McIlvanney Prize longlist for crime writing revealed

Val McDermid, Denise Mina and Chris Brookmyre are among the authors in the running for a major crime writing prize.

The McIlvanney Prize, previously called the Scottish Crime Book of the Year Award, is named in memory of William McIlvanney, often described as the godfather of tartan noir.

This year’s shortlist for the prize will be announced on September 2, coinciding with the publication of his final book, The Dark Remains, which was completed with the help of Ian Rankin.

Other writers on the 13 strong longlist include Alex Gray with Before the Storm, Neil Lancaster with Dead Man’s Grave and Stuart MacBride with The Coffinmaker’s Garden.

The award recognises excellence in Scottish crime writing and comes with a £1000 prize and nationwide promotion in Waterstones.

Chris Brookmyre, who is in the running with his book, The Cut, has featured on every longlist since the first in 2012 either as himself or his alter ego, Ambrose Parry, and won the prize in 2016 with Black Widow.

Bob McDevitt, director of the 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 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 Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival, scheduled to take place in Stirling, September 17-19 2021, will now take place in hybrid form.

The winner of the McIlvanney Prize will be revealed as part of the festival on Friday September 17.

The shortlist for The Bloody Scotland Debut Crime Novel of the Year will be announced at the end of June, with both prizes sponsored by The Glencairn Glass.

Kirsty Nicholson, Glencairn’s design and marketing manager, said: “We are delighted to see such a great longlist for the McIlvanney Prize and we congratulate all the authors.”

The longlist for the McIlvanney Prize 2021 is:

The Cut, Chris Brookmyre (Little,Brown)

The Silent Daughter, Emma Christie (Welbeck)

Before the Storm, Alex Gray (Sphere)

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)