The inaugural McDermid Debut Award, named in recognition of world-famous crime writer Val McDermid, was won by Marie Tierney for her novel Deadly Animals.

Deadly Animals features road–kill obsessed teenager Ava Bonney, who discovers the mauled body of a schoolmate and embarks on a daring quest to unravel the truth behind the string of chilling deaths plaguing her Birmingham community. Birmingham-born Marie Tierney, who now lives in the Fens, worked in education before becoming a full-time writer. She received a £500 cash prize, as well as an engraved beer cask handcrafted by one of Britain’s last coopers from Theakston’s Brewery.