No Violence Against Women, Please

The Bookseller, a British magazine covering the publishing industry, brings word that “Samantha Harvey’s The Western Wind (Vintage) has won the £1,000 2019 Staunch Book Prize. The medieval mystery thriller follows priest John Reve as he tries to resolve the death of a wealthy villager under the suspicious eye of the regional dean.”

Also competing for that award were Liar’s Candle, by August Thomas (Simon & Schuster); Only to Sleep, by Lawrence Osborne (Vintage); Honey, by Brenda Brooks (ECW Press); and The Godmother, by Hannelore Cayre (Old Street).

In Reference to Murder reminds us that the controversial Staunch Prize, “now in its second year, is for a thriller novel in which no woman is beaten, stalked, sexually exploited, raped or murdered.” The £1,000 award was set up in 2018 by author Bridget Lawless. Last year’s winner was On the Java Ridge, by Jock Serong.