It is Hilary Mantel's second award for Bring Up The Bodies, a historical novel about Thomas Cromwell, which also won the 2012 Man Booker Prize.

BBC: Hilary Mantel wins 2012 Costa novel prize

Mantel's Booker Prize-winning novels Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies chart the rise and fall of Thomas Cromwell, a powerful minister in the court of Henry VIII.

BBC: Hilary Mantel