The Cob and Pen Award

It came as a very pleasant surprise to learn that Miss Winter in the Library with a Knife has been shortlisted for the Cob and Pen award for best crime novel, along with seven other books by a variety of distinguished authors: see below.

The key significance of literary awards from a writer's perspective is, I think, mainly to do with boosting confidence and morale, and this is an important and valuable function. Sometimes awards can bring benefits in terms of higher sales and more revenue (and over the years, when there's been a cash prize to accompany an award I've received, I've always used it to buy books that would serve as a tangible reminder of the occasion), but in the majority of cases that doesn't happen, and I don't think it matters. Because for a writer, confidence is very precious and you can't put a price on it.

I've been involved in judging literary prizes as well as being short or long listed or occasionally winning them and I think that experience over many years has given me a reasonably clear perspective. The reality is that there's inevitably an element of subjective judgment and opinion involved in these things, however hard one tries to be totally detached and objective. Again, though, I don't think that matters, as long as the process adopted is sensible and that all those involved strive to be fair-minded. It's a cliche that it's an honour to be nominated for any award, but it's true.

Twelve of my books (eight novels and four non-fiction titles) have won or been nominated for awards and that's something that gives me a good deal of pleasure. And it definitely contributes to motivation to keep writing and to keep striving to improve. Which is what I shall be doing in 2026!

Here's what the judges of the Cob and Pen award (which is associated with the Bloody Barnes crime festival, due to take place next month) had to say: 'We were thrilled at Bloody Barnes at the number of entries we received for the brand new Cob and Pen award.The judges found it all very hard to choose but here is our short list of eight - in no particular order! 'The Masked Band' by Bernard O'Keeffe 'Victim' by Thomas Enger and Jorn Lier Horst 'Blood Caste' by Shylashmi Sankar 'Dog sitter Detective Plays Dead' by Antony Johnson 'Death in the Aviary' by Victoria Dowd 'Death of an Officer' by Mark Ellis 'Miss Winter in the Library with a Knife' by Martin Edwards 'Marble Hall Murders' by Anthony Horowitz They are all a cracking good read - best of luck to them all for the next round of judging!'