An author has described winning the Dundee International Book Prize as "a dream come true" after scooping the award with his debut novel.

Martin Cathcart Froden won £10,000 and a publishing deal with Freight Books for his work Devil Take The Hindmost.

The book, set in 1920s London, centres on a cyclist who becomes embroiled in the criminal world.

Mr Cathcart Froden, 37, was chosen as the winner from a field of almost 500 entries.

His fiction has been shortlisted for various awards including the Bridport Prize as well as being broadcast on BBC Radio 4.

He recently completed a masters in creative writing at Glasgow University, where he will be starting his doctoral studies this year.

The Swedish-born writer said: "I am absolutely over the moon.

"Winning the Dundee International Book Prize is a dream come true. It's one of those life-changing surprises. I am so, so happy."

Crime writer Denise Mina, one of the competition judges, said: "It was an honour to sit on the panel for this prize.

"These unpublished manuscripts were variously moving, well-plotted and brilliantly observed. This prize gives you a sense of all the fantastic, undiscovered work out there."

Dundee International Book Prize is a collaboration between the University of Dundee's Literary Dundee initiative, Freight Books and Dundee City Council's One City, Many Discoveries campaign, with the support of Apex Hotels.

Literary Dundee's Peggy Hughes said: "Martin Cathcart Froden is a worthy winner of the 2015 Dundee International Book Prize.

"This has been a stellar year for the prize, with tough competition from a very fine shortlist, but Martin's debut was ahead of the pack."