Winning Theakston Crime Festival Awards writer says it's a privilege 'to see my book taken to readers hearts'
A major annual event in Harrogate has revealed the winners of the world’s greatest prizes in crime writing.
Hunted by Abir Mukherjee has been announced as the winner of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2025 at a special ceremony on the opening night of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival.
Held at the Old Swan Hotel in Harrogate, the winning author Abir Mukherjee said: “It's such an honour to win the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year.
"Hunted’ was a tough book to write; it took me four years.
"It's such a privilege that the judges and the readers have taken it to their hearts.
"It means so much to me.
"I've been coming to the Festival in Harrogate for ten years and I didn't think it could ever get any better but it just has!”
Hunted is a “riveting” topical thriller set in London and the US in the final week of a toxic presidential campaign, as two devastated parents find themselves in a race against time – and the FBI - to track down their children who are suspected of terrorist atrocities.
Exploring themes of radicalisation, prejudice and racism, the judges described Hunted as “a thought-provoking, intriguingly taut, propulsive and highly original thriller.”
The awards ceremony also saw The McDermid Debut Award, named in recognition of world-famous crime writer Val McDermid, won by David Goodman for A Reluctant Spy.
A high-concept spy thriller about a tech executive who agrees to lend his identity to an elite intelligence agency in return for a helping hand through life, the author is a writer of espionage and speculative fiction who lives in East Lothian, Scotland.
Bestselling novelist Elly Griffiths received the Theakston Old Peculier Outstanding Contribution Award in recognition of her remarkable crime fiction writing career and “unwavering commitment to the genre.”
Elly Griffiths said: ‘It means the world to me to receive this award.
"Sixteen years ago when I wrote my first crime novel, I received such a warm welcome from Theakston's Old Peculiar Crime Writing Festival and from other, more established, authors.”