In 2025, Murder Squad celebrates its 25th Anniversary. To mark this special year, they are running a short story competition with the theme ‘Anniversary’. Submissions should be crime-themed in the broadest sense.

The competition is open to new/emerging writers (aged over 18) who have not had a full-length novel or story collection published. For clarity, this includes self-published novels.

We are looking for original stories up to 1500 words in length that grip us and make us eager to find out what happens.

A longlist of 7, selected by the Judges, will be considered by the full squad and narrowed to 3 finalists. The 3 final shortlisted writers will receive feedback and an invitation to attend a special Murder Squad Anniversary Event on Wednesday 21^st May 2025. The winner will be announced at the event, and the winner’s story will be published on Murder Squad’s website.

Prize Winners:

• 1^st Place: £100 cash prize and winner certificate
• 2^nd Place: £50 cash prize and 2nd place certificate
• 3^rd Place: £25 cash prize and 3rd place certificate

We are keen to encourage quality, so suggest writers to check their stories before submitting using Prowritingaid. They have free and paid versions and are the best writing software we know to help improve grammar, readability and check for repetition, ‘sticky’ sentences and suggest alternatives.