{"id":269,"date":"2026-04-30T09:30:58","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T09:30:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/mark-billingham-and-alice-feeney-on-theakston-old-peculier-crime-novel-longlist-2026\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T09:30:58","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T09:30:58","slug":"mark-billingham-and-alice-feeney-on-theakston-old-peculier-crime-novel-longlist-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/mark-billingham-and-alice-feeney-on-theakston-old-peculier-crime-novel-longlist-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Billingham and Alice Feeney on Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel longlist 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"article-body\">\n<h2 class=\"LeadText_lead-text__wd_PA __className_aeb05f\" data-testid=\"leadtext\">The 2026 Crime Novel of the Year longlist comprises stories that transport readers from gangland Yorkshire to a haunted Dartmoor country house, from wartime Glasgow to a remote Scottish island<\/h2>\n<div class=\"Byline_byline-container__K_Owl\" data-testid=\"byline\"><span class=\"Byline_byline-content-wrapper__Imque\" data-testid=\"byline-content\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"Byline_author-badge-date-wrapper__Q7jj1\">\n<div class=\"Byline_author-and-badge-wrapper__2dsv1\">\n<div class=\"Authors_authors-container__wVWas\" data-testid=\"byline-author\" data-tmdatatrack=\"author\" style=\"--authors-by:&quot;By&quot;\"><span><span><a target=\"_blank\" class=\"AuthorLink_author-link__rg5qj\" data-tmdatatrack=\"author\" data-testid=\"byline-author\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/authors\/aimee-walsh\/\"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35 __className_aeb05f\">Aim\u00e9e Walsh<\/strong><\/a><\/span> Columnist and U35 Deputy Editor<\/span><span>, <strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35 __className_aeb05f\">Matt Nixson<\/strong><\/span><span> and <strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35 __className_aeb05f\">Jon Coates<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"\" data-testid=\"byline-publishedDate\"><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<p><button type=\"button\" class=\"SlideViewerButton_slide-viewer-button__BDJoG\" aria-label=\"Open image viewer\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-controls=\"image-lightbox\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-embed__0T8WX ImageEmbed_image-lead__Ti3qQ\" data-testid=\"leadimage\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"37090849\">\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-container__2AIQm\">\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__Uce4f\" style=\"--figure-aspect-ratio:1.5\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"The 18 longlisted titles for Crime Novel of the Year have been announced\" loading=\"eager\"  src=\"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0_Festival-logo.jpg\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"ImageCaption_caption__j7HRu\" data-testid=\"image-caption\">\n<p aria-label=\"The 18 longlisted titles for Crime Novel of the Year have been announced\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">The 18 longlisted titles for Crime Novel of the Year have been announced<cite aria-label=\"Image: HIF\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-credit__wlx1W\" data-testid=\"caption-credit\">(Image: HIF)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<p><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The longlist for the world&#8217;s most prestigious crime writing awards has been unveiled for 2026. Of the 18 titles competing for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime <a target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/lifestyle\/booktok-creators-rewriting-publishing-industry-37087062\" rel=\"follow\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_self\">Novel<\/a> of the Year Award, five are by former winners while six authors have received their first-ever longlist nomination.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The victor of the UK and Ireland&#8217;s most coveted crime <a target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/film\/5-must-read-authors-check-37075649\" rel=\"follow\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_self\">fiction <\/a>accolade &#8211; now entering its 22nd year and backed by the Daily Express &#8211; will be announced on the opening night of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate, North Yorkshire.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The selection takes readers on a journey from gangland <a target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/yorkshire\" rel=\"follow\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_self\">Yorkshire <\/a>to a haunted Dartmoor country house, from wartime Glasgow to a remote Scottish island, and boasts an array of extraordinary investigators &#8211; from the world&#8217;s first AI detective to a time-travelling cold case sleuth, reports <a target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/entertainment\/books\/2200052\/theakston-crime-novel-of-year\" rel=\"nofollow\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\">the Express<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Championing bold and captivating storytelling, the 2026 longlist spans an exciting variety of crime fiction genres, encompassing gritty gangland thrillers, locked room mysteries, gripping courtroom dramas, dark domestic noir and atmospheric historical murder mysteries.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Six first-time longlisted authors include bestselling writers A.A. Dhand and Alice Feeney, both of whom have hugely successful TV adaptations to their credit. Meanwhile, five former winners feature in the shape of Jo Callaghan, Mick Herron, Denise Mina and Belinda Bauer, alongside two-time champion Mark Billingham.<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"image-group\"><button type=\"button\" class=\"SlideViewerButton_slide-viewer-button__BDJoG\" aria-label=\"Open image viewer\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-controls=\"image-lightbox\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-embed__0T8WX false\" data-testid=\"imageembed-37090850\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"37090850\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"image\">\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-container__2AIQm\">\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__Uce4f\" style=\"--figure-aspect-ratio:1.4\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"The award is now in its 22nd year\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0_Theakston-Crime-Festival-20th-Anniversary-Harrogate-UK-Jul-2023.jpg\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"ImageCaption_caption__j7HRu\" data-testid=\"image-caption\">\n<p aria-label=\"The award is now in its 22nd year\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">The award is now in its 22nd year<cite aria-label=\"Image: Charlotte Graham \/ Shutterstock\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-credit__wlx1W\" data-testid=\"caption-credit\">(Image: Charlotte Graham \/ Shutterstock)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<p><\/button><\/div>\n<p><span data-testid=\"readmore\" class=\"ReadMore_readmore-prefix__xS44r __className_59dbd4\">READ MORE<!-- -->: <span class=\"ReadMore_readmore-link__eF9pN\"><a target=\"_blank\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" data-tmdatatrack=\"read-more\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"37087062\" data-tmdatatrack-source=\"editorial\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/lifestyle\/booktok-creators-rewriting-publishing-industry-37087062\" tabindex=\"0\">BookTok creators are rewriting the publishing industry &#8211; 5 rising stars to follow now<\/a><\/span><\/span><span data-testid=\"readmore\" class=\"ReadMore_readmore-prefix__xS44r __className_59dbd4\">READ MORE<!-- -->: <span class=\"ReadMore_readmore-link__eF9pN\"><a target=\"_blank\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" data-tmdatatrack=\"read-more\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"37075244\" data-tmdatatrack-source=\"editorial\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/lifestyle\/full-official-booktok-bestseller-list-37075244\" tabindex=\"0\">Full official #BookTok Bestseller List for March 2026 including a book from 1992<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The longlist in full:<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u2022 <em>What Happens in the Dark by Kia Abdullah<\/em> (HarperCollins, HQ Fiction)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u2022 <em>The Midnight King<\/em> by Tariq Ashkanani (Profile Books, Viper)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u2022 <em>The Impossible Thing<\/em> by Belinda Bauer (Penguin Random House, Bantam)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u2022 <em>What The Night Brings<\/em> by Mark Billingham (Little, Brown Book Group, Sphere)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u2022 <em>Human Remains<\/em> by Jo Callaghan (Simon &amp; Schuster)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u2022<em> The Death of Us<\/em> by Abigail Dean (HarperCollins, Hemlock Press)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u2022 <em>The Chemist<\/em> by A.A. Dhand (HarperCollins, HQ Fiction)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u2022 <em>Beautiful Ugly<\/em> by Alice Feeney (Pan Macmillan, Pan Fiction)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u2022 <em>The Frozen People <\/em>by Elly Griffiths (Quercus Books)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u2022 <em>The Examiner <\/em>by Janice Hallett (Profile Books, Viper)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u2022 <em>The Blue Hour<\/em> by Paula Hawkins (Penguin Random House, Doubleday)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u2022 <em>Clown Town<\/em> by Mick Herron (John Murray Books, Baskerville)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u2022 <em>Quantum of Menace<\/em> by Vaseem Khan (Bonnier Books, Zaffre)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u2022 <em>Paperboy<\/em> by Callum McSorley (Puskin Press, Vertigo)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u2022 <em>The Good Liar <\/em>by Denise Mina (Penguin Random House, Harvill)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u2022 <em>Gunner <\/em>by Alan Parks (John Murray Books, Baskerville)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u2022 <em>We Live Here Now <\/em>by Sarah Pinborough (Orion Publishing Group, Orion Fiction)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u2022 <em>A Schooling in Murder<\/em> by Andrew Taylor (HarperCollins, Hemlock Press)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\">Want to hear the latest books news and reviews from The Mirror&#8217;s resident bookworm? Follow Aim\u00e9e Walsh on Tiktok and <\/strong><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\"><a target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"InstagramLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/thereadparts\/?hl=en\" rel=\"nofollow\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">Instagram<\/a><\/strong><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Simon Theakston, Chairman of T&amp;R Theakston, said: &#8220;We are delighted to announce the 2026 longlist for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. It&#8217;s a pleasure to sponsor this Award and champion such an array of talented crime writers &#8211; from established global bestsellers and household names, to rising stars who are all set to become the superstar writers of tomorrow. We&#8217;re very much looking forward to finding out who the public vote for to reach the shortlist this year.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Sharon Canavar, Chief Executive of Harrogate International Festivals, said: &#8220;Congratulations to all the hugely talented writers longlisted for this year&#8217;s Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. We&#8217;re excited to see such a compelling and inclusive longlist for this year&#8217;s Award. Readers are vitally important to the Award as they help to determine the outcome, and in this National Year of Reading we encourage everyone to go all in and vote for their favourite novel to reach the shortlist.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Public voting launches today, with a shortlist of six titles set to be unveiled on 18 June. The overall winner will be announced on the opening night of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival on 23 July at a special awards ceremony presented by Steph McGovern. The victorious author will receive \u00a33,000 along with a handcrafted, engraved beer barrel courtesy of title sponsor T&amp;R Theakston Ltd.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\">Love reading? Join Dr. Aim\u00e9e Walsh and our community of fellow readers in the <\/strong><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\"><a target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"Mirror Book ClubLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/mirrorbookclub\" rel=\"nofollow\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">Mirror Book Club<\/a><\/strong><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\"> to dive deeper into the books everyone is talking about.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/lifestyle\/mark-billingham-alice-feeney-theakston-37090851\" target=\"_blank\">Source link<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 2026 Crime Novel of the Year longlist comprises stories that transport readers from gangland<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":270,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1777541458_0_Festival-logo.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=269"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}