Let’s Hear It for Scottish Crime

Among the dozen works longlisted for the 2018 McIlvanney Prize—recognizing “excellence in Scottish crime writing”—is educator-author Liam McIlvanney, the winner of New Zealand’s 2014 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel and son of the late author after whom this commendation was named: William McIlvanney (Laidlaw). In a news release, judging chair Craig Sisterson notes that McIlvanney’s 11 rivals for this honor make up “an intriguing mix of previous winners, established crime-writing luminaries, some emerging talent, and a debut.” Here are all of the nominees:

• Follow the Dead, by Lin Anderson (Macmillan)
• Places in the Darkness, by Chris Brookmyre (Little, Brown)
• Presumed Dead, by Mason Cross (Orion)
• The Man Between, by Charles Cumming (HarperCollins)
• The Loch of the Dead, by Oscar De Muriel (Michael Joseph)
• Perfect Death, by Helen Fields (HarperCollins)
• Now She’s Gone, by Alison James (Bookouture)
• The Quaker, by Liam McIlvanney (HarperCollins)
• No Time to Cry, by James Oswald (Headline)
• The Suffering of Strangers, by Caro Ramsay (Severn House)
• The Hunter, by Andrew Reid (Headline)
• The Photographer, by Craig Robertson (Simon & Schuster)

Finalists for the 2018 McIlvanney Prize will be revealed in early September. The winner is to be announced on September 21, during opening ceremonies for the Bloody Scotland crime-writing festival in Stirling, Scotland. Tickets for that event are available here.