Kate Atkinson wins Costa novel award for A God in Ruins

Kate Atkinson has won the Costa novel award for the second time in three years for A God in Ruins - the companion novel to Life After Life, which won the award in 2013.

A gothic horror novel, a Victorian murder mystery and a biography of the creator of modern environmentalism were also category winners.

The overall Costa book of the year will be revealed on 26 January.

Atkinson won the top prize in 1995 with Behind the Scenes at the Museum.

Other category winners include former teacher and librarian, Andrew Michael Hurley, who has won the first novel award for his debut, The Loney.

The gothic horror initially had a first print run of just 300 copies. The judges called it "as close to the perfect first novel as you can get".

Scottish poet Don Paterson won the poetry category for a second time for his "tour de force" collection titled 40 Sonnets. He last won the award 12 years ago.

The Invention of Nature won the biography category, The Lie Tree the children's book award and The Loney the debut novel award

Historian and writer Andrea Wulf won the biography award for The Invention of Nature: The Adventures of Alexander Von Humboldt, The Lost Hero of Science.

She tells the story of the visionary German naturalist whose ideas changed the way we see the natural world and created modern environmentalism.

Young adult fiction and children's writer Frances Hardinge won the children's book award with The Lie Tree, a Victorian murder mystery.

The five Costa book award winners each win £5,000 and are all now in the running to win the Costa book of the year.

It is the only major UK book prize that is open solely to authors resident in the UK.

Last year's Costa book of the year went to Helen Macdonald's H is for Hawk. In 2013 it was The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer and in 2012 it was Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel.