What an exciting day! Congratulations to all those nominated and short-listed. Speaking of which…here is the list!
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, alongsideM 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 uncontracted 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.”
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)
