Authors on the shortlist for the McIlvanney prize

Edinburgh writers including Val McDermid, Kim Sherwood and D V Bishop have been shortlisted for the prize for the best Scottish crime book of 2024.

They are joined by two more leading crime writers in Abir Mukherjee and Chris Brookmyre on the shortlist for the McIlvanney Prize.

The winner of Scotland’s most prestigious award for crime fiction will be announced on the opening night of the Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival in Stirling on 13 September.

The prize, sponsored by The Glencairn Glass, is dedicated to the late William McIlvanney, dubbed “the father of Tartan Noir”.

The winner will receive a Glencairn Crystal Decanter, £1000 and nationwide promotion in Waterstones.

Previous McIlvanney Prize winner Brookmyre is shortlisted for his thriller “The Cracked Mirror” (Sphere), while “Queen of Crime” McDermid got the nod for her latest Karen Pirie novel “Past Lying” (Sphere).

Bishop is shortlisted for the latest book in his acclaimed Cesare Aldo series “A Divine Fury” (Pan Macmillan) while Mukherjee’s novel for “Hunted” (Vintage) is set in the run up to the US presidential election and Sherwood’s “A Spy Like Me” (HarperCollins) has been described as “Fleming for the 21st century”.

The shortlist was selected by judges, BBC Scotland presenter Bryan Burnett, Category Manager for Waterstones Angie Crawford and Journalist and Editor Arusa Quresh.

Brookmyre, whose 30th crime novel will be published next year, won the inaugural McIlvanney Prize with Black Widow in 2016. The Cracked Mirror is described as a cross-genre hybrid of Agatha Christie and Michael Connelly.

The judges said: “A truly original idea, executed with skill and imagination. The combination of Perthshire and Los Angeles shouldn’t work but it does.”

McDermid is one of the most revered crime writers in Scotland. Past Lying is the new novel featuring Karen Pirie, the first of which is now a major TV series.
 
The judges said: “A welcome return for the much-loved Karen Pirie in this satisfying novel which contains a few in-jokes for lovers of Scottish crime writing.”

D V Bishop got his first big break at Bloody Scotland when he won Pitch Perfect with his first book in the Cesare Aldo series. A Divine Fury is the fourth. Originally from New Zealand, he teaches creative writing at Edinburgh Napier University.

The judges said: “A pungent and complex slice of intrigue set 16th century Florence. A brilliant historical novel which feels strangely contemporary and a worthy addition to this series.”

Mukherjee was brought up in Hamilton near Glasgow and now lives in Surrey. Hunted is a timely thriller set in the run up to the US election.
 
The judges said: “An excellent, topical thriller with verve, pace and style aplenty and something completely different for this author. A kind of British Baldacci.”

Sherwood is a novelist and lecturer in creative writing at the University of Edinburgh. In 2019 she was shortlisted for the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award. Described as a “Fleming for the 21st Century”, A Spy Like Me is the second in a trilogy of Double O novels expanding the James Bond universe.

The judges said: “An exciting addition to the Bond canon which brings a fresh new set of characters brilliantly to life.”

Bloody Scotland is unique in that it was set up by a group of Scottish crime writers along with the prize for Scotland’s best crime book of the year.

In 2016, the award was renamed after William McIlvanney, the novelist, short story writer and poet regarded as “the father of Tartan Noir” who died aged 79 on 5 December 2015.