Penney Wins the Theakston’s
Posted by: Keir Graff
Speaking of Theakston’s, Stef Penney’s The Tenderness of Wolves (2007) has won yet another accolade: Theakston’s Crime Novel of the Year. Said Penney:
“I feel a bit of a fraud,” she said, “as it is only my first book, and I don’t really feel like a proper crime writer, but I am delighted to have won.”
Val McDermid (The Grave Tattoo, 2007) begged to differ:
Speaking to the Guardian earlier today, the chairman of the judges, Val McDermid, was keen to claim Penny’s novel for the crime fiction genre. “This is a book about a murder and its consequences,” she said, “and that’s a crime novel almost by definition.”
According to McDermid, the distinction between crime and literary fiction is becoming increasingly blurred and irrelevant. She described the decision as a straightforward judgment on the quality of the books in front of the panel: “The consensus was that this was the outstanding book.”
Well said!
