DEBUT novelist William Ryan has made this year’s shortlist for the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award, for his thriller, The Holy Thief.

Also on the shortlist, announced this morning, are Mark Billingham, Lee Child, Stuart MacBride, Andrew Taylor and SJ Bolton, the only woman to have made the cut.

Now in its seventh year, the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award will be announced by broadcaster Mark Lawson on the opening night of the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate on July 21.

On the same night, a special presentation will be made to PD James for her Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction.

Born in Oxford in 1920, Baroness James of Holland Park began writing in the 1950s. Her debut novel, Cover Her Face, was published in 1962 featuring her now-famous investigator, Adam Dalgliesh.

PD James said: “It is always a satisfaction and an encouragement for a writer to win a prize, but I am particularly proud to be honoured by the Theakstons Old Peculier Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction Award because it comes from Harrogate, a town which it is always a delight to visit and which is the home of one of the most distinguished and pleasurable English literary festivals.”