The Dead Good Reader Awards Winners 2015

At a star-studded ceremony at the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate, the great and the good of the crime community came together to see the inaugural Dead Good Reader Award winners announced.

Presented by Mark Lawson, Val McDermid, Lee Child and the Dead Good Team, each winner scooped a bespoke magnifying glass trophy to adorn their bookshelves back at home.

Here are the winners as voted for by YOU!

The Dead Good Recommends Award for Most Recommended Book

Winner: The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins (Transworld)

Shortlist:
I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes (Transworld)
The Defence by Steve Cavanagh (Orion)
I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh (Sphere)
The Lie by C L Taylor (Avon)
No Other Darkness by Sarah Hilary (Headline)

The Lee Child Award for Best Loner or Detective

Winner: Vera Stanhope, Ann Cleeves (Pan Macmillan)

Shortlist:
Cormoran Strike, Robert Galbraith (Little Brown)
John Rebus, Ian Rankin (Orion)
Harry Hole, Jo Nesbo (Vintage)
Lacey Flint, Sharon Bolton (Transworld)
David Raker, Tim Weaver (Michael Joseph)

The Val McDermid Award for Fiendish Forensics

Winner: Time of Death by Mark Billingham (Sphere)

Shortlist:
Bones are Forever by Kathy Reichs (Cornerstone)
Die Again by Tess Gerritsen (Transworld)
The Ghost Fields by Elly Griffiths (Quercus)
Flesh and Blood by Patricia Cornwell (Harper)
Rubbernecker by Belinda Bauer (Transworld)

The Reichenbach Falls Award for Most Epic Ending

Winner: The Skeleton Road by Val McDermid (Sphere)

Shortlist:
The Defence by Steve Cavanagh (Orion)
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins (Transworld)
The Nightmare Place by Steve Mosby (Orion)
I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh (Sphere)
Personal by Lee Child (Transworld)

The Dr Lecter Award for Scariest Villain

Winner: You are Dead by Peter James (Macmillan)

Shortlist:
The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes (Harper)
Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes (Myriad)
An Evil Mind by Chris Carter (Simon and Schuster)
The Stand by Stephen King (Hodder)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (Quercus)

The Patricia Highsmith Award for Most Exotic Location

Winner: Amsterdam, The Girl Who Wouldn’t Die by Marnie Riches (Maze)

Shortlisted:
Bardsey Island, The Bones Beneath by Mark Billingham (Sphere)
Boston, The Kind Worth Killing, Peter Swanson (Faber)
Greece, The Long Fall, Julia Crouch (Headline)
Nepal, The Lie, C L Taylor (Avon)
Oslo, Police, Jo Nesbo (Vintage)