Elly Griffiths wins crime writing award as Harrogate festival gets underway

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The Frozen People by Elly Griffiths has been announced as the winner of crime novel of the year award in Harrogate.

Ms Griffiths received the award from writer and broadcaster Steph McGovern on the opening night of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival at the Old Swan.

The four-day festival, organised by Harrogate International Festivals, is expected to attract about 20,000 people to the town, including famous novelists.

The Frozen People is the first book in a new series by the author of the Dr Ruth Galloway Mysteries, the Brighton Mysteries and the Detective Harbinder Kaur series.

Ms Griffiths, from Sussex, has been shortlisted for the award eight times and was highly commended in 2023 for The Locked Room.

She received a £3,000 prize, as well as an engraved beer cask handcrafted by one of Britain’s last coopers from Theakston’s Brewery.

She said:

"I’m so excited and just so grateful to everybody. I’ve been honoured to be shortlisted eight times but to win is just incredible. A bigger twist than I’ve ever dreamed up in my books."

The shortlist also included The Midnight King by Tariq Ashkanani, The Death of Us by Abigail Dean, Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney, Clown Town by Mick Herron and Quantum of Menace by Vaseem Khan.

David Baldacci makes appearance

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 thriller set in Glasgow’s Possilpark in the 1970s.

David Baldacci flew in from the United States toreceive the outstanding contribution award in recognition of his contribution to the crime thriller genre. Former trial lawyer Mr Baldacci has sold over 150 million books worldwide.

Previous winners include Sir Ian Rankin, Lynda La Plante, James Patterson, John Grisham, Lee Child, Val McDermid, P.D. James, Michael Connelly, Martina Cole and last year’s recipient, Elly Griffiths.

Simon Theakston, chairman of T&R Theakston, said the shortlists “showcased the depth, breadth and originality of the genre”.

The award winners were revealed during the opening ceremony for the world’s largest celebration of crime writing, which this year features bestselling authors including Ardal O’Hanlon, Andi Osho, Denise Mina, Adam Kay,Abir Mukherjee, Elly Griffiths, Anthony Horowitz, Holly Jackson, Jane Harper, Nadine Matheson, Alice Feeney, Ann Cleeves and Brenda Blethyn.