Barcelona  - Scottish author Philip Kerr, 52, has been awarded the Spanish RBA prize for thrillers, one of the world's most lucrative awards in that category, press reports said Friday.

Kerr won the award worth 125,000 euros (175,000 dollars) for his novel If the Dead Rise Not, which takes place in Nazi Germany.

The work, which features private detective Bernie Gunther, was comparable with classics such as Raymond Chandler, the jury said on Thursday.

The RBA prize is awarded annually by a Barcelona publishing house of the same name.