G T Karber’s murder mystery puzzle book Murdle (Souvenir Press) has been named Book of the Year at The British Book Awards 2024. The book also topped the Non-Fiction: Lifestyle & Illustrated category, after storming the UK charts in December to take the Christmas number one spot.
Judged by a panel including presenters Adrian Chiles and Lorraine Kelly, Karber takes the crown from 2023 winners Davina McCall and Dr Naomi Potter, who won for their book Menopausing (HQ). Murdle’s publisher Profile Books won Independent Publisher of the Year, while its imprint Souvenir Press was nominated for Imprint of the Year.
In a big year for children’s publishing, Katherine Rundell was named Author of the Year, following in the footsteps of adult fiction writers Marian Keyes, Richard Osman, Bernardine Evaristo and Bonnie Garmus in previous years. Rundell’s Impossible Creatures (Bloomsbury Children’s Books), illustrated by Daniel Egnéus, Tomislav Tomić and Virginia Allyn, won the award for Children’s Fiction Book of the Year, and was nominated for a further four awards across Book of the Year and Trade categories. Bloomsbury Children’s Books dominated large parts of the evening, with nine nominations in total, and wins including Children’s Non-Fiction Book of the Year for Brilliant Black British History by Atinuke, illustrated by Kingsley Nebechi.
Jamie Smart scooped Illustrator of the Year and Children’s Illustrated Book of the Year for Bunny vs Monkey: Multiverse Mix-up (David Fickling). Smart’s publisher, David Fickling Books, was awarded Small Press of the Year in the South East region, and was nominated for Children’s Publisher of the Year. Meanwhile, in the adult-dominated Discover award, children’s publishing triumphed again with Raksha Dave’s Lessons From Our Ancestors, illustrated by Kimberlie Clinthorne-Wong, crowned winner. The book’s publisher, Magic Cat Publishing, took home the Small Press of the Year gong.
This year saw established and emerging authors triumph over big celebrity brands, with Prince Harry’s Spare (Bantam) and Britney Spears’ memoir The Woman in Me (Gallery UK) pipped by Rory Stewart’s Politics on the Edge (Jonathan Cape) to win the Non-Fiction: Narrative Book of the Year. Spare broke sales records as the fastest selling non-fiction book in the UK, but Scottish comedian Fern Brady’s memoir Strong Female Character (Brazen) also fought off the Duke of Sussex — as well as comedy greats Alan Partridge and David Mitchell — to win the Audiobook: Non-Fiction Book of the Year award.
For the second year running, Rebecca F Kuang won Fiction Book of the Year for Yellowface (The Borough Press), having won for Babel (HarperVoyager) in 2023. Also winner of Marketing Strategy of the Year, Yellowface was praised for its “readable, razor-sharp grappling of issues of cultural appropriation”, and was chosen over Iron Flame (Piatkus) by Rebecca Yarros, who won Pageturner for Fourth Wing (Piatkus).
In a female-led Debut shortlist, Alice Winn took the award for In Memoriam (Viking), having already scooped the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize in 2023. Meanwhile, Lisa Jewell won the Crime & Thriller award — her second award of the night after winning Audiobook Fiction Book of the Year for None of This is True (Century).
Philip Jones, editor of The Bookseller and chair of The British Book Awards judges, commented: “Readers were spoilt for choice in 2023: our winning authors, illustrators, and the teams behind their books showcase an industry at the height of its game and at the absolute centre of the creative sector. At a time when words and their meaning matter more than ever before, to see the world of books in such excellent health is surely something to celebrate.”
Alice O’Keeffe, books editor of The Bookseller and overall chair of the Books of the Year judging, said: “Our judges had their work cut out this year when deciding on the winning titles from the rich and varied shortlists. The British Book Awards 2024 winners, which range from new perspectives on the distant past to twisty crime, from pin-sharp satire to future fantasy classic, from raw memoir to genuine puzzle innovation, each has been brilliantly published, with ambition and flair, and we celebrate them here.”
This year’s British Book Awards ceremony at Grosvenor House was hosted by broadcaster and presenter Lauren Laverne and CBBC presenter Rhys Stephenson, and was available for public viewing on livestream.
