SERIAL THRILLERS

The six finalists for the annual Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year are revealed today ahead of the world's most famous crime writing festival next month... plus six new voices competing for the McDermid Debut Award

- By Matt Nixson and Jon Coates

FROM a race against time as two desperate parents try to track down their terrorist-suspect children, to an old lady and a hard-bitten homicide detective teaming up to crack an impossible case, and the aftermath of a childhood kidnapping, the six books vying for the most prestigious prize in crime writing are revealed today.

They are joined on the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year shortlist by a roadkill-obsessed teen's quest to solve the monstrous deaths plaguing her community, a twisty cosy crime mystery set at a sinister writers' retreat, and a series of gruesome killings connected to a religious cult in the Lake District.

Now in its 21st year, and supported by the Daily and Sunday Express and Waterstones, the award celebrates outstanding storytelling, with the winner revealed on the opening night of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate on July 17 when they will receive a carved oak Theakston beer barrel and £3,000.

Three former winners are shortlisted for this year's gong: 2017 winner Chris Brookmyre for his innovative, twisty thriller, The Cracked Mirror; MW Craven, who won in 2023, for The Mercy Chair, the sixth book in his Cumbria-based Poe and Tilly series; and Chris Whitaker, who took the prize in 2021, for his epic All The Colours of the Dark, which explores the brutal impact over many years of a childhood kidnapping.