Alan Park’s MAY GOD FORGIVE nominated for France’s Grand Prix de Littérature Policière

Alan Parks has been nominated for the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière, one of France’s most prestigious awards in Crime Fiction, in the Best Foreign Novel category for his novel MAY GOD FORGIVE – published in France as JOLI MOIS DE MAI, in a translation by Olivier Deparis.

The winners of the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière will be announced in September, with the recipient following in the footsteps of the likes of Dennis Lehane, Ken Bruen, Ian Rankin, and Blake Friedmann’s own Deon Meyer, who won in 2003 for his novel DEAD BEFORE DYING.

This latest shortlisting continues Alan’s exceptional run of acclaim for his books on both sides of the English Channel: last year, he won the Prix Mystère De La Critique for BOBBY MARCH WILL LIVE FOREVER, the third book in the Harry McCoy series and, for the second year running, the Prix Rivages des Libraires; closer to home, MAY GOD FORGIVE was awarded Bloody Scotland’s top honour, the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year in 2022.

MAY GOD FORGIVE is the fifth novel in Alan’s Harry McCoy series, all of which are published in France by Editions Payots-Rivages. The sixth McCoy title, TO DIE IN JUNE, was published by Canongate in the UK in June 2023 and in the US from Europa in June 2024. The Harry McCoy series is published further in translation in Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain and Sweden. Film/TV rights are also under option. Alan’s new series GUNNER, a trilogy of World War II-set thrillers, was recently announced, the first instalment of which will be published in 2025.

Congratulations Alan!

About MAY GOD FORGIVE

Glasgow is a city in mourning. An arson attack has left five dead. Tempers are frayed and sentiments running high.

When three youths are charged the city goes wild. A crowd gathers outside the courthouse but as the police drive the young men to prison, their van is rammed by a truck, and the men are grabbed and bundled into a car. The next day, the body of one of them is dumped in the city centre. A note has been sent to the newspapers: one down, two to go.

Detective Harry McCoy has twenty-four hours to find the kidnapped boys before they all turn up dead, and it is going to mean taking down some of Glasgow's most powerful to do it…

Image: Euan Robertson

About Alan Parks

Alan Parks worked in the music industry for over twenty years before turning to crime writing.

His debut BLOODY JANUARY was shortlisted for the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière, FEBRUARY’S SON was nominated for an Edgar Award, BOBBY MARCH WILL LIVE FOREVER won the Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original, the Prix Mystère de la Critique in the foreign fiction category, and was shortlisted for the Macavity Award for Best Mystery Novel and THE APRIL DEAD was shortlisted for the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year. The fifth Harry McCoy book, MAY GOD FORGIVE, was published in April 2022 and won the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year 2022. It was shortlisted for the 2023 CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award and longlisted for the 2023 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award. Most recently, TO DIE IN JUNE, the sixth entry in the series, was published by Canongate in 2023. The Harry McCoy series is optioned for television.

Alan was born in Scotland and attended The University of Glasgow where he was awarded a M.A. in Moral Philosophy. He still lives and works in the city as well as spending time in London.

Praise for Alan Parks

‘One of the great Scottish crime writers’ – The Times

‘Tipped to become an enduring classic of tartan noir.’ – Sunday Post

‘Dark and gritty… Gripping.’ – Crime Monthly

‘A brilliant series’ – Sunday Times Crime Club

‘Bloody and brilliant’ – Louise Welsh (on BLOODY JANUARY)

‘Pitch-black Tartan noir: bleak, but with an emotional heart that's hard to ignore.’ – Daily Mail (on FEBRUARY’S SON)

‘Manoeuvering through the mean streets of Glasgow, the morally ambiguous, deeply flawed McCoy makes an ideal antihero.’ – Publishers Weekly (on BOBBY MARCH WILL LIVE FOREVER, Edgar Prize Winner 2022)

‘Altogether one of the best police thrillers of the last few years.’ – Morning Star (on THE APRIL DEAD)

Visit Alan’s website

Follow Alan on Twitter

Alan Parks shortlisted for the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger at the CWA Daggers 2023

Credit: CWA

Congratulations to Alan Parks, whose novel MAY GOD FORGIVE has been shortlisted for the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger at the Crime Writers’ Association annual Daggers Awards! The Steel Dagger recognises the best espionage, psychological, or adventure thriller of the year, and sees Alan nominated alongside Linwood Barclay, John Brownlow, M. W. Craven, Robert Galbraith and Ava Glass. The winner will be picked by a jury chaired by Corinne Turner, the managing director of Ian Fleming Publications Ltd, and announced at the CWA’s gala dinner on 6 July.

The Crime Writers’ Association is this year celebrating its 70th anniversary, and the Daggers are the oldest awards of the genre and among the most prestigious.

MAY GOD FORGIVE is the fifth title in Alan Parks’ highly acclaimed Harry McCoy series. It won the McIlvanney Scottish Crime Book of the Year award and was recently longlisted for the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year (for which voting is still open to the public until this Thursday, 18 May).

After a fatal arson attack leaves tempers frayed in Glasgow, McCoy finds himself in a race against time to find the suspects before they turn up dead one by one. In 2022 MAY GOD FORGIVE was published in the UK by Canongate and in the US by Europa. The series is sold in more than ten countries around the world and the paperback was published in the UK last month. The next book in the series, TO DIE IN JUNE, will be released in the UK on 25 May.

Praise for MAY GOD FORGIVE

‘MAY GOD FORGIVE is the fifth instalment in a remarkable series that began with BLOODY JANUARY. The novels, as someone once said, can be read in any order; the important thing is to read them all.’ – Mark Sanderson, The Times

‘MAY GOD FORGIVE is a bleak and violent book, full of grisly details not for the squeamish, but also tenderness, poignance and hard-earned wisdom.’ – Tom Nolan, The Wall Street Journal

‘Noir has long been the dominant colour in the palette of such Scottish writers as Ian Rankin and Denise Mina, but Parks manages to find a deeper shade of black, only slightly attenuated by Harry's willingness to go far off the grid to extract a wee bit of justice. A must for those who take their noir straight, no chaser; others should keep the Pepto handy.’ – Bill Ott, Booklist

‘Enjoyably readable… Parks is a gifted story-teller’ – Allan Massie, The Scotsman

‘Harry McCoy is the brightest dark star on the Tartan Noir scene for some time and in future critics of Scottish crime fiction will surely be referring to the triumvirate of Laidlaw, Rebus and McCoy … MAY GOD FORGIVE is crime fiction which pulls no punches, powerfully told and, at times, heartbreakingly poignant. One of the crime novels of 2022.’ – Mike Ripley, Getting Away With Murder

About Alan Parks

Credit: Euan Robertson

Alan Parks worked in the music industry for over twenty years before turning to crime writing.

His debut BLOODY JANUARY was shortlisted for the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière, FEBRUARY’S SON was nominated for an Edgar Award, BOBBY MARCH WILL LIVE FOREVER won the Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original, the Prix Mystère de la critique in the foreign fiction category, and was shortlisted for the Macavity Award for Best Mystery Novel and THE APRIL DEAD was shortlisted for the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year. The latest Harry McCoy book, MAY GOD FORGIVE, was published in April 2022 and won the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year 2022. It has also been shortlisted for the 2023 CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award and longlisted for the 2023 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award . The Harry McCoy series is optioned for television.

Alan was born in Scotland and attended The University of Glasgow where he was awarded a M.A. in Moral Philosophy. He still lives and works in the city as well as spending time in London.

Visit Alan’s website

Follow Alan on Twitter

MAY GOD FORGIVE longlisted for the 2023 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award

We are delighted that MAY GOD FORGIVE by Alan Parks has been longlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award.

The Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year is one of the most prestigious prizes in crime fiction in the UK. It is presented by Harrogate International Festivals and recognises the best crime novels published in the UK and Ireland in paperback.

The public are now invited to vote for the six titles to make up the shortlist: https://harrogatetheakstoncrimeaward.com/vote/

Voting closes on 18 May.

The shortlist will be announced on 15 June, when the public vote for the winner will open. The winner of the £3,000 prize will be revealed at Harrogate on 20 July, on the opening night of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, which will be celebrating its 20th year.

You can watch an interview with all the longlisted authors, including Alan, here: https://harrogatetheakstoncrimeaward.com/author-interviews/

MAY GOD FORGIVE is the fifth title in Alan Parks’ highly acclaimed Harry McCoy series. It won the McIlvanney Scottish Crime Book of the Year award and was recently longlisted for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger.

After a fatal arson attack leaves tempers frayed in Glasgow, McCoy finds himself in a race against time to find the suspects before they turn up dead one by one. In 2022 MAY GOD FORGIVE was published in the UK by Canongate and in the US by Europa. The series is sold in more than ten countries around the world and the paperback is out in the UK today, on 27 April. The next book in the series, TO DIE IN JUNE, will be released in the UK next month.

Praise for MAY GOD FORGIVE

‘MAY GOD FORGIVE is the fifth instalment in a remarkable series that began with BLOODY JANUARY. The novels, as someone once said, can be read in any order; the important thing is to read them all.’ – Mark Sanderson, The Times

‘MAY GOD FORGIVE is a bleak and violent book, full of grisly details not for the squeamish, but also tenderness, poignance and hard-earned wisdom.’ – Tom Nolan, The Wall Street Journal

‘Noir has long been the dominant colour in the palette of such Scottish writers as Ian Rankin and Denise Mina, but Parks manages to find a deeper shade of black, only slightly attenuated by Harry's willingness to go far off the grid to extract a wee bit of justice. A must for those who take their noir straight, no chaser; others should keep the Pepto handy.’ – Bill Ott, Booklist

‘Enjoyably readable… Parks is a gifted story-teller’ – Allan Massie, The Scotsman

‘Harry McCoy is the brightest dark star on the Tartan Noir scene for some time and in future critics of Scottish crime fiction will surely be referring to the triumvirate of Laidlaw, Rebus and McCoy … MAY GOD FORGIVE is crime fiction which pulls no punches, powerfully told and, at times, heartbreakingly poignant. One of the crime novels of 2022.’ – Mike Ripley, Getting Away With Murder

About Alan Parks

Photo: Euan Robertson

Alan Parks was Creative Director at London Records in the mid 1990’s, then at Warner Music, where he created ground-breaking campaigns for artists including All Saints, New Order, The Streets, Gnarls Barclay and Cee Lo Green. He was also Managing Director of 679 Recordings, a joint venture with Warner Music. His debut novel BLOODY JANUARY propelled him onto the international literary crime fiction scene immediately and his work has been hailed by contemporary writers and critics alike.

BLOODY JANUARY was shortlisted for the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière, FEBRUARY’S SON was nominated for an Edgar Award, BOBBY MARCH WILL LIVE FOREVER was picked as a Times Best Book of the Year, won an Edgar Award and has been shortlisted for the Macavity Award for Best Mystery novel, and THE APRIL DEAD was shortlisted for the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year.

Alan was born in Scotland and attended The University of Glasgow where he was awarded a M.A. in Moral Philosophy. He still lives and works in the city that is so vividly depicted in the 1970s setting of his Harry McCoy thrillers.

Visit Alan’s website

Follow Alan on Twitter

Tom Benn, Alan Parks and Deon Meyer longlisted for CWA Daggers 2023

 
 

We are delighted that three Blake Friedmann authors have had their recent crime novels longlisted in this year’s Crime Writers’ Association Daggers. OXBLOOD by Tom Benn is longlisted for the Gold Dagger, the award for the overall best crime novel of the year. Deon Meyer’s THE DARK FLOOD, translated by K.L. Seegers, is on the longlist for the Dagger for Crime Fiction in Translation. MAY GOD FORGIVE by Alan Parks has been longlisted for the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger, for the best espionage, psychological, or adventure thriller novel.

The Crime Writers’ Association Daggers are the oldest awards of the genre and among the most prestigious. The Daggers shortlists will be announced on 12 May at Crimefest and the winners at a gala dinner on 6 July.

Photo: Benjamin Mathers

OXBLOOD follows three generations of women as they try to come to terms with the bloody legacy of their family in 1980s Manchester. Told in vivid, visceral prose, OXBLOOD was published by Bloomsbury in April 2022, and recently earned Tom the 2022 Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award. Translation rights have been sold in Spain and the paperback is just out in the UK.

‘One of the most powerful and urgent writers of our times.’ – David Peace

‘A compelling and deeply unsettling experience… a novel that glitters with the dark energy and lifeblood of its characters.’ – Naomi Booth

Tom Benn is an author, screenwriter and lecturer from Stockport, England. His first novel, THE DOLL PRINCESS, was shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize and the Portico Prize, and his creative nonfiction has appeared in The Paris Review Daily. His first film Real Gods Require Blood premiered in competition at the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for Best Short Film at the BFI London Film Festival.

THE DARK FLOOD sees detectives Benny Griessel and Vaughn Cupido demoted and sent to the leafy university town of Stellenbosch, but an apparently humdrum missing person case soon takes a disturbing turn. THE DARK FLOOD was first published by Human & Rousseau in 2020 in Afrikaans, where it became an instant #1 bestseller. The English edition, translated by K.L. Seegers, was published by Hodder in the UK and Grove Atlantic in the US in 2022, and was nominated for a Barry Award 2023. The paperback editions have just been published.

‘The best work yet from this gifted author.’ — Publishers Weekly

‘Deon Meyer’s Benny Griessel novels, featuring a detective in an elite crime squad in Cape Town, are a joy to read.’ – Joan Smith, The Sunday Times

Deon Meyer is an internationally bestselling and prizewinning author, who was awarded France’s highest arts honour, Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres (Knight in the Order of Arts and Letters) in 2021. Rights in his titles are sold in 30 territories and 28 languages and many of his books have been optioned for film. He has been shortlisted for the CWA International Dagger three times and his books have won many prizes around the world, including the Deutsche Krimi Prize in Germany and Le Grand Prix de Littérature Policière and Le Prix Mystère de la Critique in France.

Photo: Euan Robertson

MAY GOD FORGIVE is the fifth title in Alan Parks’ highly acclaimed Harry McCoy series, and winner of the McIlvanney Scottish Crime Book of the Year. After a fatal arson attack leaves tempers frayed in Glasgow, McCoy finds himself in a race against to find the suspects, before they turn up dead one by one. In 2022 MAY GOD FORGIVE was published in the UK by Canongate and in the US by Europa. The series is sold in more than ten countries around the world and the paperback will be out in the UK this week, on 27 April 2023.

‘MAY GOD FORGIVE is the fifth instalment in a remarkable series that began with BLOODY JANUARY. The novels, as someone once said, can be read in any order; the important thing is to read them all.’ – Mark Sanderson, The Times

‘MAY GOD FORGIVE is crime fiction which pulls no punches, powerfully told and, at times, heartbreakingly poignant. One of the crime novels of 2022.’ – Mike Ripley, Getting Away With Murder

Alan Parks was born in Scotland and worked in the music business before becoming a full-time writer. His debut novel BLOODY JANUARY propelled him onto the international literary crime fiction scene and his work has been hailed by contemporary writers and critics alike. He still lives and works in Glasgow, the city that is so vividly depicted in the 1970s setting of his Harry McCoy thrillers.