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)
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