[1] But we are concerned about the way that women are depicted as the victims of extreme torture, rape and murder, graphically described, bloody, terrifying and prolonged, normalised and offered up as entertainment.
[5] The official website describes the criteria as "a novel in the thriller genre in which no woman is beaten, stalked, sexually exploited, raped or murdered.
[1] Domestic noir writer Julia Crouch said "what that kind of prize immediately knocks out is the lived experience of millions of women in this country".
[10] In World Literature Today, writer Janet Clark counters the criticism by saying "the prize is one way of drawing attention toward an undeniable trend of using horrific and perverse brutality as cheap plot devices.
"[11] Hallie Rubenhold, writing in The Guardian, calls the prize "noble in sentiment", while acknowledging Val McDermid's argument that "acts of misogyny and violence against women are being committed, they need to be written about, and not swept under the carpet.