Jacqueline Auld won the £2,500 (about $2,980) Lindisfarne Prize for Crime Fiction, which "celebrates the outstanding crime and thriller storytelling of those who are from, or whose work celebrates, north-east England," for her story "The Children of Gaia," the Bookseller reported. In addition to cash, the prize is designed "to support the completion of her work, and funding towards a year's membership of the Society of Authors and the Alliance of Independent Authors."
Now in its fourth year, the prize was founded by author L.J. Ross and is sponsored by her publishing imprint Dark Skies Publishing, in association with the Newcastle Noir Crime Writing Festival and Newcastle Libraries. The aim of the honor is "to provide financial support and help build and maintain creative confidence for new, emerging and established writers in the crime and thriller genre," the Bookseller noted.