Harrogate International Festivals announced today the 18 titles longlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award 2025, the UK’s most prestigious crime fiction award, now in its twenty-first year.
The longlist, selected by an academy of journalists, reviewers, booksellers, bloggers & podcasters and representatives from within the industry, showcases innovative, original and entertaining stories, with global bestsellers and exciting new talent competing for the coveted award. Readers are now encouraged to vote for their favourite novels to reach the shortlist, with the winner crowned on the opening night of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, Thursday 17 July.
The full Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2025 longlist (in alphabetical order by surname) is:
- The Cracked Mirror by Chris Brookmyre (Little, Brown Book Group, Sphere)
- Our Holiday by Louise Candlish(HarperCollins, HQ Fiction)
- A Stranger in the Family by Jane Casey (HarperFiction, Hemlock Press)
- The Mercy Chair by M.W. Craven (Little, Brown Book Group, Constable)
- The Wrong Sister by Claire Douglas (Penguin Michael Joseph)
- The Last Word by Elly Griffiths (Quercus Books, Quercus Fiction)
- Estella’s Revenge by Barbara Havelocke (Hera Books)
- Redemption by Jack Jordan (Simon & Schuster UK)
- The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby by Ellery Lloyd (Pan Macmillan, Pan Fiction)
- Finding Sophie by Imran Mahmood (Bloomsbury Publishing, Raven Books)
- The Woman on the Ledge by Ruth Mancini (Cornerstone, Century)
- The Kill List by Nadine Matheson(HarperCollins, HQ Fiction)
- Hunted by Abir Mukherjee (Vintage; Harvill Secker)
- Blood Like Mine by Stuart Neville (Simon & Schuster UK)
- To Die in June by Alan Parks (Canongate)
- Deadly Animals by Marie Tierney(Bonnier Books, Zaffre)
- The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton (Bloomsbury Publishing, Raven Books)
- All the Colours of the Dark by Chris Whitaker (Orion, Orion Fiction)
The Award is presented by Harrogate International Festivals and sponsored by T&R Theakston Ltd, in partnership with Waterstones and Daily Express, and is open to full-length crime novels published in paperback between 1 May 2024 to 30 April 2025. The public are invited to vote to help create a shortlist of six titles from 8am on Thursday 24 April at www.harrogatetheakstoncrimeaward.com
Voting closes on Thursday 15 May, with the shortlist announced on Thursday 5 June. The winner will be revealed on the opening night of Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, Thursday 17 July, receiving £3,000 and a handmade, engraved beer barrel provided by T&R Theakston Ltd.
