THE longlist of the Scottish crime writers nominated for this year’s McIlvanney Prize has been officially announced.
Renamed from the Scottish Crime Book of the Year Award to honour the famed creator of Laidlaw, William McIlvanney, this year’s prize winner will officially be announced on September 17, 2021 to coincide with the opening of the Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival.
Ahead of that grand opening, the finalised shortlist will be announced on September 2. This announcement will coincide with the release of The Dark Remains.
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The Dark Remains, McIlvanney’s final book, has finally been completed with the help of novelist Ian Rankin.
Rebus-creator Rankin is not one of the recognisable names on this year’s McIlvanney Prize longlist, which includes Val McDermid and Chris Brookmyre, among others.
While McDermid has been nominated for her novel Still Life, Brookmyre is on thanks to his The Cut.
The full longlist of nominees is:
-The Cut, Chris Brookmyre (Little, Brown)
-The Silent Daughter, Emma Christie (Wellbeck)
-Before the Storm, Alex Gray (Little, Brown)
-Dead Man’s Grave, Neil Lancaster (HarperCollins, HQ)
-The Coffinmaker’s Garden, Stuart MacBride (HarperCollins)
-Still Life, Val McDermid (Little, Brown)
-Bad Debt, William McIntyre (Sandstone)
-The Less Dead, Denise Mina (Vintage)
-How To Survive Everything, Ewan Morrison (Saraband)
-Edge of the Grave, Robbie Morrison (Macmillan)
-The April Dead, Alan Parks (Canongate)
-Hyde, Craig Russell (Constable)
-Waking the Tiger, Mark Wightman (Hobeck Books)
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.”
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The McIlvanney Prize will be judged by Karen Robinson, formerly of The Times Crime Club and a Crime Writers' Association (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 prize is sponsored for the second year running by The Glencairn Glass, the “world’s favourite whisky glass”, which is also again sponsoring The Bloody Scotland Debut Crime Novel of the Year.
Kirsty Nicholson, Glencairn’s design and marketing manager commented: “We are delighted to see such a great longlist for the McIlvanney Prize and we congratulate all the authors. With the summer upon us the chance to relax with a great crime book and a wee dram in the world’s favourite whisky glass, the Glencairn Glass, has never been more welcome.”
The shortlist for The Bloody Scotland Debut Crime Novel of the Year will be announced at the end of June.
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