The Frozen People by Elly Griffiths has just been announced as the winner of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2026.
The Frozen People is the first book in a new series with a time-travelling spin, as an unsolved mystery takes cold cases investigator Ali Dawson back to the frozen Victorian London of January 1850 to explore a series of killings that have twenty-first century consequences for politicians and Ali’s own family. The judges described The Frozen People as ‘bold,’ ‘superbly plotted’ and ‘highly original’.
Crime fiction phenomenon Elly Griffiths has been shortlisted for the Award eight times, and was Highly Commended in 2023 for The Locked Room. She received the Theakston Old Peculier Outstanding Contribution Award in 2025. Griffiths is the author of the Dr Ruth Galloway Mysteries; the Brighton Mysteries and the Detective Harbinder Kaur series. Her intricately plotted novels told with wry humour and featuring engaging characters have sold over 5 million copies worldwide, winning her fans across the globe.
The McDermid Debut Award, named in recognition of world-famous crime writer Val McDermid, was won by Frances Crawford for A Bad Bad Place, a moving and engaging thriller set in Glasgow’s Possilpark in the 1970s. The judges described it as “an engrossing read, and a remarkable debut from a first-time author in her 60s”.
The judges also gave a Highly Commended nod to A Murder for Miss Hortense by Mel Pennant, saying “Mel Pennant takes us deep into Miss Hortense’s world with wit, intelligence and irresistible storytelling.”
Bestselling novelist David Baldacci received the Theakston Old Peculier Outstanding Contribution Award in recognition of his remarkable crime fiction writing career and unwavering commitment to the genre.
