Jo Callaghan Wins Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2024

By Sarah Morgan

Which festival has sold a mind-boggling 18,000 tickets this year and is reputedly worth £8million to the local economy?

The Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, of course – it just gets bigger and better every year and is up and running once again at the Old Swan Hotel in Harrogate.

For the next three days, visitors will be treated to a vast array of fascinating events featuring some of the genre’s biggest names, from Richard Osman to Vaseem Khan and Peter James to Shari Lapena.

Sadly, one person who is missing is Val McDermid, one of the most important figures in the event’s history. She’s due to have spinal surgery on Tuesday, which meant she couldn’t present the inaugural McDermid Debut Novel of the Year trophy.

For decades, Val presented a New Blood panel, during which she helped boost the fledgling careers of various authors; the new award is designed to carry on that good work.

It was the first trophy to be given out during Thursday’s opening event, the now traditional awards night.

Instead, it was her friend and fellow Scot, Nicola Sturgeon, who had that honour, reading out beforehand a pre-prepared speech from McDermid. The winner was Marie Tierney for Deadly Animals – expect to see lots more from her in the future.

Also absent was Martina Cole, recipient of the Theakston Old Peculier Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction Award. She sent her apologies, but thanked everyone for the honour, which was in recognition of her 32-year career, and said that hearing about the trophy had “given me such a lift”.

Author, Jo Callaghan

And then it was time for the big one – the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year.

The ceremony’s host, Mark Lawson, handed over presenting duties to the man he described as ‘the UK’s most homicidally experienced brewer,’ Simon Theakston, whose family firm is the festival’s longstanding sponsor.

He was thrilled to welcome the winner, Jo Callaghan, to the stage, for the most moving speech of the night.

Her book, In the Blink of an Eye, focuses on an investigation led by a recently widowed detective and her AI partner. It’s Jo’s debut novel – coincidentally she appeared on last year’s New Blood panel – and, like the central character, is a widow.

On receiving her prize, she exclaimed, “I voted for someone else!” before revealing that her husband Steve is “the one person I wish I could tell about this, but I can’t.”

The rest of the festival’s events might not contain as many emotional moments as this one, but programming chair Ruth Ware has assembled a wonderful line-up. And the really great news is that while other such events are in jeopardy due to funding issues, the annual Harrogate shindig is secure – it was announced on the night that Theakstons had extended its sponsorship for another five years.

We’ll all drink to that!

Top image: Mike Whorley