The Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel Of The Year Award Announced

Hunted by Abir Mukherjee won the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award

The Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award, which celebrates excellence, originality, and the very best in crime fiction by UK and Irish authors, has announced this year's winner last week during the Opening Ceremony of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival. The most prestigious award in crime fiction 2025 went to Hunted by Abir Mukherjee.

The longlist of 18 titles is carefully selected by a panel of industry experts, which then is shortened to six by the combination of the judges' and the public votes. The public is also invited to vote in the final round, and together with the judging panel determines the winner.

Hunted by Abir Mukherjee is a real page-tuner with a twisted plot. It's a week before the presidential elections when a bomb goes off in an LA shopping mall.  In London, armed police storm Heathrow Airport and arrest Sajid Khan. His daughter, Aliyah entered the USA with the suicide bomber, and now she's missing, potentially plotting another attack on American soil.  But then a woman called Carrie turns up at Sajid's door after travelling halfway across the world. She claims Aliyah is with her son and she has a clue to their whereabouts. Carrie knows something isn't adding up - and that she and Sajid are the only ones who can find their children and discover the truth.  On the run from the authorities, the two parents are thrown together in a race against time to stop their kids and prevent a catastrophe the likes of which the world has never seen. 

Abir Mukherjee is the bestselling author of the award-winning Wyndham & Banerjee series of crime novels set in 1920s India and the critically acclaimed contemporary thriller Hunted. His books have been translated into fifteen languages and won various awards.