The Crime Writers' Association (CWA) reveal the longlists for the prestigious 2026 Dagger Awards, celebrating the very best in crime writing.
Created in 1955, the
world-famous CWA Daggers are the oldest awards in the genre and have been
synonymous with quality crime writing for over half a century.
This year’s longlists showcase the breadth of talent from internationally bestselling authors to emerging debuts.
Nadine Matheson, Chair of the CWA, said: “Congratulations to every author who appears on this year’s Dagger Awards longlist. A longlist recognition is no small thing and speaks to the dedication, craft, and ambition that goes into every book. This year's longlist also reflects something that excites me deeply as Chair of the CWA; the extraordinary range and evolution of crime writing today. The genre continues to grow in breadth, in voice, and in ambition, and this longlist is a testament to that.”
The coveted KAA Gold Dagger, sponsored by Kevin Anderson & Associates, is awarded for the best crime novel of the year. The longlist includes Abigail Dean, longlisted for The Death of Us, a powerful psychological novel also longlisted in the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger and Twisted Dagger categories.
Also longlisted are British crime writers Vaseem Khan with Quantum of Menace, and Laura Shepherd-Robinson for The Art of a Lie, alongside international authors, James Lee Burke, and the late Martin Cruz Smith.
The Ian Fleming Steel Dagger honours the best thriller of the year. The longlist includes global bestseller Karin Slaughter, alongside Robert Crais and Julie Clark. The Historical Dagger features acclaimed writers such as Graeme Macrae Burnet and Ariel Lawhon on the 2026 longlist.
The Twisted Dagger for psychological suspense longlists bestselling authors Lisa Jewell, Alice Feeney, and Sarah Pinborough. The Whodunnit Dagger for books with an intellectual challenge at the heart of a good mystery, sees SJ Bennett, Clare Mackintosh and Guy Morpuss in the running.
The global reach of the genre is showcased in the Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger. International authors longlisted include Antti Tuomainen and Kotaro Isaka. Their translators are also recognised in the award, which is sponsored in honour of Dolores Jakubowski.
Maxim Jakubowski,
Chair of the CWA Daggers’ committee, said: "Once again the Daggers
longlists come up with a tasty menu full of surprise inclusions and omissions,
established authors and a diversity of newcomers, evidence yet again of the
independence of thought of our various juries."
The ALCS Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction includes The CIA Book Club by Charlie English and The Spy in the Archive by Gordon Corera, reflecting the enduring fascination with espionage and true crime.
The Short Story Dagger features crime-writing heavyweights such as Denise Mina and Peter Swanson and is one of the few high-profile awards celebrating short-form storytelling.
The Dagger in the Library, voted for by librarians, recognises authors whose bodies of work have resonated with readers over time. This year’s longlist includes bestselling names such as the Death in Paradise creator Robert Thorogood, Paula Hawkins, Reverend Richard Coles, and Abir Mukherjee.
The CWA Daggers are also known for providing a platform for emerging talent, with the much-anticipated ILP John Creasey First Novel Dagger and the Emerging Author Dagger competition, sponsored by Fiction Feedback; over two dozen past winners and shortlisted debut authors have signed publishing deals to date.
The Best Crime and Mystery Publisher category recognises the publishers behind the genre’s success, with leading imprints including Faber & Faber, Pan Macmillan, and Simon & Schuster among those longlisted.
The CWA Diamond Dagger, sponsored by Karen Baugh Menuhin, is awarded to an author whose crime-writing career has been marked by sustained excellence, is announced in early spring and in 2026 was awarded to Mark Billingham.
The shortlists will
be released on 28 May, and the winners announced at the CWA gala dinner
awards night in July.
The longlists in
full:
CWA KAA Gold
Dagger
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Carnival of Lies by D.V. Bishop (Pan Macmillan/Macmillan)
Don't Forget Me,
Little Bessie by
James Lee Burke (Orion Fiction/Orion Fiction)
King of Ashes by S. A. Cosby (Headline)
The Death of Us by Abigail Dean (HarperCollins/Hemlock
Press)
Not Quite Dead Yet by Holly Jackson (Penguin
Random House/Michael Joseph)
Quantum of Menace by Vaseem Khan (Bonnier Books
UK/Zaffre)
The Frozen by Ariel Lawhon (River
Swift Press)
The Rush by Beth Lewis (Profile
Books/Viper)
A Voice in The
Night by Simon
Mason (Quercus/riverrun)
The Good Father by Liam McIlvanney (Bonnier
Books UK/Zaffre)
Hotel Ukraine by Martin Cruz Smith (Simon
& Schuster UK)
The Art of a Lie by Laura Shepherd-Robinson (Pan
Macmillan/Mantle)
A Case of Life and Limb by Sally Smith (Bloomsbury Publishing/Raven Books)
Ian Fleming Steel
Dagger
The Midnight King by Tariq Ashkanani (Profile
Books/Viper)
The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark (Bonnier
Books UK/Zaffre)
King of Ashes by S. A. Cosby (Headline)
The Big Empty by Robert Crais (Simon
& Schuster UK)
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The Death of Us by Abigail Dean (HarperCollins/Hemlock
Press)
The Chemist by A A Dhand (HarperCollins/HQ
Fiction)
A Dead Draw by Robert Dugoni (Amazon
Publishing/ Thomas & Mercer)
A Sting in her
Tale by Mark
Ezra (Bedford Square Publishers/ No Exit Press)
Burying Jericho by William Hussey (Bonnier
Books UK/ Zaffre)
Such Quiet Girls by Noelle Ihli (Pan
Macmillan/ Pan)
The Good Father by Liam McIlvanney (Bonnier
Books UK/Zaffre)
We Are All Guilty
Here by Karin
Slaughter (HarperCollins Publishers)
ALCS Gold Dagger
for Non-Fiction
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Shadow of The
Bridge: The Delphi Murders and The Dark Side of The American Heartland by Áine Cain and Kevin
Greenlee (Pegasus Books/Pegasus Crime)
Saffie by David Collins (Silvertail
Books)
The Spy in the
Archive: How One Man Tried to Kill the KGB by Gordon Corera (HarperCollins/ William
Collins)
The Murder Game by John Curran (HarperCollins/Collins
Crime Club)
The CIA Book Club:
The Best-Kept Secret of the Cold War
by Charlie English (HarperCollins/ William Collins)
Murderland by Caroline Fraser (Little, Brown
Book Group/Fleet)
The Einstein
Vendetta: Hitler, Mussolini, And A True Story of Murder by Thomas Harding (Penguin/
Michael Joseph)
A Spy in the
Family by Paul
Henderson and David Gardner (Mirror Books)
The Cleveland
Street Scandal
by Neil Root (The History
Press)
That Dark Spring by Susannah Stapleton (Pan
Macmillan/Picador)
The Illegals by Shaun Walker (Profile
Books)
Historical Dagger
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Spoiler's Prey by Robin Blake (Severn
House)
Benecula by Graeme Macrae Burnet (Birlinn
Ltd/ Polygon)
The Mourning
Necklace by Kate
Foster (Pan Macmillan/Mantle)
The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon (Swift
Press)
The Rush by Beth Lewis (Profile
Books/Viper)
Barvick Falls by Rob McInroy (Tippermuir
Books)
The Devil's Draper by Donna Moore (Fly on the
Wall Press)
Gunner by Alan Parks (John Murray
Press/Baskerville)
Cairo Gambit by SW Perry (Atlantic
Books/Corvus)
The Art of a Lie by Laura Shepherd-Robinson (Pan
Macmillan/Mangle)
A Case of Life and
Limb by Sally
Smith (Bloomsbury Publishing/Raven Books)
Crime Fiction in
Translation Dagger
Home Before Dark by Eva Björg
Ægisdóttir (Orenda Books) translated by Victoria Cribb
Murder Mindfully by Karsten Dusse (Faber)
translated by Florian Duijsens
Scars of Silence by Johana Gustawsson (Orenda
Books) translated by David Warriner
The Lake by Jørn Lier Horst (Penguin
Random House) translated by Anne Bruce
Seesaw Monster by Kotaro Isaka (Penguin
Random House) translated by Sam Malissa
Red Water by Jurica Pavicic (Bitter
Lemon Press) translated by Matt Robinson
The Grave in the
Ice by Satu
Rämö (Bonnier Books UK) translated by Kristian London
Big Bad Wool by Leonie Swann (Allison
& Busby) translated by Amy Bojang
The Winter Job by Antti Tuomainen (Orenda
Books) translated by David Hackston
Strange Pictures by Uketsu (Pushkin Press)
translated by Jim Rion
Whodunnit Dagger
The Christmas
Cracker Killer
by Alexandra Benedict (Simon & Schuster UK)
The Queen Who Came
in from the Cold by
SJ Bennett (Bonnier Books UK/ Zaffre)
Etiquette for
Lovers & Killers
by Anna Fitzgerald Healy (Little, Brown Book Group/Fleet)
Little Secrets by Victoria Goldman (Three
Crowns Publishing UK/self-published)
A Queer Case by Robert Holtom (Titan
Books)
The Margaret Code by Richard Hooton (Little,
Brown Book Group/Sphere)
A Cinnamon Falls
Mystery by RL
Killmore (Simon & Schuster UK)
Other People's
Houses by Clare
Mackintosh (Little, Brown Book Group/Sphere)
Not Another Bloody
Christmas by
Jo Middleton (HarperCollins/Avon)
A Trial in Three
Acts by Guy
Morpuss (Profile Books/Viper)
A Murder for Miss
Hortense by
Mel Pennant (John Murray Press/Baskerville)
Bad Influence by CJ Wray (Orion Fiction)
Twisted Dagger
What Happens in
the Dark by
Kia Abdullah (HarperCollins/HQ Fiction)
Her Many Faces by Nicci Cloke (Penguin
Random House UK/Harvill)
Some of Us are
Liars by Fiona
Cummins (Pan Macmillan/Macmillan)
The House of Water by Fflur Dafydd (Hodder
& Stoughton/Hodder Fiction)
The Death of Us by Abigail Dean (HarperCollins/Hemlock
Press)
Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney (Pan
Macmillan/Macmillan)
Scenes From A
Tragedy by Carole
Hailey (Atlantic Books/Corvus)
Don't Let Him In by Lisa Jewell (Penguin
Random House/Century)
The Bodies by Sam Lloyd (Transworld/Bantam)
The Good Father by Liam McIlvanney (Bonnier
Books UK/Zaffre)
We Live Here Now by Sarah Pinborough (Orion
Fiction)
59 Minutes by Holly Seddon (Orion
Publishing Group/ Orion Fiction)
ILP John Creasey
(First Novel) Dagger
The Malt Whiskey
Murders by Natalie
Jayne Clark (Birlinn Ltd/Polygon)
Etiquette for
Lovers and Killers by
Anna Fitzgerald Healy (Little, Brown Book Group/Fleet)
The Peak by Sam Guthrie (HarperCollins
Publishers)
The Retirement
Plan by Sue
Hincenberg (Little, Brown Book Group/ Sphere)
The Lost Detective by Elspeth Latimer (Story
Machine)
The Wolf Tree by Laura McCluskey (HarperCollins/Hemlock
Press)
The Vanishing
Place by Zoë
Rankin (Profile Books/Viper)
Coram House by Bailey Seybolt (Bloomsbury
Publishing/Raven Books)
A Beautiful Family by Jennifer Trevelyan (Pan
Macmillan/Mantle)
Holy City by Henry Wise (Bedford
Square Publishers/No Exit Press)
Short Story Dagger
‘Arlene’ by William Boyle in Birds,
Strangers and Psychos (No Exit Press)
‘Split Your Silver Tongue’ by SA Cosby in Birds,
Strangers and Psychos (No Exit Press)
‘Chest’ in Birds,
by Ragnar Jónasson Strangers and Psychos (No Exit Press)
‘The Karpman Drama
Triangle’ by Denise Mina in Birds, Strangers and Psychos (No
Exit Press)
‘Full Circle’ by Abir Mukherjee
in Playing Dead: Short Stories by Members of the Detection
Club (Severn House)
‘The Apple Falls
Not Far’ by Ambrose Perry (Canongate)
‘Once Upon a Time
in New Jersey‘ by Zoë Sharp and John Lawton in CrimeFest: Leaving
the Scene Celebrating 16 Years (No Exit Press)
‘Strangers on a School Bus’ by Peter
Swanson in Birds, Strangers and Psychos (No Exit Press)
‘Waiting’ by Michael Wood in Criminal
Pursuits: This Is Me (Telos Publishing)
Dagger in the
Library
Ben
Aaronovitch
Damien
Boyd
Reverend Richard
Coles
Rhys
Dylan
Paula
Hawkins
JD Kirk
Clare
Mackintosh
Freida
McFadden
Abir
Mukherjee
Tim
Sullivan
Robert
Thorogood
Best Crime &
Mystery Publisher
Allison & Busby
Baskerville (John
Murray/Hachette)
Bitter Lemon Press
Constable (Little,
Brown)
Faber & Faber
Harvill Vintage
(Penguin Random House)
Muswell Press
No Exit Press
(Bedford Square)
Pan Macmillan
Polygon (Birlinn)
Simon & Schuster
Viper (Profile Books)
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