Crimewave on the Airwaves

As I explain in the post above, during my recent visit to the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival, my son, Alex, and I were fortunate enough to attend the launch party for ITV3’s new Crime Thriller Awards. At the time, the UK entertainment channel had not announced the nominees for its first set of those awards, but now it has. As The Bookseller reports:

Twelve novels have been shortlisted for the three fiction prizes at ITV3’s inaugural Crime Thriller Awards, with titles included ranging from Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Quercus) to newcomer Michael Robotham’s Shatter (Sphere).

Waterstone’s, W.H. Smith, Borders and Tesco have all committed to promoting the initiative. “It is likely to be the most successful campaign in terms of promoting crime and thriller writing that there has ever been,” said the organisers.

The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on 3rd October, which will be broadcast on ITV3 on the 6th. The 12 novels fall into three categories: breakthrough author award, international author of the year and author of the year.

Below, you will find the complete rundown of contenders.

Breakthrough Author Award:
• Chelsea Cain, Heartsick (Pan)
• Stuart MacBride, Broken Skin (Harper)
• Michael Robotham, Shatter (Sphere)
• Anne Zouroudi, The Messenger of Athens (Bloomsbury)

International Author of the Year:
• Jeffery Deaver, The Sleeping Doll (Hodder & Stoughton)
• Stieg Larsson, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Quercus)
• Karin Slaughter, Skin Privilege (Arrow)
• P.J. Tracy, Snow Blind (Penguin)

Author of the Year:
• Lee Child, Bad Luck and Trouble (Bantam)
• Robert Harris, The Ghost (Hutchinson)
• Peter James, Not Dead Enough (Pan)
• Ian Rankin, Exit Music (Orion)