Theakstons Crime Writing Festival 2026: Opening Night Winners
By Sarah Morgan, July 2026
And we’re off!
The 2026 Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival had been under starter’s orders all day, as a steady stream of attendees made their way to The Old Swan Hotel in Harrogate for four days of blood, gore and murder – of the literary kind, of course.
The event proper began in traditional fashion with the opening night’s awards ceremony, which started with some mindboggling news – more than 20,000 festival tickets have been sold, making this year the biggest yet; it’s believed the event boosts the local economy by around £10million.
After such news, it was time to get down to the nitty gritty with host Steph McGovern (replacing usual presenter Mark Lawson for the first time) introducing the six shortlisted nominees and their books for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year award.
However, Steph then pumped up the tension by leaving everyone hanging – rather than revealing the winner, she quickly moved on to introduce Val McDermid, who took to the stage to announce who had won the debut novel award that bears her name.
While Mel Pennant was highly commended for A Murder for Miss Hortense, it was Frances Crawford and A Bad, Bad Place that took first prize. She wrote her gritty tale set in 1970s Glasgow at the age of 62, proving that, as Val herself commented, it’s never too late to try something new.
Crawford, who was clearly amazed by her triumph, made a touching speech in which she urged everyone to read the other shortlisted books before stating: “I’d better not mention dreams because I might wake up and I’m standing here in my pyjamas – and you don’t want to see that!”
Topping that moment was hard, but luckily, the organisers had something very special up their sleeves – a video message from the legendary John Grisham, announcing the winner of the Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction award, namely his old friend David Baldacci.
The dashing author made a stirring speech too, this time vowing to continue the fight against AI. He also quipped: “My first book, Absolute Power, was about an American President who turns out to be a narcissist. Later, I’ll be in the corner reading tea leaves…”
Then the moment everyone had been waiting for arrived – the announcement that, after eight nominations, Elly Griffiths was finally taking home the trophy for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year for her time travel mystery The Frozen People.
Griffiths is a hugely popular figure within the genre thanks in no small part to her openness with readers; as a result, she received the biggest cheer of the night.
“I’m so excited and just grateful to everybody,” she remarked. “I’ve been honoured to be shortlisted eight times so to win is just incredible. A bigger twist than I’ve ever dreamed up in my books.”
Next up are three days of fascinating talks by some of the genre’s greatest exponents. Then attention will start to turn to who may be first past the post next year…
For more information, check out: harrogatetheakstoncrimeaward.com
image: Gerard Binks
Sarah Morgan studied film journalism at post-graduate level with the BFI and has been writing about TV and film for PA Media’s newspaper, magazine and new media customers since 1996. She’s also written for a wide range of other publications, both online and in print, including the book Offbeat and Intermission magazine, and is a regular contributor to the Talking Pictures TV podcast. When she isn’t watching movies, she’s collecting and reading vintage crime and horror paperback books or, for her sins, watching her beloved Sheffield Wednesday.
