The Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award is a crime-fiction award, sponsored by Theakston's Old Peculier. It is awarded annually at Harrogate Crime Writing Festival in the UK, held every July. The winner received £3000 and a small hand-carved oak beer cask carved by one of Britain's last coopers.
Novels eligible are those crime novels published in paperback any time during the previous year, thus making the shortlists seem more out-of-date than for most prizes.
It is also the only such crime-fiction award in the UK to be voted for partly by the public. Decisions of a jury-panel are also into into account, a fact not-much publicised by the award organisers, who are keen to emphasize the public-voting aspect of the award.
2011 - Lee Childs - 61 Hours
2010 - R J Ellory - A Simple Act of Violence
2009 - Mark Billingham- Death Message
2008 - Stef Penny -The Tenderness of Wolves
2007
Winner: Allan Guthrie - Two-Way Split
o Stephen Booth - The Dead Place
o Christopher Brookmyre - All Fun and Games until Somebody Loses an Eye
o Michael Jecks - The Deathship of Dartmouth
o Stuart MacBride - Cold Granite
o Graham Hurley - Blood and Honey
2006
Winner: Val McDermid - The Torment of Others
o Lindsay Ashford - Strange Blood
o Stephn Booth - One Last Breath
o Martin Edwards - The Coffin Trail
o Susan Hill - The Various Haunts of Men
o Ian Rankin - Fleshmarket Close
2005
Winner: Mark Billingham - Lazybones
o Simon Kernick - The Murder Exchange
o Val McDermid - The Distant Echo
o Ian Rankin - A Question of Blood
o Andrew Taylor - The American Boy
o Minette Walters - Disordered Minds
Have your two penny worth
What do you think of the recent winners or shorrtlists? Is the award recognising relevant literature?