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Welcome to our #TheakstonAward podcast ‘lites’, a series of interviews with the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of The Year Award, Longlisted authors. Here to talk about his novel ‘The Chain’ is Adrian McKinty, interviewed by Joe Haddow.

The Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel Of The Year Award is the most wanted award in crime fiction, curated and produced by Harrogate International Festivals, in partnership with Theakston Old Peculier, The Express and WHSmiths.

To find out more about each of the 18 books on the longlist, to buy your copy or to vote for your favourite to make the shortlist please visit: https://harrogatetheakstoncrimeaward.com/

Her seamless blend of good writing and pulse-racing tension is her stock-in-trade. The Rizzoli and Isles series, featuring a homicide detective and medical examiner, propelled Tess to international bestseller position.

A violinist, piano player and composer, Tess brings her melodic passion and analytical approach to embody ‘medical suspense’. She has said her experience as a doctor was intense preparation for life as a writer.

At first she wrote romance novels, a comforting escape before a plot dropped into her lap over dinner with a former policeman, who told her the story of orphans and organ donors; Harvest was born. Published in 40 countries, Tess is renowned for her intense approach to research, exploring Egyptology, archaeology, and even space travel, pretending to be an astronaut for two years while writing Gravity, about the NASA space programme.

Special Guest: Tess Gerritsen was recorded live at Harrogate International Festivals' Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in July 2016.

Podcast music by Joseph McDade.

She’s the heart and soul of the festival – Val McDermid, one of its

co-founders is a champion of the crime genre and one of the biggest names in crime writing, selling 16 million copies of her novels worldwide. The queen of psychological thrillers is deeply engaged with Scotland, and its politics and has the accolade of being the only author to sponsor a football team, Raith Rovers.

One of her most enduring creations is the Tony Hill and Carol Jordan series, which was adapted for TV as Wire in the Blood, and who made a welcome return to the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel Of The Year Award longlist with How The Dead Speak in 2020.

Val is joined by fellow Scot, stand-up comic, strictly dancer, writer and actress, Susan Calman. Prepare for a few killer jokes from The Edinburgh Festival sensation who has appeared in QI, Have I Got News For You and Would I Lie To You.

Special Guest: Val McDermid In Conversation With Susan Calman was recorded live at Harrogate International Festivals' Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in July 2016.

Podcast music by Joseph McDade.

A star of ‘Tartan Noir’, Glasgow-born Denise Mina has been charting the dark underbelly of Scotland since 1998, when the first of her award-winning Garnethill trilogy was published.

In the years since, her highly-acclaimed Paddy Meehan trilogy has been dramatised for television, starring Jayd Johnson, Peter Capaldi and David Morrissey.

Mina is also a successful playwright and comic book writer, the latter including the graphic novel adaptation of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. In 2013, she became the first writer to win the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award for two consecutive years, with Gods and Beasts and The End of The Wasp Season. This event was recorded the morning after the 2014 awards which had seen her make the shortlist for the Crime Novel Of The Year once again.

An enormously entertaining speaker, join Mina and she is interviewed by Mark Lawson, talk about her career, in what was a highlight of the 2014 Festival.

Colin Dexter, the genius behind celebrated fictional detective Inspector Morse was the very first event at the very first Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival (before it had even earnt that name).

When writer Colin Dexter brought the idea of the gentleman detective into the modern day (well, 1970s) by pairing him with a younger working-class assistant, a crime fiction hero was born. Inspector Morse, who first made his appearance in 1975 novel Last Bus To Woodstock, and who was so beautifully portrayed on the small screen by the late John Thaw, became the star of 13 novels, 33 episodes of a TV serial of the same name and four radio plays, as well as a byword for quality detective stories.

Morse made millions of viewers and readers happy and made Colin Dexter a household name – and familiar face as, Alfred Hitchcock-like, he made cameo appearances in nearly every Inspector Morse episode. Dexter joined us on stage to tell the behind-the-scenes tales of working on the TV series and books that made this one-time Classics teacher famous – it would be criminal to miss him.

Featuring: Chris Chibnall, Olivia Colman, Jodie Whittaker, Erin Kelly and Alison Graham.

Who killed 11-year-old Danny Latimer? It was the question on the lips of millions in 2013, as the award-winning television series Broadchurch (Kudos/Imaginary Friends) kept the country enthralled across eight superb episodes. While the detailed depiction of the police investigation was riveting, the series also explored the interlocking lives of a closeknit seaside community brimming with dark and tragic secrets – secrets we couldn’t wait to see spilled. We talk to creator, writer and executive producer Chris Chibnall, and stars Olivia Colman and Jodie Whittaker, about the phenomenal success of the programme, and novelist Erin Kelly, who has the enviable task of bringing this onscreen triumph to the page in Broadchurch: The Official Novel. The event will be chaired by Alison Graham, TV Editor at The Radio Times.

TV Panel: Broadchurch was recorded live at HIF's Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in July 2014.

Our match of American heavyweights: In the blue corner, David Baldacci. Baldacci holds the publishing world to ransom, dominating the bookshelves of more than 80 countries and selling over 100 million books. His books even bridge the political divide with both Bush and Clinton cited as fans.

In the red corner, Joseph Finder. His plan was to become a spy. Instead he became a bestselling thriller writer. His first novel The Moscow Club was named by Publishers Weekly as one of the ten best spy thrillers of all time.

Special Guests In Conversation: David Baldacci & Joseph Finder was recorded live at Harrogate International Festivals' Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival 2011.

For many, the highlight of our inaugural festival in 2003 was the conversation between crime-writing giants Ian Rankin and Peter Robinson. Nearly ten years later we were delighted to welcome this dangerous duo back for a special late-night session.

Join the creators of Rebus and Banks as they set the world of crime-fiction to rights in our very own on stage pub, over a glass or two of Old Peculier. Welcome to the Drinking Detective.

Please note that this podcast contains strong language.

Late Night with Ian Rankin and Peter Robinson was recorded live at Harrogate International Festivals' Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in July 2012.

Podcast music by Joseph McDade.

Featuring: Brenda Blethyn, Ann Cleeves, Paul Rutman and Elaine Collins.

As crabby as Columbo, the unglamorous, brilliant, down-to-earth detective Vera Stanhope has attracted a legion of fans worldwide. The flagship ITV drama stars the very glamorous and double Oscar-nominated actress Brenda Blethyn.

We’re lucky enough to hear from writer Ann Cleeves, the visionary behind Vera, as she discusses her creation of Vera with none other than Brenda Blethyn herself.

The two will be joined by screenwriter Paul Rutman and producer Elaine Collins, who discovered a copy of the first Vera novel in an Oxfam shop and remarkably went on to bring the books to life for millions of TV viewers.

TV Panel: Vera was recorded live at Harrogate International Festivals' Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in July 2013.

Podcast music by Joseph McDade.

Thrillers. They fill you with adrenaline and make your heart beat a little faster. Just like Lee Child himself. Is it any wonder we get a little bit hysterical?

That’s why we’ve chosen Special Guest interviewer, comedian and writer Sarah Millican to strip away Lee’s defences and show us the real man underneath.

We can’t wait to see what happens when one of the UK’s favourite comedians meets one of its favourite thriller authors. Can Reacher’s machismo and monosyllabic reticence be brought down to earth by the might of the Millican? Will Reacher find a new home for his foldable toothbrush?

Hold on to the edge of your seats, this promises to be one heck of a ride!

Special Guests: Lee Child Interviewed By Sarah Millican was recorded live at Harrogate International Festivals' Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in July 2013.

Podcast music by Joseph McDade.