Lee Child wins crime competition

This year's Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year has been awarded to Lee Child for his Jack Reacher thriller 61 Hours

The winning author was awarded the prestigious £3,000 crime writing prize at the opening ceremony of the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate which took place on Thursday 21st July. He has sold over 50million books and his written work has been translated into 40 languages.

'The appeal of the eternal wanderer Jack Reacher is hard to resist as he travels the frozen landscape of South Dakota, fighting the good fight. 61 Hours is a great example of Lee Child's immense talent, and we're thrilled to present him with this much deserved award for the first time,' said Simon Theakson, executive director of T&R Theakston.

Now in its seventh year, the Crime Novel of the Year Award is open to British and Irish authors whose work has been published in paperback, this year between 1 January 2010 and 31 May 2011.

At the same ceremony, PD James was awarded the Theakstons Old Peculier Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction Award.
Fancy a bit of crime writing? Let Words Worth Reading Ltd help...