CWA DAGGER AWARD WINNERS 2024

The Crime Writers' Association  Dagger Award Winners. Congratulations to all.

Diamond Dagger for Lifetime Achievement in Crime Writing – Lynda LaPlante and James Lee Burke

Gold Dagger for Best Crime Novel of the Year – Una Mannion for Tell Me What I am

Ian Fleming Steel Dagger – Jordan Harper for Everybody Knows

ILP John Creasey New Blood Dagger – Jo Callaghan for In the Blink of an Eye

Historical Dagger – Jake Lamar for Viper’s Dream

ALCS Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction – Nicholas Shakespeare for Ian Fleming: the Complete Man

Dagger for Crime Fiction in Translation – Maud Ventura for My Husband, translated by Emma Ramadan

Short Story Dagger – Sanjida Kay for The Divide

Dagger for the Best Crime & Mystery Publisher – Pushkin/Vertigo

Debut Dagger – Richard Jerram for Makoto Murders

Dagger in the Library – Anthony Horowitz

Crime Writers Association (UK) Daggers 2024 Shortlists

The Crime Writers' Association Daggers 2024 Shortlists

Text Version:

https://thecwa.co.uk/awards-and-competitions/the-daggers/

LYNDA LA PLANTE & JAMES LEE BURKE SHARE CWA DIAMOND DAGGER

The Crime Writers Association has awarded the Diamond Dagger for Lifetime Contribution to Crime Writing to two authors for the first time.

Lynda La Plante and James Lee Burke are the joint recipients of this year’s award.

“By an extraordinary quirk of fate, due to our new voting process, this year’s Diamond Dagger is, for the first time in seven decades, being awarded to two authors,” said Maxim Jakubowski, chair of the CWA Daggers’ committee. “If the Booker prize can do it, so can we!”

La Plante is best known for writing Prime Suspect and Widows television and novel series. Her other series include Lorraine Page, Anna Travis and Trial And Retribution. In 2008, she received a CBE for services to literature, drama and charity. Her memoir is expected to be released later this year.

James Lee Burke’s series about detective Dave Robicheaux spans more than 20 novels. Burke said he was “honoured and humbled” to receive his award. “It is also an honour to have my name among the best mystery and crime writers in the world,” he added.

Khan said: “James Lee Burke’s lyrical depiction of the American south transcends crime fiction – his prose is often considered among the best to have graced the genre. For many, Dave Robicheaux is the very embodiment of the dogged, morally incorruptible detective beset by personal demons – a beautifully rendered character.”

CWA DAGGER AWARD WINNERS 2023

The Crime Writers Association announced the CWA Dagger Award Winners in all Dagger categories last night. Congratulations to all.

Diamond Dagger (previously announced)

Walter Mosley

Gold Dagger

The Kingdoms of Savannah, by George Dawes Green (Headline)

Ian Fleming Steel Dagger

Seventeen, by John Brownlow (Hodder & Stoughton)

John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger

Dirt Town, by Hayley Scrivener (Macmillan, Pan Macmillan)

Historical Dagger

The Darkest Sin, by D.V. Bishop (Macmillan)

ALCS Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction

Unlawful Killings: Life, Love and Murder: Trials at the Old Bailey, by Wendy Joseph (Doubleday)

Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger

Even the Darkest Night, by Javier Cercas, translated by Anne McLean (MacLehose Press)

Short Story Dagger

“Cast a Long Shadow,” by Hazell Ward (from Cast a Long Shadow, edited by Katherine Stansfield and Caroline; Honno Welsh Women’s Press)

Best Crime & Mystery Dagger

Viper (Profile Books)

Debut Dagger

Sideways, by Jeff Marsick

Dagger in the Library

Sophie Hannah

The CWA Red Herring

Corinne Turner, Gary Stratmann

CWA DAGGER SHORTLISTS 2023

The Crime Writers Association announced the Dagger Award
Shortlists in all Dagger categories at CrimeFest 2023 in Bristol, England. Congratulations to all.

Diamond Dagger (previously announced)

Walter Mosley

Gold Dagger

The Kingdoms of Savannah, by George Dawes Green (Headline)
The Lost Man of Bombay, by Vaseem Khan (Hodder & Stoughton)
A Killing in November, by Simon Mason (Riverrun)
The Clockwork Girl, by Anna Mazzola (Orion)
The Winter Guest, by W.C. Ryan (Zaffre)
The Silent Brother, by Simon Van der Velde (Northodox Press)

Ian Fleming Steel Dagger

Take Your Breath Away, by Linwood Barclay (HQ)
Seventeen, by John Brownlow (Hodder & Stoughton)

The Botanist, by M. W. Craven

The Ink Black Heart, by Robert Galbraith
Alias Emma, by Ava Glass (Century)

May God Forgive, by Alan Parks (Canongate)

John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger

A Good Day to Die, by Amen Alonge (Quercus)
The Local, by Joey Hartstone (Pushkin Vertigo)
London in Black, by Jack Lutz (Pushkin Vertigo)
No Country for Girls, by Emma Styles (Sphere)
Outback, by Patricia Wolf (Embla)

Historical Dagger

The Darkest Sin, by D.V. Bishop (Macmillan)
The Clockwork Girl, by Anna Mazzola (Orion)
The Homes, by J.B. Mylet (Viper)
The Bangalore Detectives Club, by Harini Nagendra (Constable)
Blue Water, by Leonora Nattrass (Viper)
Hear No Evil, by Sarah Smith (Two Roads)

ALCS Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction

The Poisonous Solicitor: The True Story of a 1920s Murder Mystery, by Stephen Bates (Icon)
The Life of Crime: Detecting the History of Mysteries and their Creators, by Martin Edwards (Collins Crime Club)
Unlawful Killings: Life, Love and Murder: Trials at the Old Bailey, by Wendy Joseph (Doubleday)
Tremors in the Blood: Murder, Obsession and the Birth of the Lie Detector, by Amit Katwala (Mudlark)
To Hunt a Killer: How I Brought Melanie Road’s Murderer to Justice, by Julie Mackay and Robert Murphy (Harper Element)
About A Son: A Murder and A Father’s Search for Truth, by David Whitehouse (Phoenix)

Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger

Good Reasons to Die, by Morgan Audic, translated by Sam Taylor (Mountain Leopard Press)
The Red Notebook, by Michel Bussi, translated by Vineet Lal (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
Even the Darkest Night, by Javier Cercas, translated by Anne McLean (MacLehose Press)
Bad Kids, by Zijin Chen, translated by Michelle Deeter (Pushkin Vertigo)
The Bleeding, by Johana Gustawsson, translated by David Warriner (Orenda)
The Anomaly, by Hervé Le Tellier, translated by Adriana Hunter (Michael Joseph)

Short Story Dagger

“The Disappearance,” by Leigh Bardugo (from Marple; HarperCollins)
“The Tears of Venus,” by Victoria Dowd and Delilah Dowd (from Unlocked; The D20 Authors)
“The Beautiful Game,” by Sanjida Kay (from The Perfect Crime)
“Paradise Lost,” by Abir Mukherjee (from The Perfect Crime)
“Runaway Blues,” by C.J. Tudor (from A Sliver of Darkness, by C.J. Tudor; Michael Joseph)
“Cast a Long Shadow,” by Hazell Ward (from Cast a Long Shadow, edited by Katherine Stansfield and Caroline; Honno Welsh Women’s Press)

Best Crime & Mystery Dagger

Harper Fiction (HarperCollins)
Mantle (PanMacmillan)
Michael Joseph (Penguin Random House)
Pushkin Vertigo (Pushkin Press)
Quercus (Hachette)
Viper (Profile Books)

Debut Dagger

Bulldog Murphy, by Chris Corbett

Male, Unknown, by Chris Griffiths

Sideways, by Jeff Marsick

Heist, by James Pierson

The Line of Least Resistance, by Jeff Richards

Cradle of Storms, by Margaret Winslow

Dagger in the Library

Ben Aaronovitch
Sophie Hannah
Mick Herron

Crime Writers Association Dagger Awards Longlists 2023

The Crime Writers Association announced the Dagger Longlists.  2023 Debut Dagger longlist will be posted online on April 26. 
Shortlists in all Dagger categories will be announced Friday, May 12, at CrimeFest 2023 in Bristol, England.

Congratulations to all.

Diamond Dagger (previously announced)

Walter Mosley

Gold Dagger

Oxblood, by Tom Benn (Bloomsbury)
Shoot the Moonlight Out, by William Boyle (No Exit Press)
The Ink Black Heart, by Robert Galbraith (Sphere)
The Kingdoms of Savannah, by George Dawes Green (Headline)
The Lost Man of Bombay, by Vaseem Khan (Hodder & Stoughton)
The Bookseller of Inverness, by S.G. MacLean (Quercus)
A Killing in November, by Simon Mason (Riverrun)
The Clockwork Girl, by Anna Mazzola (Orion)
The Winter Guest, by W.C. Ryan (Zaffre)
A Killing Rain, by Faye Snowden (Flame Tree Press)
The Bone Road, by N.E. Solomons (Polygon)
The Silent Brother, by Simon Van der Velde (Northodox Press)

Ian Fleming Steel Dagger

Opera, by Julie Anderson (Claret Press)
A Kiss After Dying, by Ashok Banker (Michael Joseph)
Take Your Breath Away, by Linwood Barclay (HQ)
Seventeen, by John Brownlow (Hodder & Stoughton)
The Match, by Harlan Coben (Century)
The Botanist, by M.W. Craven (Constable)
Daisy Darker, by Alice Feeney (PanMacMillan)
The Ink Black Heart, by Robert Galbraith (Sphere)
Alias Emma, by Ava Glass (Century)
A Loyal Traitor, by Tim Glister (Point Blank)
Notes on an Execution, by Danya Kukafka (Phoenix)
May God Forgive, by Alan Parks (Canongate)

John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger

A Good Day to Die, by Amen Alonge (Quercus)
Better the Blood, by Michael Bennett (Simon & Schuster UK)
Breaking, by Amanda Cassidy (Canelo)
Don’t Know Tough, by Eli Cranor (Headline)
The Local, by Joey Hartstone (Pushkin Vertigo)
The Truth Will Out, by Rosemary Hennigan (Orion)
London in Black, by Jack Lutz (Pushkin Vertigo)
Dirt Town, by Hayley Scrivenor (Macmillan)
No Country for Girls, by Emma Styles (Sphere)
Nobody But Us, by Laure Van Rensburg (Michael Joseph)
Outback, by Patricia Wolf (Embla)
The Partisan, by Patrick Worrall (Bantam Press)

Historical Dagger

The Darkest Sin, by D.V. Bishop (Macmillan)
Blackstone Fell, by Martin Edwards (Head of Zeus/Aries)
Two Storm Wood, by Philip Gray (Harvill Secker)
The Lost Diary of Samuel Pepys, by Jack Jewers (Moonflower)
The Bookseller of Inverness, by S.G. MacLean (Quercus)
The Clockwork Girl, by Anna Mazzola (Orion)
Death at the Dolphin, by Gretta Mulrooney (Joffe)
The Homes, by J.B. Mylet (Viper)
The Bangalore Detectives Club, by Harini Nagendra (Constable)
Blue Water, by Leonora Nattrass (Viper)
Hear No Evil, by Sarah Smith (Two Roads)
The Mushroom Tree Mystery, by Ovidia Yu (Constable)

ALCS Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction

The Poisonous Solicitor: The True Story of a 1920s Murder Mystery, by Stephen Bates (Icon)
Dead in the Water: Murder and Fraud in the World’s Most Secretive Industry, by Matthew Campbell and Kit Chellel (Atlantic)
What We Fear Most: Reflections on a Life in Forensic Psychiatry, by Ben Cave (Seven Dials)
Scandal at Dolphin Square: A Notorious History, by Simon Danczuk and Daniel Smith (The History Press)
The Life of Crime: Detecting the History of Mysteries and their Creators, by Martin Edwards (Collins Crime Club)
Unlawful Killings: Life, Love and Murder: Trials at the Old Bailey, by Wendy Joseph (Doubleday)
Tremors in the Blood: Murder, Obsession and the Birth of the Lie Detector, by Amit Katwala (Mudlark)
To Hunt a Killer: How I Brought Melanie Road’s Murderer to Justice, by Julie Mackay and Robert Murphy (Harper Element)
The Real Special Relationship: The True Story of How the British and U.S. Secret Services Work Together, by Michael Smith (Simon & Schuster)
The Life Inside: A Memoir of Prison, Family and Learning to Be Free, by Andy West (Picador)
About A Son: A Murder and A Father’s Search for Truth, by David Whitehouse (Phoenix)
Stitched Up: Stories of Life and Death from a Prison Doctor, by Shahed Yousaf (Bantam Press)

Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger

Good Reasons to Die, by Morgan Audic, translated by Sam Taylor (Mountain Leopard Press)
The Red Notebook, by Michel Bussi, translated by Vineet Lal (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
Even the Darkest Night, by Javier Cercas, translated by Anne McLean (MacLehose Press)
Bad Kids, by Zijin Chen, translated by Michelle Deeter (Pushkin Vertigo)
Impossible, by Erri De Luca, translated by N.S. Thompson (Mountain Leopard Press)
Femicide, by Pascal Engman, translated by Michael Gallagher (Legend Press)
The Bleeding, by Johana Gustawsson, translated by David Warriner (Orenda)
The Corpse Flower, by Anne Mette Hancock, translated by Tara Chace (Swift Press)
The Anomaly, by Hervé Le Tellier, translated by Adriana Hunter (Michael Joseph)
The Dark Flood, by Deon Meyer, translated K.L. Seggers (Hodder & Stoughton)
The Tattoo Murder, by Akimitsu Takagi,translated by Deborah Boehm (Pushkin Vertigo)
Lady Joker, by Kaoru Takamura, translated by Allison Markin Powell and Marie Iida (Baskerville)

Short Story Dagger

“The Disappearance,” by Leigh Bardugo (from Marple; HarperCollins)
 “The Tears of Venus,” by Victoria Dowd and Delilah Dowd (from Unlocked; The D20 Authors)
“Strawberry Moon,” by John Grisham (from Sparring Partners, by John Grisham; Hodder & Stoughton)
“Clout Chaser,” by Rachel Howzell Hall (from The Perfect Crime, edited by Vaseem Khan and Maxim Jakubowski; HarperCollins)
“The Beautiful Game,” by Sanjida Kay (from The Perfect Crime)
“Death in Darjeeling,” by Vaseem Khan (from The Perfect Crime)
“Just One More,” by Laura Lippman (from Seasonal Work and Other Killer Stories, by Laura Lippman; Faber and Faber)
“Paradise Lost,” by Abir Mukherjee (from The Perfect Crime)
“Auld Bride,” by Judith O’Reilly (from Gone, edited by Stephen J. Golds; Red Dog Press)
“Runaway Blues,” by C.J. Tudor (from A Sliver of Darkness, by C.J. Tudor; Michael Joseph)
“The Lake House,” by Ferdinand von Schirach (from Punishment, by Ferdinand von Schirach, translated by Katharina Hall; Baskerville)
“Cast a Long Shadow,” by Hazell Ward Cast (from Cast a Long Shadow, edited by Katherine Stansfield and Caroline; Honno Welsh Women’s Press)

Publishers’ Dagger

Bitter Lemon Press
Bookouture (Hachette)
Canelo
Harper Fiction (HarperCollins)
Hodder & Stoughton (Hachette)
Mantle (PanMacmillan)
Michael Joseph (Penguin Random House)
Raven (Bloomsbury)
Pushkin Vertigo (Pushkin Press)
Quercus (Hachette)
Simon & Schuster
Viper (Profile Books)

Dagger in the Library

Ben Aaronovitch
Sophie Hannah
Mick Herron
Erin Kelly
Angela Marsons
Brian McGilloway
Tim Weaver

HT: TheRapSheet

CWA Dagger Award Winners 2021

The results are in. Crime Writers Association (UK) announced the Dagger Award winners last night. Congratulations to all!

Gold Dagger: We Begin at the End, by Chris Whitaker (Zaffre)

Ian Fleming Steel Dagger: When She Was Good, by Michael Robotham (Sphere)

John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger: The Creak on the Stairs, by Eva Björg Ægisdóttir (Orenda)

Sapere Books Historical Dagger: Midnight at Malabar House, by Vaseem Khan (Hodder & Stoughton)

ALCS Gold Dagger for Non-fiction: Written in Bone: Hidden Stories in What We Leave Behind, by Sue Black (Doubleday)

Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger: The Disaster Tourist, by Yun Ko-eun, translated by Lizzie Buehler (Serpent’s Tail)

Short Story Dagger: “Monsters,” by Clare Mackintosh (from First Edition: Celebrating 21 Years of Goldsboro Books, edited by David Headley and Daniel Gedeon; The Dome Press)

Dagger in the Library (“for a body of work by an established crime writer that has long been popular with borrowers from libraries”): Peter May

Publishers’ Dagger (“awarded annually to the Best Crime and Mystery Publisher of the Year”): Head of Zeus

CWA Debut Dagger (for as-yet-unpublished novels): Deception, by Hannah Redding. Highly commended: Underwater, by Fiona McPhillips

Martina Cole received the 2021 Diamond Dagger award for lifetime achievement.

CWA DAGGER LONGLISTS 2021

The 2021 longlists for the CWA Dagger awards, which honor the very best in the crime writing genre, have been announced.

The  Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) Daggers are the oldest awards in the genre, and have been synonymous with quality crime writing for over half a century.

The CWA Dagger shortlist will be announced in May with the awards ceremony taking place at the start of July. 

The 2021 Diamond Dagger for lifetime achievement, the highest honour in British crime writing, has already been announced, awarded to Martina Cole.

LONGLISTS

GOLD DAGGER

Amer Anwar: Stone Cold Trouble (Dialogue Books, Little, Brown Book Group)

S A Cosby: Blacktop Wasteland (Headline, Headline Publishing Group)

M W Craven: The Curator (Constable, Little, Brown Book Group)

Ben Creed: City of Ghosts (Welbeck Fiction, Welbeck Publishing Group)

Garry Disher: Peace (Viper, Profile Books)

Mick Finlay: Arrowood and the Thames Corpses (HQ, HarperCollins)

Nicci French: House of Correction (Simon & Schuster)

Robert Galbraith: Troubled Blood (Sphere, Little, Brown Book Group)

Elly Griffiths: The Postscript Murders (Quercus)

Antonia Hodgson: The Silver Collar (Hodder & Stoughton)

S G Maclean: The House of Lamentations (Quercus Fiction, Quercus)

C D Major: The Other Girl (Thomas & Mercer)

Thomas Mullen: Midnight Atlanta (Little, Brown, Little, Brown Book Group)

S J Parris: Execution (Harper Fiction, HarperCollins)

Tade Thompson: Making Wolf (Constable, Little, Brown Book Group)

Nicola Upson: The Dead of Winter (Faber)

Chris Whitaker: We Begin at the End (Zaffre, Bonnier)

Rebecca Whitney: The Hidden Girls (Mantle, Pan Macmillan)

 

IAN FLEMING STEEL DAGGER

Charles Cumming: Box 88 (HarperFiction, HarperCollins)

Robert Galbraith: Troubled Blood (Sphere, Little, Brown Book Group)

Ryan Gattis: The System (Picador, Pan Macmillan)

Ian Rankin: Song for the Dark Times (Orion Fiction, The Orion Publishing Group)

Rod Reynolds: Blood Red City (Orenda Books)

Craig Robertson: Watch Him Die (Simon & Schuster)

Michael Robotham: When She Was Good (Sphere, Little, Brown Book Group)

Catherine Ryan Howard: The Nothing Man (Atlantic Books)

Stuart Turton: The Devil and the Dark Water (Raven Books, Bloomsbury Publishing)

Ruth Ware: One by One (Harvill Secker, Vintage)

Holly Watt: The Dead Line (Raven Books, Bloomsbury Publishing)

Chris Whitaker: We Begin at the End (Zaffre, Bonnier)

 

JOHN CREASEY (NEW BLOOD) DAGGER

Eva Björg Ægisdóttir: The Creak on the Stairs (Orenda)

Susan Allott: The Silence (Borough, HarperCollins)

Emma Christie: The Silent Daughter (Welbeck Publishing)

Catherine Cooper: The Chalet (HarperFiction, HarperCollins)

Ben Creed: City of Ghosts (Welbeck Publishing)

Judi Daykin: Under Violent Skies (Joffe Books)

Egan Hughes: The One That Got Away (Little Brown, Sphere)

S W Kane: The Bone Jar (Thomas & Mercer)

Rob McInroy: Cuddies Strip (Ringwood Press)

Stephanie Scott: What’s Left of Me Is Yours (Orion, Weidenfeld)

Stephen Spotswood: Fortune Favours the Dead (Headline, Wildfire)

John Vercher: Three-Fifths (Pushkin Press)

S R White: Hermit (Headline)

 

SAPERE BOOKS HISTORICAL DAGGER

J M Alvey: Justice for Athena (Canelo Digital Publishing Limited)

John Banville: Snow (Faber)

Vaseem Khan: Midnight at Malabar House (Hodder & Stoughton)

Laurie R. King: Riviera Gold (Allison & Busby)

Chris Lloyd: The Unwanted Dead (Orion Fiction, The Orion Publishing Group)

S J Parris: Execution (HarperFiction, HarperCollins)

Ben Pastor: The Night of Shooting Stars (Bitter Lemon Press)

Michael Russell: The City Under Siege (Constable, Little, Brown Book Group)

David S. Stafford: Skelton’s Guide to Domestic Poisons (Allison & Busby)

A D Swanston: Chaos (Bantam Press, Transworld)

Nicola Upson: The Dead of Winter (Faber)

Ovidia Yu: The Mimosa Tree Mystery (Constable, Little, Brown Book Group)

 

CRIME FICTION IN TRANSLATION DAGGER

Fredrik Backman: Anxious People, translated by Neil Smith (Michael Joseph, Penguin)

Roxanne Bouchard: The Coral Bride, translated by David Warriner (Orenda Books)

Marc Elsberg: Greed, translated by Simon Pare (Black Swan, Penguin)

Yun Ko-eun: The Disaster Tourist, translated by Lizzie Buehler (Serpent’s Tail)

Volker Kutscher: The March Fallen, translated by Niall Sellar (Sandstone Press)

D A Mishani: Three, translated by Jessica Cohen (Riverrun, Hachette Book Group)

Jo Nesbo: The Kingdom, translated by Robert Ferguson (Harvill Secker, Penguin)

Håkan Nesser: The Secret Life of Mr. Roos, translated by Sarah Death (Mantle, Pan Macmillan)

Mikael Niemi: To Cook a Bear, translated by Deborah Bragan-Turner (MacLehose Press, Quercus)

Agnes Ravatn:  The Seven Doors, translated by Rosie Hedger (Orenda Books)

Maike Wetzel: Elly, translated by Lyn Marven (Scribe UK)

 

SHORT STORY DAGGER

Robert Scragg: ‘A Dog is for Life, Not Just for Christmas’ in Afraid of the Christmas Lights, edited by Robert Scragg (Robert Scragg)

Elle Croft: ‘Deathbed’ in Afraid of the Light, edited by Robert Scragg (Robert Scragg)

Dominic Nolan: ‘Daddy Dearest’ in Afraid of the Light, edited by Robert Scragg (Robert Scragg)

Adam Southward:  ‘Especially at Christmas’ in Afraid of the Christmas Lights, edited by Robert Scragg (Robert Scragg)

Christopher Fowler: ‘Head Count’ in First Edition: Celebrating 21 Years of Goldsboro Books (The Dome Press)

Victoria Selman: ‘Hunted’ in Afraid of the Christmas Lights, edited by Robert Scragg (Robert Scragg)

Clare Mackintosh: ‘Monsters’ in First Edition: Celebrating 21 Years of Goldsboro Books (The Dome Press)

Stuart Turton: ‘Murder Most Vial’ in First Edition: Celebrating 21 Years of Goldsboro Books (The Dome Press)

Livia Llewelyn: ‘One of These Nights’ in Cutting Edge: Noir Stories by Women, edited by Joyce Carol Oates (Pushkin Press, Pushkin Vertigo)

James Delargy: ‘Planting Nan’ in Afraid of the Light, edited by Robert Scragg (Robert Scragg)

Simpson Grears: ‘The Foot of the Walk Murders’ in The Foot of the Walk Murders, edited by Simpson Grears (Rymour Books)

 

ALCS GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION

Sue Black: Written in Bone (Doubleday, Penguin)

Amanda Brown: The Prison Doctor; Women Inside (HQ, HarperCollins)

Becky Cooper: We Keep the Dead Close (William Heinemann, Penguin)

Martin Edwards: Howdunit (Collins Crime Club, HarperCollins)

Andrew Harding: These Are Not Gentle People (MacLehose, Quercus)

Debora Harding: Dancing with the Octopus (Profile Books Limited)

Nick Hayes: The Book of Trespass (Bloomsbury Circus, Bloomsbury Publishing)

Ben MacIntyre: Agent Sonya (Viking, Penguin)

Jax Miller: Hell in the Heartland (HarperCollins)

Daniel Smith: The Peer and the Gangster (The History Press)

Ravi Somaiya: Operation Morthor (Viking, Penguin)

Kate Summerscale: The Haunting of Alma Fielding (Bloomsbury Circus, Bloomsbury Publishing)

Mark Townsend: No Return (Guardian, Faber & Faber)

 

DAGGER IN THE LIBRARY

Lin Anderson

Nicci French

Lisa Jewell

Erin Kelly

Peter May

Denise Mina

Margaret Murphy

James Oswald

L J Ross

C L Taylor

               

PUBLISHERS’ DAGGER

Bitter Lemon Press

Faber & Faber

Harper Fiction

Head of Zeus

Michael Joseph

No Exit Press

Orenda Books

Pushkin Vertigo

Raven

Sphere

Viper

 

CWA DAGGER AWARDS 2020

CWA (Crime Writers Association - UK) Daggers Awards 2020. Winners were announced today at a wonderful Zoom Awards Ceremony hosted by Barry Forshaw. So glad I got to attend.

DIAMOND DAGGER

Martin Edwards

GOLD DAGGER

Michael Robotham: Good Girl, Bad Girl (Sphere)

IAN FLEMING STEEL DAGGER

Lou Berney: November Road (Harper Fiction)

JOHN CREASEY (NEW BLOOD) DAGGER

Trevor Wood: The Man on the Street (Quercus Fiction)

SAPERE BOOKS HISTORICAL DAGGER

Abir Mukherjee: Death in the East (Harvill Secker)

CRIME FICTION IN TRANSLATION DAGGER

Hannelore Cayre: The Godmother, translated by Stephanie Smee (Old Street Publishing)

SHORT STORY DAGGER

Lauren Henderson: #Me Too in Invisible Blood, edited by Maxim Jakubowski (Titan Books)

ALCS GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION

Casey Cep: Furious Hours (William Heinemann)

DAGGER IN THE LIBRARY

Christopher Brookmyre

DEBUT DAGGER

Josephine Moulds: Revolution Never Lies

PUBLISHERS’ DAGGER

Orenda Books

CWA Daggers Awards Longlists 2020

CWA (Crime Writers Association - UK) Daggers Awards 2020 Longlists. Winners will be announced on October 22.

GOLD DAGGER

Claire Askew: What You Pay For (Hodder & Stoughton)
Gary Bell: Beyond Reasonable Doubt (Raven Books)
Lou Berney: November Road (Harper Fiction)
MW Craven: Black Summer (Constable)
John Fairfax: Forced Confessions (Little, Brown)
Lucy Foley: The Guest List (Harper Fiction)
Elly Griffiths: The Lantern Men (Quercus Fiction)
Chris Hammer: Silver (Wildfire)
Mick Herron: Joe Country (John Murray)
SG MacLean: The Bear Pit (Quercus Fiction)
Patrick McGuinness: Throw Me to the Wolves (Jonathan Cape)
Abir Mukherjee: Death in the East (Harvill Secker)
Alex North: The Whisper Man (Michael Joseph)
Scott Phillips: That Left Turn at Albuquerque (Soho Crime)
Michael Robotham: Good Girl, Bad Girl (Sphere)
Tim Weaver: No One Home (Michael Joseph)

IAN FLEMING STEEL DAGGER

Lou Berney: November Road (Harper Fiction)
Tom Chatfield: This is Gomorrah (Hodder & Stoughton)
Karen Cleveland: Keep You Close (Bantam Press)
AA Dhand: One Way Out (Bantam Press)
Eva Dolan: Between Two Evils (Raven Books)
Helen Fields: Perfect Kill (Avon)
Oliver Harris: A Shadow Intelligence (Little, Brown)
Peter Heller: The River (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
Greg Iles: Cemetery Road (Harper Fiction)
David Koepp: Cold Storage (HQ)
Adrian McKinty: The Chain (Orion Fiction)
Alex North: The Whisper Man (Michael Joseph)
Andrew Taylor: The King’s Evil (Harper Fiction)

JOHN CREASEY (NEW BLOOD) DAGGER

Steph Cha: Your House Will Pay (Faber & Faber)
Sherryl Clark: Trust Me, I'm Dead (Verve Books)
Samantha Downing: My Lovely Wife (Michael Joseph)
Philippa East: Little White Lies (HQ)
Andrew James Greig: Whirligig (Fledgling Press)
AS Hatch: This Dark Little Place (Serpent's Tail)
James Von Leyden: A Death in the Medina (Constable)
Deborah Masson: Hold Your Tongue (Corgi)
Owen Matthews: Black Sun (Bantam Press)
Felicity McLean: The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone (Point Blank)
Robin Morgan-Bentley: The Wreckage (Trapeze)
Trevor Wood: The Man on the Street (Quercus Fiction)

SAPERE BOOKS HISTORICAL DAGGER

Alis Hawkins: In Two Minds (The Dome Press)
Philip Kerr: Metropolis (Quercus Fiction)
SG MacLean: The Bear Pit (Quercus Fiction)
Abir Mukherjee: Death in the East (Harvill Secker)
SW Perry: The Serpent’s Mark (Corvus)
Alex Reeve: The Anarchists’ Club (Raven Books)
Gareth Rubin: Liberation Square (Michael Joseph)
SD Sykes: The Bone Fire (Hodder & Stoughton)
Andrew Taylor: The King’s Evil (Harper Collins)
Lynne Truss: The Man That Got Away (Raven Books)
Nicola Upson: Sorry for the Dead (Faber & Faber)
Ovidia Yu: The Paper Bark Tree Mystery (Constable)

CRIME FICTION IN TRANSLATION DAGGER

Edoardo Albinati: The Catholic School, translated by Anthony Shugaar (Picador)
Marion Brunet: Summer of Reckoning, translated by Katherine Gregor (Bitter Lemon Press)
Hannelore Cayre: The Godmother, translated by Stephanie Smee (Old Street Publishing)
K Ferrari: Like Flies from Afar, translated by Adrian Nathan West (Canongate Books)
Jorge Galán: November, translated by Jason Wilson (Constable)
Johana Gustawsson: Blood Song, translated by David Warriner (Orenda Books)
Jørn Lier Horst: The Cabin, translated by Anne Bruce (Michael Joseph)
Sergio Olguin: The Fragility of Bodies, translated by Miranda France (Bitter Lemon Press)
Leonardo Padura: Grab a Snake by the Tail, translated by Peter Bush (Bitter Lemon Press)
Antti Tuomainen: Little Siberia, translated by David Hackston (Orenda Books)

SHORT STORY DAGGER

Fiona Cummins: Dead Weight in Exit Wounds, edited by Paul B Kane and Marie O’Regan (Titan Books)
Jeffery Deaver: Connecting the Dots in Invisible Blood, edited by Maxim Jakubowski (Titan Books)
Jeffery Deaver: The Bully in Exit Wounds, edited by Paul B Kane and Marie O’Regan (Titan Books)
Paul Finch: The New Lad in Exit Wounds, edited by Paul B Kane and Marie O’Regan (Titan Books)
Christopher Fowler: The Washing in Invisible Blood, edited by Maxim Jakubowski (Titan Books)
Christopher Fowler: Bryant and May and The Devil's Triangle in Bryant and May: England's Finest (Doubleday)
Lauren Henderson: #Me Too in Invisible Blood, edited by Maxim Jakubowski (Titan Books)
Louise Jensen: The Recipe in Exit Wounds, edited by Paul B Kane and Marie O’Regan (Titan Books)
Dean Koontz: Kittens in Exit Wounds, edited by Paul B Kane and Marie O’Regan (Titan Books) 
Syd Moore: Easily Made in 12 Strange Days of Christmas (Point Blank Press)

ALCS GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION

Casey Cep: Furious Hours (William Heinemann)
Julia Ebner: Going Dark: The Secret Social Lives of Extremists (Bloomsbury Publishing)
Peter Everett: Corrupt Bodies (Icon Books)
Caroline Goode: Honour: Achieving Justice for Banaz Mahmod (Oneworld Publications)
Joanna Jolly: Red River Girl (Virago)
Jodi Kantor & Megan Twohey: She Said (Bloomsbury Circus)
Sean O’Connor: The Fatal Passion of Alma Rattenbury (Simon & Schuster)
Adam Sisman: The Professor and the Parson: A Story of Desire, Deceit and Defrocking (Profile Books)
Susannah Stapleton: The Adventures of Maud West, Lady Detective (Picador)
Fred Vermorel: Dead Fashion Girl: A Situationist Detective Story (Strange Attractor Press)

DAGGER IN THE LIBRARY

Benjamin Black
Christopher Brookmyre
Jane Casey
Paul Finch
Alex Gray
Mick Herron
Quintin Jardine
Lisa Jewell
Erin Kelly
Adrian McKinty
Denise Mina
James Oswald

DEBUT DAGGER

Barbara Austin: Lowlands
Anna Caig: The Spae-Wife
Loraine Fowlow: Undercut
Leanne Fry: Whipstick
Kim Hays: Pesticide
Jack Kapica: Blogger’s End
Nicholas Morrish: Emergency Drill
Josephine Moulds: Revolution Never Lies
Michael Munro: Bitter Lake
Karen Taylor: Grim Fairy Tale
Jane Wing: Dark Pastimes
Sarah Yarwood-Lovett: A Generation of Viper

PUBLISHERS’ DAGGER

Allison & Busby
Bitter Lemon
Harvill Secker
Head of Zeus
HQ
Michael Joseph
Orenda
Orion
Pushkin Vertigo
Raven
Severn House
Sphere

HT: Euro Crime

MARTIN EDWARDS awarded 2020 CWA DIAMOND DAGGER

This just in. Thanks to Ali Karim:

Martin Edwards was awarded the 2020 CWA Diamond Dagger. Congratulations, Martin!

The author awarded the highest honour in British crime writing, the Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) Diamond Dagger, has been announced.

Martin Edwards joins icons of the genre who have been recognised with the accolade, including Ruth Rendell, Lee Child, Ann Cleeves, Ian Rankin, PD James, Colin Dexter, Reginald Hill, Lindsey Davies, Peter Lovesey, and John Le Carré.

From CWA:
Alongside his career as a prolific novelist, Martin is a renowned editor, reviewer, columnist and versatile writer of non-fiction, and is a leading authority on crime fiction. He has also enjoyed a separate career as a solicitor, and is recognized for his expertise in employment and equal opportunities law.

The Diamond Dagger award recognizes authors whose crime writing careers have been marked by sustained excellence, and who have made a significant contribution to the genre.

Andrew Taylor At Lydmouth, chair of the Diamond Dagger sub-committee and winner of the award in 2009, said: “I’m delighted that the CWA Committee has decided to honour Martin with this year’s Diamond Dagger. Given the range and quality of his work, together with his enormous contribution to the genre as a whole, he is the perfect recipient.”

Linda Stratmann, CWA Chair, said: “Martin Edwards has been honoured not only as an award-winning author and editor, but also as a tireless promoter of crime writing. He researches and preserves the history of the genre, and has introduced the modern reader to classics of the past that might otherwise have been forgotten.”

Martin’s first novel, All the Lonely People, was shortlisted for the CWA John Creasey Memorial Dagger in 1991. Since then his crime writing has won multiple awards in the UK and US. In 2018 he received the CWA Dagger in the Lihe Library, awarded by British librarians. He has won the CWA Short Story Dagger, the H.R.F. Keating award, and in 2014 the inaugural CWA Margery Allingham Prize. His novels have been shortlisted for the Theakston Crime Prize and the Lakeland Book Award, while in 2017 his non-fiction book The Golden Age of Murder was shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger. In the US he has received the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Allan Poe award, an Agatha award, and two Macavity awards [via Janet Rudolph] from Mystery Readers International. In 2017 he received the Poirot award for his outstanding contribution to the genre.

Martin Edwards said: “The Diamond Dagger is special because it’s conferred by my fellow authors and because the previous winners are so illustrious. To be part of the warm and welcoming community of crime writers for the past thirty years has been a joy. I fell in love with crime fiction when as a young boy I first discovered Agatha Christie. From then on, my only ambition was to write a detective novel that people might enjoy reading. But I never imagined receiving an accolade like this. I’m truly honoured.”

Originally known for his Harry Devlin and the Lake District Mysteries series, Martin is now making waves with his 1930s-set thrillers. His latest novel Gallows Court revived the Golden Age of crime fiction with a unique twist, featuring the character Rachel Savernake, and was last year nominated for the CWA Historical Dagger and shortlisted for the eDunnit award. The sequel, Mortmain Hall, is published in April by Head of Zeus.

In 2015, Martin followed in the footsteps of Agatha Christie, G.K. Chesterton and Dorothy L. Sayers by being elected President of the Detection Club, the world’s oldest social network of crime writers. The Club will celebrate its 90th birthday this year by publishing Howdunit (HarperCollins), edited by Martin; a masterclass of crime writing by leading exponents of the genre. He is consultant to the British Library’s bestselling Crime Classics series, and wrote the award-winning companion volume, The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books. He is also archivist of the Detection Club and the CWA and a former Chair of the CWA. Author of over sixty short stories, since 1996 he has been the editor of the CWA’s annual anthology.

Martin was born in Knutsford, Cheshire, and now lives in Lymm. After graduating with a first class honours degree in law from Balliol College, Oxford, he became a solicitor, acting for many high profile clients. He was head of employment law at Mace & Jones, and subsequently a partner with Weightmans LLP, with whom he remains as a consultant. Author of four editions of Equal Opportunities Handbook, he says, “The appeal of fiction is not so very different from the appeal of employment law. Both concern conflicts in human behaviour – and how best to resolve them.”

The CWA Diamond Dagger is selected from nominations provided by CWA members. Nominees have to meet two essential criteria: first, their careers must be marked by sustained excellence, and second, they must have made a significant contribution to crime writing published in the English language.