Writing Award 2022

Love too is a crime. Especially if you are DI Cathy Collins investigating the murder of two junior doctors and your lover is ex-SAS Captain Mick O’Neal, now a chauffeur, an occasional gigolo and an assassin for hire.

DCI Stewart’s open and shut case on the murders of three Indian students is anything but and the killers walk free. Thwarted of justice, the victims’ parents turn to an antient ritual, awakening the Being, a supernatural entity, who chooses 5-year old autistic twin girls as the sentinels of justice

Facing terrifying nightmares, and an overwhelming sense of guilt, Tilly must unravel forgotten memories from her childhood surrounding the death of her beloved Grandmother. Yet, maybe she has chosen to forget: a child’s eye refusing to see the reality of what really happened and who was responsible

Gulchwater, a bog town shadowed and forgotten by the city of Galahan, is a rouges' retreat. If you were to ask if the people of Gulchwater could change, anyone would tell you you're insane. But when a newcomer arrives and catches the eye of Joy-Quarter's criminal overseer, Wrath, anything can happen

Alchemist prophecies have spoken of a Philosopher's Stone, a creation that could destroy the world in the wrong hands. Sage Vanore, a novice Alchemist, finds herself at the center of world's fate with a choice. Will she run? Or can she muster the courage to fight?

The Master of St Mark's College conspires with Oxford's Chief Planner to make £billions. A lonely software geek stumbles on their scam - and on the Planner's disaffected wife, whom he impregnates. The planner and his wife die in a fire, and there's only one suspect.

Love and betrayal in Russia 1991, a country smouldering in the dying embers of communism, haunt Julia for thirty years until a Russian doll forces her to face her past. Can she banish Moscow's ghosts to reunite with daughter Mia and lover Alexei or will the matryoshka destroy all she loves?

Alvdis Drakadotter's peaceful life that is full of friends, family and joy is about to change when a mysterious threat comes prowling through the shadows of the forest, preparing to strike a devastating blow.

What if a young soldier, in the very act of saving his comrades-at-arms, disappears from the battlefield at the end of combat against a demonic enemy and reappears in a world 540 years ahead of his own time?

Hannah has lost her sense of self. A patriarchal society and the dominating character of her husband suppress her more. An unexpected affair bolsters her strength but then insidious exploitation at her teenage daughter's school gets sinister. Can Hannah find clarity and in turn support her daughter?

Some writers suffer from imposter syndrome, but journalist Violet Maris was truly an imposter. Using the autobiographical stories written by a cooperating friend, she secured a residency at a prestigious writers’ colony in New England, hoping to use her experiences there to write a riveting exposé,

When thirty-something Nora Forrest traveled to Manhattan to see a Broadway play starring her idol, an aging Irish actor named Hugh Sheenan, she doesn't know whether what happened in the theater that night should be credited to witchcraft, extrasensory perception, synchronicity, or simple accident.

After Lyra, an Irish crime-fiction author, calls a number on a perplexing message in a bottle in Galway, she's invited to spend some time with the sender's family on Chappaquiddick island in New England where she quickly realises her over-friendly hosts aren't all as they seem.

When an aspiring romance writer moves to a village where a famous literary figure died, she becomes a suspect in a gruesome murder and is haunted by the ghosts of Jane Austen, Mary Shelley, Charlotte and Emily Bronte in a ghostly literary circle, to help her solve the crime and improve her prose.

Having a stepdad sucks. Having a stepdad with a morgue sucks even more. It’s creepy and it earns Beth the nickname Beth Death at school. Like being 16 and a goth loaner isn’t hard enough already.
Then a dead body speaks to Beth asking her to investigate their murder and it gets a whole lot harder.

Marco Blake is a member of Reynard’s Wings: a group of shapeshifters who use their abilities to bring peace and stability to the ruined city of Iska. While investigating a murder committed by an inhuman assailant, Marco uncovers and must stop a conspiracy to exterminate countless lives.

Question: What does an ageing alcoholic do with three and a half acres? Answer: Plant a vineyard.

YA contemporary suspense with speculative elements. Think ‘The Big Bang Theory’s’ Amy Farrah Fowler meets Holly Black’s ‘The White Cat’ where telepathic neurodiversity is so valued, it's worth killing for.

This novel follows the protagonist as she finds her place in the world while following her passion. She builds many dynamic relationships in this story, including a love interest which becomes a conflict when they are told they may not be together. She is forced to choose between career and love.

A short story of Santa Claus being helped by alibots (half aliens, half robots) with the preparation of presents and letters deliveries for children in time for Christmas. The manuscript contains only text with page references.