2019 Crime Writers Association Dagger Awards

We gathered last week in East London to join the Crime Writers Association for the 2019 Dagger Awards over dinner.

Barry Forshaw was the Master of Ceremonies, with a welcoming address from Linda Stratmann, current CWA Chair. The after-dinner speech was presented by Lynne Truss.

A full listing of the winners can be downloaded from The Crime Writers Association’s website HERE as a .pdf while Jeff Peirce [of The Rap Sheet] has a full listing, including all the shortlists HERE

It was good to hear Linda Stratmann acknowledge the hard work carried out by the CWA Dagger Liaison Officer, Mike Stotter, as well as Barry Forshaw (on behalf of the CWA) recognise the work of Maxim Jakubowski with the presentation of a Red Herring Award.

We present a series of videos of the various award presentations from that evening in East London, and congratulate all the nominated writers, editors, publishers – each of the work shortlisted is well worth exploring.

But first the welcoming speeches:

Linda Stratmann, Chair of the Crime Writers Association

Barry Forshaw Master of Ceremonies

Maxim Jakubowski’s contribution to the genre of crime and thriller recognised by The CWA with a Red Herring Award. 

CWA Gold Dagger

The Puppet Show, by M.W. Craven: (Constable)

Also nominated: All the Hidden Truths, by Claire Askew (Hodder & Stoughton); What We Did, by Christobel Kent (Sphere); Unto Us a Son Is Given, by Donna Leon (Heinemann); American by Day, by Derek B. Miller (Doubleday); and A Station on the Path to Somewhere Better, by Benjamin Wood (Scribner)

CWA John Creasey (New Blood)

Scrublands, by Chris Hammer (Wildfire)

Also nominated: All the Hidden Truths, by Claire Askew (Hodder & Stoughton); The Boy at the Door, by Alex Dahl (Head of Zeus); Turn a Blind Eye, by Vicky Newham (HQ); Blood & Sugar, by Laura Shepherd-Robinson (Mantle); and Overkill, by Vanda Symon (Orenda)

CWA ALCS Gold Dagger for Non-fiction

The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War, by Ben Macintyre (Viking)

Also nominated: All That Remains: A Life in Death, by Sue Black (Doubleday); An Unexplained Death: The True Story of a Body at the Belvedere, by Mikita Brottman (Canongate); Murder by the Book: A Sensational Chapter in Victorian Crime, by Claire Harman (Viking); The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century, by Kirk Wallace Johnson (Hutchinson); and The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper, by Hallie Rubenhold (Doubleday)

CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger

To the Lions, by Holly Watt (Bloomsbury)

Also nominated: Give Me Your Hand, by Megan Abbott (Picador);Safe Houses, by Dan Fesperman (Head of Zeus); Killing Eve: No Tomorrow, by Luke Jennings (John Murray); Lives Laid Away, by Stephen Mack Jones (Soho Crime); and Memo from Turner, by Tim Willocks (Jonathan Cape)

CWA International Dagger

A Long Night in Paris, by Dov Alfon; translated by Daniella Zamir (MacLehose Press)

Also nominated: Weeping Waters, by Karin Brynard, translated by Maya Fowler and Isobel Dixon (World Noir); The Cold Summer, by Gianrico Carofiglio, translated by Howard Curtis (Bitter Lemon Press); Newcomer, by Keigo Higashino, translated by Giles Murray (Little, Brown); The Root of Evil, by Håkan Nesser, translated by Sarah Death (Mantle); and The Forger, by Cay Rademacher, translated by Peter Millar (Arcadia)

CWA Sapere Books Historical Dagger

Destroying Angel, by S.G. MacLean: (Quercus)

Also nominated: The Quaker, by Liam McIlvanney (Harper Fiction); Smoke and Ashes, by Abir Mukherjee (Harvill Secker); The House on Half Moon Street, by Alex Reeve (Raven); Tombland, by C.J. Sansom: (Mantle); and Blood & Sugar, by Laura Shepherd-Robinson (Mantle)

CWA Short Story Dagger

“The Dummies’ Guide to Serial Killing,” by Danuta Reah (from The Dummies’ Guide to Serial Killing and Other Fantastic Female Fables, by Danuta Reah [aka Danuta Kot]; Fantastic).

Highly recommended: “I Detest Mozart,” by Teresa Solana (from The First Prehistoric Serial Killer and Other Stories, by Teresa Solana; Bitter Lemon Press)

Also nominated: “Strangers in a Pub,” by Martin Edwards (from Ten Year Stretch, edited by Martin Edwards and Adrian Muller; No Exit Press); “Death Becomes Her,” by Syd Moore (from The Strange Casebook, by Syd Moore; Point Blank Books); and “Bag Man,” by Lavie Tidhar (from The Outcast Hours, edited by Mahvesh Murad and Jared Shurin; Solaris)

Dagger in the Library: Kate Ellis

Also nominated: M.C. Beaton, Mark Billingham, John Connolly, C.J. Sansom, and Cath Staincliffe

Debut Dagger (for the opening of a crime novel by an uncontracted writer): Wake, by Shelley Burr

Also nominated: The Mourning Light, by Jerry Krause; Hardways, by Catherine Hendricks; The Firefly, by David Smith; and A Thin Sharp Blade, by Fran Smith

Best Crime and Mystery Publisher of the Year

No Exit Press (Oldcastle Books)

Also nominated: Faber and Faber, Harper Fiction (HarperCollins), HQ (HarperCollins), Orenda Books, Pushkin Vertigo (Pushkin), and Raven (Bloomsbury)

Diamond Dagger Recipient:

Robert Goddard

Shots Magazine would like to pass out thanks to The Crime Writers Association for a wonderful evening, where we celebrated Literature’s darkest avenue – Crime and Thriller.

More information from THE CRIME WRITERS ASSOCIATION – CLICK HERE

More information from THE CRIME READERS ASSOCIATION – CLICK HERE

Happy Reading from all of us at Shots Magazine.

Here’s a few photos from the event.

Of particular delight was meeting up with Thomas Harris’ UK publisher Jason Arthur of the William Heinmann imprint of PenguinRandomHouse and David Brawn of HarperCollins who I am delighted to learn is championing Alistair MacLean, bringing his work back into print.

Photos © 2019 Ali Karim & The Crime Writers Association.