Bloody Scotland McIlvanney Prize 2021 Finalists Revealed

 

Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival reveals

five finalists for the McIlvanney Prize 2021 

sponsored by The Glencairn Glass with match funding from 

Culture & Business Fund Scotland

Five years ago the Scottish Crime Book of the Year Award was renamed the McIlvanney Prize in memory of William McIlvanney. This year his final book, The Dark Remains, completed with the help of Ian Rankin, was launched at the Edinburgh Book Festival immediately prior to the announcement of the McIlvanney Prize shortlist.

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.

They selected five finalists from the longlist of thirteen. The list includes 2015 winner, Craig Russell; established names Stuart MacBride and Alan Parks and two debut authors, Emma Christie and Robbie Morrison who beat some of the biggest names in crime fiction to make the cut. Emma Christie was one of the up and coming authors selected to appear at Crime in the Spotlight as a support act for The Never Ending Panel last year.

The judges described Craig Russell as ‘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’ in HYDE (Constable)

They praised THE APRIL DEAD by Alan Parks (Canongate) for ‘continuing to innovate’ and said they ‘enjoyed the well-drawn characters and cliffhanger ending’.

They called THE COFFIN MAKER’S GARDEN by Stuart MacBride (HarperCollins) ‘a dark, edgy and original novel, full of action and a great sense of place with just the right kind of humour'

They described THE SILENT DAUGHTER by Emma Christie (Welbeck) as ‘taking the domestic noir genre and offering something fresh and different with well controlled characters’ and called EDGE OF THE GRAVE by Robbie Morrison (Macmillan) ‘. They enjoyed the pace of the novel and the unforeseen twist at the end. Both are also on the shortlist for the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize.

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.

The winners of both prizes will be revealed at the Albert Halls in Stirling at 5.15pm on Friday 17 September and broadcast live on-line.

The McIlvanney Prize 2021 Longlist

 

Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival 17-19 September 2021

LONGLIST ANNOUNCED FOR THE McILVANNEY PRIZE 2021

sponsored by The Glencairn Glass

Winners to be presented on Friday 17 September 2021

Five years ago the Scottish Crime Book of the Year Award was renamed the McIlvanney Prize in memory of William McIlvanney. This year his final book, The Dark Remains which was completed with the help of Ian Rankin will be published on 2 September coinciding with the announcement of the McIlvanney Prize shortlist. 

The longlist for the McIlvanney Prize 2021 is today revealed to be:

The Cut by Chris Brookmyre (Little,Brown)
The Silent Daughter by Emma Christie (Wellbeck)
Before the Storm by Alex Gray (Little, Brown)
Dead Man’s Grave by Neil Lancaster (HarperCollins, HQ)
The Coffinmaker’s Garden by Stuart MacBride (HarperCollins)
Still Life by Val McDermid (Little,Brown)
Bad Debt by William McIntyre (Sandstone)
The Less Dead by Denise Mina (Vintage)
How To Survive Everything by Ewan Morrison (Saraband)
Edge of the Grave by Robbie Morrison (Macmillan)
The April Dead by Alan Parks (Canongate)
Hyde by Craig Russell (Constable)
Waking the Tiger by Mark Wightman (Hobeck Books)

Thirteen - a crime festival’s dozen! Only Val McDermid also featured on the list last year and Chris Brookmyre has featured on every longlist either as himself or his alter ego Ambrose Parry. He describes himself as ‘the Meryl Streep of the McIlvanney’. Craig Russell and Denise Mina are also previous winners. 

Bob McDevitt, Director of Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival said:

'The McIlvanney Prize longlist once again reaffirms that our crime readers love great books by well-loved authors they are familiar with but are always on the lookout for new voices and new ways to tell a crime story. It's a testament to the breadth and depth of Scottish crime writing'

The McIlvanney Prize will be judged by 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. For the second year running the sponsor will be The Glencairn Glass – the world’s favourite whisky glass.

Finalists for the McIlvanney Prize will be revealed at the beginning of September coinciding with publication of The Dark Remains. The winner will be revealed in Stirling and on-line on Friday 17 September. 

The McIlvanney award recognises excellence in Scottish crime writing, includes a prize of £1000 and nationwide promotion in Waterstones. The 2021 longlist features established crime writers and debuts, corporates and indies. Previous winners are Francine Toon with Pine in 2020, Manda Scott with A Treachery of Spies in 2019 (who chose to share her prize with all the finalists), Liam McIlvanney with The Quaker in 2018, 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.