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 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 and 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 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
All
the Hidden Truths by Claire Askew (Hodder &
Stoughton)
The
Puppet Show by M W Craven (Constable)
What
We Did by Christobel Kent (Sphere)
Unto
Us a Son is Given by Donna Leon (William Heinemann)
American
by Day by Derek B Miller (Doubleday)
A
Station on the Path to Somewhere Better by Benjamin Wood
(Scribner)
CWA
JOHN CREASEY (NEW BLOOD)
All
the Hidden Truths by Claire Askew (Hodder &
Stoughton)
The
Boy at the Door by Alex Dahl (Head Of Zeus)
Scrublands
by Chris Hammer (Wildfire)
Turn
a Blind Eye by Vicky Newham (HQ)
Blood
and Sugar by Laura Shepherd-Robinson (Mantle)
Overkill
by Vanda Symon (Orenda)
CWA
ALCS GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION
All
That Remains by Sue Black (Doubleday)
An
Unexplained Death by Mikita Brottman (Canongate)
Murder
by the Book by Claire Harman (Viking)
The
Feather Thief by Kirk Wallace Johnson (Hutchinson)
The
Spy and the Traitor by Ben Macintyre (Viking)
The
Five
by Hallie Rubenhold (Doubleday)
CWA
IAN FLEMING STEEL DAGGER
Give
Me Your Hand by Megan Abbott (Picador)
Safe
Houses by Dan Fesperman (Head of Zeus)
No
Tomorrow by Luke Jennings (John Murray)
Lives
Laid
by Stephen Mack Jones (Soho Crime)
To
the Lions by Holly Watt (Bloomsbury)
Memo
from Turner by Tim Willocks (Jonathan Cape)
CWA
SAPERE BOOKS HISTORICAL DAGGER
The
Quaker by Liam McIlvanney (Harper Fiction)
Destroying
Angel by S G MacLean (Quercus Fiction)
Smoke
and Ashes by Abir Mukherjee (Harvill Secker)
The
House on Half Moon Street by Alex Reeve (Raven Books)
Tombland by C J Sansom (Mantle)
Blood
and Sugar by Laura Shepherd-Robinson (Mantle)
CWA
INTERNATIONAL DAGGER
A
Long Night in Paris by Dov Alfon tr Daniella Zamir
(Maclehose Press)
Weeping
Waters by Karin Brynard tr Maya Fowler & Isobel Dixon
(World Noir)
The
Cold Summer by Gianrico Carofiglio, tr Howard
Curtis (Bitter Lemon Press)
Newcomer
by
Keigo Higashino, tr Giles Murray (Little, Brown)
The
Root of Evil by Håkan Nesser, tr Sarah Death
(Mantle)
The
Forger by Cay Rademacher, tr Peter Millar (Arcadia Books)
CWA
SHORT STORY DAGGER
Strangers
in a Pub by Martin Edwards in ‘Ten Year Stretch’ edited by Martin Edwards and Adrian Muller (No
Exit Press)
Death
Becomes Her by Syd Moore in ‘The Strange Casebook’ by Syd Moore
(Point Blank Books)
The
Dummies’ Guide to Serial Killing by Danuta Reah* in
‘The Dummies’ Guide to Serial Killing and
other Fantastic Female Fables’ (Fantastic Books)
I
Detest Mozart by Teresa Solana in ‘The First Historic Serial Killers and Other
Stories’ by Teresa Solana (Bitter Lemon Press)
Bag
Man by
Lavie Tidhar 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)
Wake
by Shelley Burr:
The
Mourning Light by Jerry Crause
Hardways by
Catherine Hendricks
The
Firefly by David Smith
A
Thin Sharp Blade by Fran Smith
DIAMOND
DAGGER
Presented to Robert
Goddard.
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