Here’s news from across the pond.

Belinda Bauer won the £3,000 (about US$5,125) Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year award for her book Rubbernecker.

Bauer was presented with the award, which is marking its 10th year, on the opening night of the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate.

Rubbernecker is described as the story of Patrick Fort, a medical student with Asperger's Syndrome, who examines a body in anatomy class and is faced with trying to solve a possible murder.

Other authors shortlisted for the award included Denise Mina and Peter May.

In addition, Lynda La Plante, at left, was named the fifth winner of the Theakstons Old Peculier Oustanding Contribution to Crime Fiction award, joining previous honorees Ruth Rendell, P.D. James, Colin Dexter and Reginald Hill.

British author La Plante is a screenwriter and former actress, best known for writing the Prime Suspect television crime series. Currently, she is working on a pre-quel to the Prime Suspect series.

But she also is a novelist with several series to her credit, including nine novels in her Anna Travis series. Anna is a young detective still learning to navigate crime detection and the politics of the police department. Wrongful Death is the latest novel in this series.

La Plante’s latest novel is Twisted, a stand alone about the investigation of a bright teenager who vanishes from a girls’ school

In 2008 La Plante was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the Queen's Birthday Honours List for services to Literature, Drama and to Charity, and was presented with the esteemed TV Spielfilm Award for her television adaptation of her novel Above Suspicion, which is the first novel in her Anna Travis series, at the International Film and Television Festival Conference in Cologne.