs, Karin Slaughter, Lee Child, Linwood Barclay and Stephen King who will be beamed into the Albert Halls via live video link up where live interviewers will question them in front of a live and digital audience. And in Stirling itself, we’ll see the likes of Val McDermid, Ian Rankin, Denise Mina, Chris Brookmyre, Alan Parks, Mark Billingham, Kia Abdullah and Louise Candlish.