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Little, Brown author Mark Billingham has won the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award for his novel Death Message; it is the second time Billingham has won since his novel LazyBones scored the inaugural prize in 2005.
He beat shortlisted names such as Lee Child, Val McDermid and Ian Rankin. The announcement was made on the opening night of the 2009 Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate (23rd July).
Open to British crime novels published in paperback in 2008, the prize is the only award of its kind to be voted for by the general public; this year over 5,000 votes were cast online.
Billingham said: "To even be on the shortlist with such fantastic authors was amazing and then to win was absolutely amazing." His novel will have a prominent chart position in most Asda stores though the summer.
The shortlist in full was:
Death Message Mark Billingham Little, Brown Book Group
The Accident Man Tom Cain (Corgi)
Bad Luck and Trouble Lee Child (Bantam)
Gone to Ground John Harvey (Arrow)
Ritual Mo Hayder (Bantam)
Garden of Evil David Hewson (Pan)
A Cure for all Diseases Reginald Hill (HarperCollins)
The Colour of Blood Declan Hughes (John Murray)
Dead Man's Footsteps Peter James (Pan)
Broken Skin Stuart MacBride (HarperCollins)
Beneath the Bleeding Val McDermid (HarperCollins)
Exit Music Ian Rankin (Orion)
Friend of the Devil Peter Robinson (Hodder)
Savage Moon Chris Simms (Orion)