We are delighted to share the news that The Moon’s More Feeble Fire, the second novel in Allan Gaw’s prize-winning Dr Jack Cuthbert series, has been longlisted for the prestigious McIlvanney Prize 2025. The longlist is selected by an academy of booksellers, librarians, bloggers and broadcasters, and the winner wil be anounced at the Bloody Scotland festival in September.

Allan Gaw is no stranger to this prize, having won the Debut award in 2024 for the first book in the series, The Silent House of Sleep. Following this win for his self-published book, Polygon signed Allan in a four-book deal in his 1920s crime thriller series: The Silent House of Sleep, The Moon’s More Feeble Fire, To the Shades Descend and The Shadows and the Dust. The first three novels are now available.

Festival director Bob McDevitt said:

“Supporting new writers is at the heart of Bloody Scotland and it is great to see so many authors graduating from the debut shortlist to the main prize and slugging it out with more established names. I’m glad I don’t have to pick a winner from this excellent crop of crime novels!“

A huge congratulations to Allan on this achievement, and to all the other longlisted authors!