A DEBUT Scottish female author yesterday became the first double winner of two prestigious crime writing prizes.
Frances Crawford’s novel A Bad, Bad Place swept the boards at this year’s Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival in Stirling, only two months after picking up the McDermid Debut Award at Harrogate.
The 64-year-old Glaswegian won the McIlvanney Prize and the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize, the first time any author has won both in the same year.
It was also the first time in the festival’s history that there was an all-women shortlist for the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize.
Guest programmer, Denise Mina, who has long been vocal about the lack of women in the prize landscape, said she was thrilled by the result.
“Frances Crawford’s A Bad, Bad Place is a novel of profound depth and scope,” said Mina.
“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.”
Crawford, who has a rare autoimmune disease, started writing late in life after securing a scholarship to study creative writing at the University of Glasgow.
She credits her tutor, the author Louise Welsh, with encouraging her to take her short story and develop it into a novel. She graduated aged 60 with an MLitt (Distinction) and the short story won the Glencairn Glass Crime Short Story competition in 2023.
She went on to write A Bad, Bad Place, which was published by Transworld following a 10-way auction.
McIlvanney Prize judge, author and broadcaster Sally Magnusson said A Bad Bad Place was full of Glasgow wit and deep humanity.
“Unpacking a harrowing crime through the impressions of a grandmother and a child is gloriously original,” said Magnusson. “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.”
Bloody Scotland co-founder, author and chair of the Debut Prize judges, Alex Gray, added: “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.”
The presentation of both prizes took place in the Church of the Holy Rude in Stirling yesterday before a grand procession led by Mina to her event with Lee Child at The Albert Halls.
Kirsty Nicholson, marketing director at Glencairn, sponsors of The Bloody Scotland Debut and McIlvanney Prizes, said: “This has been a truly remarkable year of firsts for Bloody Scotland and we are delighted to celebrate Frances Crawford’s extraordinary achievement.
“Winning both the Debut and McIlvanney Prizes is an incredible accomplishment and a testament to her exceptional storytelling talent.
“It is particularly wonderful to see Frances’s journey come full circle, having won our Glencairn Glass Crime Short Story Competition in 2023.
“A huge congratulations on this well-deserved success – we cannot wait to see what comes next.”
The shortlist for the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize 2026 also included Zoe Rankin, Kirsty Lockwood, May Rinaldi and Linda Duncan McLaughlin. The other McIlvanney Finalists 2026 were Tariq Ashkanani, Philip Miller, Zoe Rankin and Gavin Bell.
A Bad, Bad Place will be published in paperback on December 31.
