The LA Times Festival of Books have announced the Mystery and Thriller finalists
Dark Ride by Lou Berney
All The Sinners Bleed by S A Cosby
Everybody Knows by Jordan Harper
Time's Undoing by Cheryl A. Head
Sing Her Down by Ivy Pochoda
Congratulations to all the nominated authors! Winner will be announced at the LA Times Festival of Books on Friday 19th April 2024 at 7:00pm.
The world-famous 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 winners were announced during a live virtual ceremony (22 October, from 7.30pm), hosted by one of the UK’s leading experts on crime fiction, the writer and reviewer Barry Forshaw. The evening also featured guest speaker, Richard Osman.
Lou Berney has won the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for best thriller for November Road, a poignant crime novel set against the assassination of JF Kennedy. The novel attracted widespread acclaim from reviewers and fellow authors alike, with Stephen King declaring it ‘exceptional’. The American author has previously won the Edgar, Anthony, Macavity, Barry, and Oklahoma Book awards. Berney was also Highly Commended in the CWA Gold Dagger category.
The much-anticipated John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger highlights the best debut novels. This year the accolade goes to Trevor Wood for The Man on the Street, featuring a homeless veteran grappling with PTSD, dubbed by Lee Child as ‘an instant classic’. Wood, a journalist and playwright, has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia. He served in the Royal Navy for 16 years.   |
Abir Mukherjee wins the Sapere Books Historical Dagger for his fourth novel featuring Sam Wyndham, Death in the East. The accountant turned crime writer was inspired to become an author after watching Lee Child on breakfast TV say he started writing age 40. Abir’s debut, A Rising Man, won the Dagger for best historical crime novel in 2017. Death in the East explores the legacy of colonialism in India.   The Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger goes to Hannelore Cayre for The Godmother, translated by Stephanie Smee. Hannelore Cayre is an award-winning French novelist, screenwriter and director, as well as a practising criminal lawyer. The Godmother has been made into a feature film starring Isabelle Huppert. Stephanie Smee, who lives in Sydney, worked as a lawyer in Sydney and London before becoming a translator, specialising in French to English.    The ALCS Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction is awarded to Casey Cep, a staff writer at the New York Times whose first book Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud and the Last Trial of Harper Lee, has received acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic. An instant New York Times bestseller, Furious Hours was a Barack Obama Book of the Year.   The CWA Daggers are one of the few high-profile awards that honour the short story. Lauren Henderson receives the Short Story Dagger for #Me Too which features in the anthology Invisible Blood, edited by Maxim Jakubowski. Linda Stratmann, Chair of the Crime Writers’ Association, said: “The winners, and all those who were in contention for a Dagger are, as always, to be commended. One thing the pandemic and lockdown has taught us is the value and importance of books and storytelling – for escapism and comfort and for our well-being. Books have always been the conduit to other worlds and into other lives. They let us know we are not alone, so our 2020 virtual awards feel even more significant as many vulnerable people are in enforced isolation and we are all socially distancing. We’re proud to celebrate the crime genre.”  The Dagger in the Library is voted on exclusively by librarians, chosen for the author’s body of work and support of libraries. This year it goes to Scottish novelist Christopher Brookmyre, whose books mix comedy, politics and social comment. The journalist turned award-winning novelist is widely considered as one of Britain’s leading crime authors, selling more than two million copies of his novels in the UK alone.  One of the anticipated highlights of the annual Daggers is the Debut Dagger competition, open to unknown and uncontracted writers. The competition for unpublished writers can lead to them securing representation and a publishing contract. This year the winner is Josephine Moulds for Revolution Never Lies. Anna Caig was Highly Commended for The Spae-Wife.  The Best Crime and Mystery Publisher of the Year Dagger, which celebrates publishers and imprints demonstrating excellence and diversity in crime writing, goes to Orenda Books. The London-based publisher was established in 2014 by Karen Sullivan. Writer Barry Forshaw, MC for the Dagger Awards evening, said: “The CWA Dagger Awards are the most prestigious prizes in crime fiction, and this year has furnished a particularly strong set of books and authors. Nothing dampens the excitement of the Daggers – not even pandemics!” DIAMOND DAGGER  Awarded every year to an author whose crime-writing career has been marked by sustained excellence, and who has made a significant contribution to the genre. Votes from CWA members go forward to be deliberated on by an independent panel. This Dagger is announced in early spring each year and in 2020 goes to celebrated Golden Age specialist, anthology editor, reviewer and fiction writer Martin Edwards. 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. They are regarded by the publishing world as the foremost British awards for crime-writing. The Winners: GOLD DAGGER Michael Robotham: Good Girl, Bad Girl (Sphere) Lou Berney: November Road (Harper Fiction) – Highly Commended 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 Anna Caig: The Spae-Wife - Highly Commended PUBLISHERS’ DAGGER Orenda Books |
Tickets are available from today (Thurs 15 Oct) for the virtual awards ceremony of the 2020 Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) Daggers, which honour the very best in crime writing.
The oldest awards in the genre, the CWA Daggers have been synonymous with quality crime writing for over half a century. The awards take place live via Zoom webinar on Thursday 22 October from 7.30pm.
The night is compered by book reviewer, author and journalist Barry Forshaw, one of the UK’s leading experts on crime fiction. Guest speaker will be TV presenter and Pointless creator, Richard Osman, whose debut The Thursday Murder Club became a record-breaking Sunday Times number one bestseller.
Barry Forshaw said: “The Daggers are one of the annual highlights in the literary calendar. The crime writing and reading community is famed for its convivial events, and although virtual, we still promise an entertaining and engaging evening for these Oscars of the crime genre.”
Winners of the Daggers – including the Gold for best crime novel, the Ian Fleming Steel for best thriller, the ALCS Gold for Non-fiction, the John Creasey (New Blood) for first-time authors, and the Sapere Books Historical Dagger – will be announced on the night.
Shortlisted authors for the 10 coveted Daggers include Mick Herron, Eva Dolan, Abir Mukherjee, Casey Cep and Christopher Brookmyre. The awards also feature the Best Crime and Mystery Publisher of the Year and the Dagger in the Library, voted exclusively by librarians, chosen for the author’s body of work and support of libraries. The winner of the Debut Dagger will also be announced – a competition for unpublished writers which can lead to them securing representation and a publishing contract.
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. They are regarded by the publishing world as the foremost British awards for crime-writing.
Tickets are free, but limited. To book a place, visit:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/cwa-dagger-awards-2020-tickets-123647704613
The Shortlists in Full:
GOLD DAGGER
What You Pay For by Claire Askew (Hodder & Stoughton)
November Road by Lou Berney (Harper Fiction)
Forced Confessions by John Fairfax (Little, Brown)
Joe Country by Mick Herron (John Murray)
Death in the East by Abir Mukherjee (Harvill Secker)
Good Girl, Bad Girl by Michael Robotham (Sphere)
IAN FLEMING STEEL DAGGER
November Road by Lou Berney (Harper Fiction)
This is Gomorrah by Tom Chatfield (Hodder & Stoughton)
One Way Out by AA Dhand (Bantam Press)
Between Two Evils by Eva Dolan(Raven Books)
Cold Storage by David Koepp (HQ)
The Whisper Man by Alex North (Michael Joseph)
JOHN CREASEY (NEW BLOOD) DAGGER
Your House Will Pay by Steph Cha (Faber & Faber)
My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing (Michael Joseph)
Little White Lies by Philippa East (HQ)
The Wreckage by Robin Morgan-Bentley (Trapeze)
The Man on the Street by Trevor Wood (Quercus Fiction)
SAPERE BOOKS HISTORICAL DAGGER
In Two Minds by Alis Hawkins(The Dome Press)
Metropolis by Philip Kerr (Quercus Fiction)
The Bear Pit by SG MacLean (Quercus Fiction)
Death in the East by Abir Mukherjee (Harvill Secker)
The Anarchists’ Club by Alex Reeve (Raven Books)
The Paper Bark Tree Mystery by Ovidia Yu (Constable)
CRIME FICTION IN TRANSLATION DAGGER
Summer of Reckoning by Marion Brunet, translated by Katherine Gregor (Bitter Lemon Press)
The Godmother by Hannelore Cayre, translated by Stephanie Smee (Old Street Publishing)
Like Flies from Afar by K Ferrari, translated by Adrian Nathan West (Canongate Books)
November by Jorge Galán, translated by Jason Wilson (Constable)
The Fragility of Bodies by Sergio OlguÃn, translated by Miranda France (Bitter Lemon Press)
Little Siberia by Antti Tuomainen, translated by David Hackston (Orenda Books)
SHORT STORY DAGGER
The Bully by Jeffery Deaver, in Exit Wounds, edited by Paul B Kane and Marie O’Regan (Titan Books)
The New Lad by Paul Finch, in Exit Wounds, edited by Paul B Kane and Marie O’Regan (Titan Books)
The Washing by Christopher Fowler, in Invisible Blood, edited by Maxim Jakubowski (Titan Books)
#Me Too by Lauren Henderson, in Invisible Blood, edited by Maxim Jakubowski (Titan Books)
The Recipe by Louise Jensen, in Exit Wounds, edited by Paul B Kane and Marie O’Regan (Titan Books)
Easily Made by Syd Moore, in 12 Strange Days of Christmas (Point Blank Press)
ALCS GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION
Furious Hours by Casey Cep (William Heinemann)
Corrupt Bodies by Peter Everett (Icon Books)
Honour: Achieving Justice for Banaz Mahmod by Caroline Goode (Oneworld Publications)
The Fatal Passion of Alma Rattenbury by Sean O’Connor (Simon & Schuster)
The Professor and the Parson: A Story of Desire, Deceit and Defrocking by Adam Sisman (Profile Books)
The Adventures of Maud West, Lady Detective by Susannah Stapleton (Picador)
DAGGER IN THE LIBRARY
Christopher Brookmyre
Jane Casey
Alex Gray
Quintin Jardine
DEBUT DAGGER
The Spae-Wife by Anna Caig
Whipstick by Leanne Fry
Pesticide by Kim Hays
Emergency Drill by Nicholas Morrish
Revolution Never Lies by Josephine Moulds
Bitter Lake by Michael Munro
PUBLISHERS’ DAGGER
Bitter Lemon Press
Harvill Secker
Head of Zeus
HQ
Michael Joseph
Orenda
Raven Books
Severn House
Mick Herron’s Joe Country, Claire Askew’s What You Pay For and Lou Berney’s November Road are all in contention for the CWA Gold Dagger, awarded to the best crime novel. November Road is also on the shortlist for the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for the best thriller, up against One Way Out by AA Dhand, Between Two Evils by Eva Dolan and the Richard and Judy pick The Whisper Man by Alex North.
November Road by Lou Berney (William Morrow)
The Holiday by TM Logan is published by Bonnier Zaffre on July 25th
