News "Best Opening for a Crimie" Contest

[Pamela Jo]

VAL MCDERMID JUDGES THE 2ND

"CRIMEBITS" PRIZE FOR BEST OPENING TO A

CRIME BOOK

Ends on Thu, Mar 13, 2025 11:59 PM

MAKE YOUR FIRST PAGE COUNT...

Building on the successful book CRIMEBITS selected and

introduced and judged by LEE CHILD, published as a paperback

in the UK and USA November 1, 2024... here comes the sequel!

The competition is open to anyone 18 or older anywhere in the

world who wants to write in the English-language and has an

interest in crime, thriller or mystery novels. Writers can enter as

many times as they want.

We are looking for the best 50-250 words of an ‘opening’ for a

crime-mystery-thriller novel. The work must be never-before-

published (including online), original to the author, and ideally

written for this prize. It need not be connected to a completed

book. Indeed, we very much hope the prize encourages people

to start a novel, with this first page – and maybe go on to

complete it.

All submission info can also be found at the

blackspringcrimeseries.com website; the entry fee is now $10 for

late-birds.

Val McDermid - beloved best-selling Scottish "Tartan Noir"

crime author and CWA Diamond Dagger winner - will read and

judge the best final 100 entries, and leading crime writer Luca

Veste will be the sifting judge for the first stage of the

competition.

The winner will be announced in 2025, receive £200, a one-off,

hour-long online mentoring session with Luca Veste and be

offered a publishing contract if they ever decide to complete the

novel.

All longlisted, shortlisted, and winning entrants agree to let their

submitted work, biography and photo be included in any

publicity organised by the press, including granting a license for

the work to appear in an anthology of crime opening gambits

that may be created, in exchange for a free copy of the work;

copyright and ownership of the characters and situations

remains with the entrants.

The Black Spring Crime Series was recently endorsed by, among

others, giants of crime Val McDermid, Ian Rankin, Lee Child, and

Mark Billingham.

This contest series and format is copyright BSPG; and is a way to

fundraise to support a small press facing challenging times in the

UK cost of living crisis.

Note that immediate family members of those on the BSPG

team, and the team themselves, are ineligible to enter. The

contest may be cancelled at the discretion of the organisers for

any reason at any time; all monies will be refunded. Should any

of the judges be unavailable due to force majeure other judges

of equal calibre will step in.

We use Submittable to accept and review

 

[Bloo]

Thanks for this

Wonder if I should try? 249 words...

*****​

They were still pulling bones from the ground when the boss arrived.

Gerhardus jumped out of the 1971 Defender before the wheels stopped rolling. The small rugged vehicle had neither roof nor doors, so the maneuver wasn’t difficult. His boots hit the dry South-African soil and kicked up clouds of it as he marched toward a small group of men. The boss's usually pale face was red with frustration.

“Christ… first the drought, then sanctions, now this. I’m trying to run a vineyard. All right, who found it?”

“It was me, Boss. We were digging the trench when I saw something in the dirt. There was no marker or coffin.” Jonathan pointed at the pile a few meters away, “Just bones.”

Not just bones. There were a few bits of sinew left over, but not nearly enough to hold it together. Still… something else was missing. “Did you find any clothing?”

“No clothes at all, just a short length of rope in a knot. Something bad happened here. I think you should see, Boss.”

“Show me.”

The laborer led Gerhardus to a skull and both men knelt beside it. The mandible was no longer attached, but somewhere in the loose dirt.

“See the hole in back? This is not from digging. It was there when we found it.”

Jonathan winced as his boss casually picked up the skull through the empty eye sockets and stood up. Gerhardus shook it firmly until a small, deformed mass of lead fell out.