As the summer is upon us, and we plan to pack our reading for the annual
vacation, it might be useful to have a glance at what The Crime Writers
Association’s judging committees have come up with, as the best of the best.
All worthy books, so a round of applause to the writers, their editors, literary
agents, publishers, librarians and booksellers, so without further ado, here’s
the list from The CWA, London England.
The author behind
one of the biggest shows on TV, a world-renowned forensic anthropologist and
the son of ‘the godfather of tartan noir’ have been shortlisted for the
prestigious CWA Dagger awards.
The ten Daggers
awarded annually by the CWA are regarded by the publishing world as the
foremost British awards for crime-writing.
Luke Jennings is
shortlisted for the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for Killing Eve: No
Tomorrow, a Sunday Times thriller of the month and the basis for the major
BBC TV series Killing Eve starring Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer.
Professor Sue
Black, who was awarded an OBE for her international human identification work
on mass graves, makes the CWA ALCS Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction for All
That Remains. Black is also the expert forensics adviser to the ‘Queen of
Crime’ Val McDermid.
The CWA Sapere
Books Historical Dagger sees Liam McIlvanney in the running for The
Quaker, which has already won the 2018 McIlvanney Prize, named in honour of
his father the godfather of tartan noir, William McIllvanney. He’s up against
CJ Sansom with his acclaimed Shardlake series and the award-winning Abir
Mukherjee for Smoke and Ashes, the third novel in his historical
crime series set in Calcutta.
The world-famous
Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) Daggers, which honour the very best in crime
writing, are the oldest awards in the genre. Created in 1955, the CWA Daggers
have been synonymous with quality crime writing for over half a century.
The award-winning
poet, Claire Askew, has been shortlisted for two Daggers for her debut
novel All the Hidden Truths hailed by The Times as a
‘thought-provoking’ entry into crime fiction. Askew is in contention for the
CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger - given to the best crime novel by a
first-time author. She’s up against Laura Shepherd-Robinson’s Blood
& Sugar, hailed by the Financial Times as ‘a novel of astonishing
skill.’
Askew is also in
the running for the CWA Gold Dagger – the award for the best crime novel,
alongside M W Craven with The Puppet Show. Craven
served in the armed forces and became a probation officer before crediting the
CWA Debut Dagger competition in 2013 for giving him a career as an author.
Craven said: “I can draw a direct evolutionary line from being shortlisted in
2013 to the two book deal I signed with Little, Brown in January 2017. Being on
the shortlist opened a door.”
The 2019 Debut
Dagger competition sees five unknown and un-contracted writers shortlisted.
Linda Stratmann,
Chair of the Crime Writers’ Association, said: “The Daggers are unparalleled
for their longevity and reputation. Receiving a Dagger award is a something of
a holy grail for authors. The CWA prides itself on supporting crime authors by
not just recognising established names but as a platform for debut novelists
and emerging writers.”
UK Libraries
whittled down six crime authors for the prestigious Dagger in the Library
prize.
M C Beaton, Mark
Billingham, John Connolly, Kate Ellis, C J Sansom and Cath Staincliffe are all
nominees, selected by librarians and chosen for their body of work and support
of libraries.
The winners will
be announced at the Dagger Award ceremony at the Grange City Hotel, London, on
24 October - widely considered as the crime writing event of the year.
Tickets are now
available for the Dagger Awards gala dinner. Guest speaker on the night is the
writer, broadcaster, dramatist and journalist Lynn Truss, famed for Eats,
Shoots and Leaves alongside her comic crime novel, A Shot in
the Dark. The night is compered by one of the UK’s leading experts on crime
fiction, Barry Forshaw.
The Daggers also
honour those working in short story form, as well as specific awards for
international titles.
One of the UK’s
most prominent societies for the promotion and promulgation of crime writing,
the CWA was founded in 1953 by John Creasy; the awards started in 1955 with its
first award going to Winston Graham, best known for Poldark.
On the night, Robert
Goddard will also be presented with the 2019 Diamond Dagger for lifetime
achievement, the highest honour in British crime writing. His 28th novel, One
False Move (Bantam Press),
was published in February.
Robert Goddard
said: “I’m greatly honoured to be this year’s CWA Diamond Dagger recipient,
particularly since it’s an award conferred by my fellow writers, who know about
the challenges of the craft from the inside.”
A memory from days now passed
2019 CWA DAGGER SHORTLISTS IN FULL:
CWA GOLD DAGGER
Claire Askew: All
the Hidden Truths (Hodder & Stoughton)
M W Craven: The
Puppet Show (Constable)
Christobel Kent:
What We Did (Sphere)
Donna Leon: Unto
Us a Son is Given (William Heinemann)
Derek B Miller:
American by Day (Doubleday)
Benjamin Wood: A
Station on the Path to Somewhere Better (Scribner)
CWA JOHN CREASEY (NEW BLOOD)
Claire Askew: All
the Hidden Truths (Hodder & Stoughton)
Alex Dahl: The
Boy at the Door (Head Of Zeus)
Chris Hammer:
Scrublands (Wildfire)
Vicky Newham:
Turn a Blind Eye (HQ)
Laura
Shepherd-Robinson: Blood & Sugar (Mantle)
Vanda Symon:
Overkill (Orenda)
CWA ALCS GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION
Sue Black: All
That Remains (Doubleday)
Mikita Brottman:
An Unexplained Death (Canongate)
Claire Harman:
Murder by the Book (Viking)
Kirk Wallace
Johnson: The Feather Thief (Hutchinson)
Ben Macintyre:
The Spy and the Traitor (Viking)
Hallie Rubenhold:
The Five (Doubleday)
CWA IAN FLEMING STEEL DAGGER
Megan Abbott:
Give Me Your Hand (Picador)
Dan Fesperman:
Safe Houses (Head of Zeus)
Luke Jennings:
Killing Eve: No Tomorrow (John Murray)
Stephen Mack
Jones: Lives Laid Away (Soho Crime)
Holly Watt: To
the Lions (Bloomsbury)
Tim Willocks:
Memo from Turner (Jonathan Cape)
CWA SAPERE BOOKS HISTORICAL DAGGER
Liam McIlvanney:
The Quaker (Harper Fiction)
S G MacLean:
Destroying Angel (Quercus Fiction)
Abir Mukherjee:
Smoke and Ashes (Harvill Secker)
Alex Reeve:
The House on Half Moon Street (Raven Books)
C J Sansom:
Tombland (Mantle)
Laura
Shepherd-Robinson: Blood & Sugar (Mantle)
CWA
INTERNATIONAL DAGGER
Dov Alfon: A Long
Night in Paris, tr Daniella Zamir (Maclehose Press)
Karin Brynard:
Weeping Waters, tr Maya Fowler & Isobel Dixon (World Noir)
Gianrico Carofiglio:
The Cold Summer, tr Howard Curtis (Bitter Lemon Press)
Keigo Higashino:
Newcomer, tr Giles Murray (Little, Brown)
Håkan Nesser: The
Root of Evil, tr Sarah Death (Mantle)
Cay Rademacher:
The Forger, tr Peter Millar (Arcadia Books)
CWA SHORT STORY DAGGER
Martin
Edwards: Strangers in a Pub in ‘Ten Year Stretch’ edited by
Martin Edwards and Adrian Muller (No Exit Press)
Syd Moore: Death
Becomes Her in ‘The Strange Casebook’ by Syd Moore (Point Blank Books)
Danuta
Reah*: The Dummies’ Guide to Serial Killing in ‘The Dummies’
Guide to Serial Killing and other Fantastic Female Fables’ (Fantastic Books)
Teresa
Solana: I Detest Mozart in ‘The First Prehistoric Serial
Killers and Other Stories’ by Teresa Solana (Bitter Lemon Press)
Lavie
Tidhar: Bag Man in ‘The Outcast Hours’ edited by Mahvesh Murad
and Jared Shurin (Solaris)
*Danuta Kot writing as
Danuta Reah.
DAGGER IN THE LIBRARY
M C Beaton
Mark Billingham
John Connolly
Kate Ellis
C J Sansom
Cath Staincliffe
DEBUT DAGGER
(A competition
for the opening of a crime novel by an uncontracted writer)
Shelley Burr:
Wake
Jerry Crause: The
Mourning Light
Catherine
Hendricks:
Hardways
David Smith: The
Firefly
Fran Smith: A
Thin Sharp Blade
DIAMOND DAGGER
Background to The
Crime Writers Association's Annual Dagger Awards
THE GOLD DAGGER
This award is for
the best crime novel by an author of any nationality, originally written in
English, first published in the UK during the Judging Period. The broadest
definition of the crime novel defines eligible books including thrillers,
suspense novels and spy fiction.
It was originally
created in 1955, under the name of the Crossed Red Herrings Award. The first
winner was Winston Graham for The Little Walls. It was renamed the Gold Dagger
in 1960 and has been awarded ever since with variations in its name depending
on sponsorship.
Up to 2005 books
in translation were eligible for this prize. In 2006 the CWA established a
separate dagger, the International, for books in translation, recognising the
work of the translator as well as that of the original author.
THE CWA DIAMOND
DAGGER
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.
THE IAN FLEMING
STEEL DAGGER
Ian Fleming said
there was one essential criterion for a good thriller, ‘one simply has to turn
the pages’. Eligible books in
this category are thrillers set in any period and include, but are not limited
to, spy fiction, psychological thrillers and action/adventure stories.
THE JOHN CREASEY
(NEW BLOOD) DAGGER)
This award is for
the best crime novel by a first-time author of any nationality first published
in the UK in English during the Judging Period. ‘Best crime novel by a first
time author’ means that the author must not have had a novel of any sort
published before under any name whatsoever. In the case of novels with more
than one author, all the authors must meet this requirement.
CWA INTERNATIONAL
DAGGER
This award is for
crime novels (defined by the broadest definition including thrillers, suspense
novels and spy fiction) as long as the book was not originally written in
English and has been translated into English for UK publication during the
Judging Period.
ALCS GOLD DAGGER
FOR NON-FICTION
This award is for
any non-fiction work on a crime related theme by an author of any nationality
as long as the book was first published in the UK in English during the Judging
Period. This award encompasses, though is not limited to, non-fiction works
relating to true crime, historical crime, crime-related biography,
crime-fiction literature and critical studies.
SAPERE BOOKS
HISTORICAL DAGGER
This award is for
the best historical crime novel, first published in the UK in English during
the Judging Period, set in any period up to 50 years prior to the year in which
the award will be made. For novels that involve passages set later than this
time period, at least three-quarters of the book should be set in an earlier
period.
CWA SHORT STORY
DAGGER
This award is for
any crime short story first published in the UK in English in a publication
that pays for contributions, or broadcast in the UK in return for payment,
during the Judging Period. The term short story refers to a work of fiction no
shorter than 1,000 and no longer than 15,000 words.
DEBUT DAGGER
Chosen by judges:
author Leigh Russell, editor Stephanie Glencross (of Gregory and Company),
Editorial Director at Bonnier Zaffre Katherine Armstrong and director of
literary agency A.M. Heath and Co. Oli Munson.
THE DAGGER IN THE
LIBRARY
The Dagger in the
Library is a prize for a body of work by an established crime writer that has
long been popular with borrowers from libraries. It also rewards authors who
have supported libraries and their users.
To view
past winners, or find out more, please visit HERE
And a reminder of last year
Michael Connelly Awarded 2018 CWA DIAMOND DAGGER
Steve Cavanagh Awarded 2018 CWA Gold Dagger
And the Editor of Red Herrings Magazine together
with three members of the Shots Magazine Team generously recognized by
The CWA for their work promoting the Crime and Thriller Genre
