At £10,000, the Dundee International Book Prize is the richest prize for an unpublished novel in the UK. This year's winning title, Devil Take the Hindmost, is a gripping historical noir set during the amphetamine-fuelled craze for velodrome racing which took London by storm in the late 1920s. Into this world stumbles Paul, a bewildered Scottish farmboy running away from home. Powerfully built with a fierce passion for cycling, he is taken under the wing of Silas, a local loan shark, and from there enters a world he is ill-equipped to survive. As the races get harder, the bets get larger, and the terrifying Mr Morton starts to take an interest in Paul's career. For lovers of Peaky Blinders and Brighton Rock, Devil Take the Hindmost is a thrilling ride through a historical London that is rarely visited.

Left on the statue of Neptune in the hotel gardens

A wonderfully read. Couldn't ask for more as a keen cyclist and passion for times gone by. Great detail throughout, easily transports one into 1920s London, introducing some very shady characters. It is particularly endearing to follow the changing relationship between Paul and Silas as the story rolls along at a pleasing pace.