Mick Herron has been announced this evening as the winner of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2022, presented by Harrogate International Festivals, for his crime novel Slough House.
The seventh installment in the bestselling series of the same name, Slough House follows a band of failed spies who have been exiled far from power but find themselves drawn to action as a populist movement hits the streets of London and a Russian spy mission inadvertently results in the death of a British citizen. This year marks Herron’s first time winning the award after five appearances in the shortlist in just six years, and follows the launch earlier this year of Apple TV’s acclaimed adaptation of his series, Slow Horses, which stars Gary Oldman and Kristin Scott Thomas. Herron receives a £3,000 prize, as well as a handmade, engraved beer barrel provided by T&R Theakston Ltd.
A record-breaking 11,313 readers voted for their winner this year among the six shortlisted authors: Elly Griffiths (The Night Hawks), Joseph Knox (True Crime Story), Laura Shepherd Robinson (Daughters of Night), Mick Herron (Slough House), Vaseem Khan (Midnight at Malabar House) and Will Dean (The Last Thing to Burn).
The public vote contributed to the decision of the panel, who met the evening before the Awards Ceremony to decide the winner, and included Simon Theakston, Steph McGovern, Matt Nixson from The Express, journalist Joe Haddow, representation from Waterstones, and Sharon Canavar.
The judging panel had a tough choice ahead of them and decided to mark Joseph Knox as Highly Commended for his tense thriller True Crime Story, which blends fact and fiction to tell the story of a missing persons case, centred around a young student who leaves a party in her Manchester university dorm and is not seen again.
The announcement was made at The Old Swan Hotel in Harrogate, during the opening ceremony for the world’s largest crime writing festival, Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival (21 – 24 July), which will see crime fiction icons including Kathy Reichs, Tess Gerritsen, Denise Mina, Lynda La Plante, Mark Billingham, Ann Cleeves and more take to the stage to discuss all things crime fiction at the world’s biggest celebration of the genre.
Herron and Knox were not the only writers celebrated at the ceremony, as legendary American crime author Michael Connelly received the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction Award in recognition of his incredible writing career, spanning three decades.
The Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year is run by Harrogate International Festivals sponsored by T&R Theakston Ltd, in partnership with Waterstones and the Express, and is open to full length crime novels published in paperback 1 May 2021 to 30 April 2022 by UK and Irish authors.
