Denise Mina with Frances Crawford, winner of Bloody Scotland Debut Prize and The McIlvanney Prize (Image: -)
A writer who could only afford wonky carrots before a book deal changed her life swept the board of prizes at Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival last night.
Frances Crawford, 64, is the first author to win both The Bloody Scotland Debut Prize and the McIlvanney Prize, for Scotland’s best crime book, in the same year for her novel A Bad, Bad Place, a gritty and heartfelt thriller set in 1970s Glasgow about the far-reaching effects of murder on a community.
It is set in Possilpark, north Glasgow, where Frances grew up and still lives, and tells the story of 12-year-old Janey Devine who finds the body of a murdered woman while walking her dog, Sid Vicious. Janey says she can’t remember what she saw at the abandoned railway but the police think she is hiding something as her grandmother Maggie desperately tries to protect her.
Her double prize comes only two months after Frances was awarded the McDermid Debut Prize at the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate.
The Scottish writer graduated from Glasgow University aged 60, before starting her writing career. She revealed she was working out how many wonky carrots she could afford to buy when getting a call telling her she had landed a book deal for “a lovely amount of money” after a bidding war between 10 publishers.
Bloody Scotland is taking place in Stirling until Sunday with special guests including Richard Osman, Lee Child and Tana French.
Its guest programmer, Denise Mina, has long been vocal about the lack of women in the prize landscape and is thrilled by the result.
She said: “Frances Crawford’s A Bad Bad Place is a novel of profound depth and scope. Insightful, harrowing and very funny, it deals with the reality of violent crime and its impact on many victims. This is a spectacular debut from a wonderful new voice. She is the very first double winner and it could not be more deserved.”
Frances Crawford with her husband Willy (Image: -)
Bloody Scotland co-founder, author and chair of the Debut Prize judges, Alex Gray, said: “A Bad, Bad Place captured my heart from the first mention of Janey’s dog, Sid Vicious. From then on the Glasgow patter and the different characters wound around me like a familiar, though not so comfy, blanket.
“Beautifully written, thoughtfully perceived from a child’s perspective, this is one novel that will remain with me for a long time to come.”
McIlvanney Prize judge, author and broadcaster, Sally Magnusson, said: “This is a novel full of Glasgow wit and deep humanity. Unpacking a harrowing crime through the impressions of a grandmother and a child is gloriously original.
“The world we encounter through their eyes is scary, unfair, misogynistic, tragic – and wonderfully funny. The cost of murder is movingly evoked in a way that stays with you long after the book is closed.”
The presentation of both prizes took place in the Church of the Holy Rude last night before a grand procession led by Ms Mina to her event with Lee Child at The Albert Halls.
