SHORTLIST FOR THE BLOODY SCOTLAND DEBUT PRIZE 2026
The Prize is sponsored by The Glencairn Glass and the winner will be presented on the opening evening of the festival, Friday 18th September 2026.
Bloody Scotland prides itself on supporting new talent and The Bloody Scotland Debut Prize which began in 2019 has launched the careers of numerous Scottish crime writers including Natalie Jayne Clark, Tariq Ashkanani, Allan Gaw, Claire Askew, Kate Foster and Callum McSorley.
For the first time ever, the shortlist for The Bloody Scotland Prize is entirely made up of women, which feels extremely appropriate given that Denise Mina – a vocal champion of women’s rights – is guest programmer for the festival in 2026. She said:
“As a previous judge of the Women’s Prize for Fiction, I am absolutely delighted to see that the 2026 Bloody Scotland Debut shortlist is entirely made up of women. For decades, short lists only had occasional women or none at all. A debut is always a howl into an indifferent abyss. Sometimes the abyss is listening and it thinks you’re fucking brilliant. Congratulations!”
The Prize is sponsored by The Glencairn Glass and the winner will be presented on the opening evening of the festival, Friday 18th September 2026.
Bloody Scotland prides itself on supporting new talent and The Bloody Scotland Debut Prize which began in 2019 has launched the careers of numerous Scottish crime writers including Natalie Jayne Clark, Tariq Ashkanani, Allan Gaw, Claire Askew, Kate Foster and Callum McSorley.
For the first time ever, the shortlist for The Bloody Scotland Prize is entirely made up of women, which feels extremely appropriate given that Denise Mina – a vocal champion of women’s rights – is guest programmer for the festival in 2026. She said:
“As a previous judge of the Women’s Prize for Fiction, I am absolutely delighted to see that the 2026 Bloody Scotland Debut shortlist is entirely made up of women. For decades, short lists only had occasional women or none at all. A debut is always a howl into an indifferent abyss. Sometimes the abyss is listening and it thinks you’re fucking brilliant. Congratulations!”
The full shortlist for the 2026 Bloody Scotland Debut Prize is revealed to be:
Frances Crawford with A Bad, Bad Place (Transworld) An alumni of the University of Glasgow creative writing course, she was tutored by bestselling crime writer, Louise Welsh. Described as The List of Suspicious Things meets Shuggie Bain it was acquired by Transworld in a ten publisher auction. It has also just been shortlisted for the Theakston’s McDermid Debut Prize. She lives in Glasgow.
Frances Crawford with A Bad, Bad Place (Transworld) An alumni of the University of Glasgow creative writing course, she was tutored by bestselling crime writer, Louise Welsh. Described as The List of Suspicious Things meets Shuggie Bain it was acquired by Transworld in a ten publisher auction. It has also just been shortlisted for the Theakston’s McDermid Debut Prize. She lives in Glasgow.
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| Frances Crawford |
Linda Duncan McLaughlin with Original Sins (Into Books). The manuscript for this novel was nominated for the CWA’s Debut Dagger. In the book a troubled young woman discovers that her birth father is a convicted serial killer and confronts the possibility that she has inherited his darkness. Linda is a playwright and a screenwriter for River City on BBC Scotland.
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| Linda Duncan McLaughlin |
Kirsty Lockwood with We Know What You Did (Orion) which will be published on 4 June. Described as Strange Sally Diamond meets Listen for the Lie, it is a character-driven suspense novel from an award-winning Scottish journalist. Kirsty lives in Glasgow.
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| Kirsty Lockwood |
Zoe Rankin with The Vanishing Place (Viper). She grew up in Scotland but now lives in New Zealand where her love of hiking in remote locations inspired the idea for her novel about a young girl who has witnessed a double murder deep in the bush.
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| Zoe Rankin |
May Rinaldi with Liar Thief (Black Spring). She has previously been selected for Pitch Perfect and won the 2023 Black Spring Press Crime Novel which led to their publishing it in 2025. It’s a psychological thriller about two childhood friends, one a self-confessed serial killer, one a cop. She lives in Dumfries & Galloway.
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| May Rinaldi |
The judges for 2026 are broadcaster, Bryan Burnett and crime writer, Vaseem Khan chaired by Bloody Scotland founder, Alex Gray who said:
“Lin Anderson and I decided from the start of Bloody Scotland that we wanted to bring on the crime writers of tomorrow as well as showcasing the best of Scotland and elsewhere. Now, as the chair of the judging panel for the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize, I’m thrilled to read the shortlist and help select the winner each year.”
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| Alex Gray, chair of judging panel |
Kirsty Nicholson, Marketing Director at Glencairn – sponsors of The Bloody Scotland Debut Prize with The Glencairn Glass, the official glass for whisky, said:
“We’re always excited to see the shortlist for the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize and this year it’s particularly encouraging to see so many talented women represented. We’re also delighted to see Frances Crawford included following her success in winning our 2023 Glencairn Glass Crime Short Story Competition – it’s wonderful to see her career continuing to flourish. We congratulate all of the shortlisted authors and wish them the very best of luck.”
All but one of the shortlisted authors will be at the Bloody Scotland programme launch in Stirling at noon on 4 June 2026. The winner will be revealed on the opening night of the festival at the Church of the Holy Rude on 18 September.
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