A HAMPSHIRE author has been shortlisted for an international short story competition.

Antony M Brown, who lives in Eastleigh has made the shortlist for the Crime Writers’ Association's (CWA) Margery Allingham Short Mystery Prize.

The competition celebrates the classic mystery story, and entries had to adhere to Allingham’s definition of a mystery: “The Mystery remains box-shaped, at once a prison and a refuge. Its four walls are, roughly, a Crime, a Mystery, an Enquiry and a Conclusion with an Element of Satisfaction in it.”

Anthony has been shortlisted for the award, along with four other authors, for his short story 'For Laura Hope'.

He is also the author of the Cold Case Jury Collection, true crime mysteries in which readers can deliver their verdicts online at coldcasejury.com.

He has appeared numerous times on radio and television talking about true crime and crime writing, including The Porthole Mystery, the BBC News Channel documentary based on his second book.

He has been shortlisted along side Chris Curran from East Sussex, Camilla Macpherson from the Netherlands and Hazell Ward from North Wales.

The winner of the award will be announced later this year and will receive £500 and two passes for the international crime writing convention CrimeFest in 2022.

Dea Parkin, Secretary of the CWA, said: “We are in awe of the quality and number of entries we received this year.

"We’ve witnessed a huge resurrection in the popularity of mystery stories in the pandemic, thanks in part to the popularity of Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club and authors like Robert Thorogood who created the popular BBC murder mystery series, Death in Paradise.

"This short story competition is a fantastic way of building a writer’s craft, and profile, in the mystery genre.”