‘ABSORBING’ CORNISH MYSTERY WINS TOP AWARD
Written 18.03.2025 by admin
Congratulations to Jason Mann, an associate publisher for Winter and Drew, who has just won one of the UK’s top writing awards.
His Cornish mystery The Echoing Shore was named as the winner of the 2025 Selfies Adult Fiction Award at the London Book Fair. It is the third prize received by Jason for this novel which also won awards at the Yeovil Literary Prize and the Best Opening of a Novel competition.
The judges described the story as a ‘pacy, absorbing mystery that delivers to the end.’
Jason, a writer living in Torquay, said: ‘Winning this prestigious award was a great honour. The competition was intense with lots of very strong entries in a wide range of genres. I wanted the story to bring out not only the raw majesty and beauty of Cornwall but also the deprivations that exist in many rural areas and small coastal towns. Cornwall has always been a special place for me. I have swum and surfed there much of my life and, in fact, my dad was one Cornwall’s early lifeguards.’
His novel tells the story of Kate Tregillis, the editor of a struggling Cornish newspaper, who has traded a high-flying London career for the quiet pull of her roots and the Atlantic coast. But her isolated existence is upended when ambitious Irish journalist Danny Flanagan arrives in St Branok, investigating the mysterious sinking of a local lifeboat ten years earlier – a disaster that claimed eight crewmen. As Danny’s probing questions stir old resentments, Kate finds herself drawn to his relentless determination and charm.
Jason is now working on another Cornish mystery. The Silver Tide was inspired by an astonishing true story. It is set in the same fictitious fishing town as The Echoing Shore, albeit more than a century earlier. He has previously published Hidden Depths, another Cornish novel, which won an award in an American competition and was shortlisted in the 2024 Selfies.
The Selfies awards were launched seven years ago by BookBrunch, a website and news service for the international publishing industry. They are supported by a number of leading companies involved in the UK publishing industry.
Signed copies of both Jason’s current books are available through the Winter & Drew bookstore:
