Getting away with Murder with Lynda La Plante CBE.

Monday 3^rd September saw a good number of guests join Lynda La Plante CBE at a star studded launch of her memoir Getting Away With Murder at the Balcony Bar at the (British Film Institute) BFI. Crime Fiction attendees including Maxim Jakubowski, Barry Forshaw, Megan Davis, Fidelis Morgan, Mark Sanderson and myself.

Also in attendance was Celia Imrie who is soon to be seen in Richard Osman's The Thursday Club Murder. Richard E Grant, Glynis Barber and Michael Brandon of Dempsey and Makepeace fame, Twiggy, television presenter Penny Smith and a vast number of others from the world of film and television.

Getting Away With Murder is Lynda La Plante's long awaited memoir which many of us have been looking forward to for quite sometime. Lynda has had a long career and whilst she is best known for introducing us to Helen Mirren in Prime Suspect, she has also been involved in other crime related programmes such as Z-Cars,

The Sweeney, The Professionals, The Governor, Trial & Retribution and Bergerac to name a few. She also wrote the six part robbery series The Widows in 1983. Widows was remade in 2018 as a US set film and was directed by Steve McQueen. Lynda is currently the author of over 50 novels the most recent being Whole Life Sentence in 2024.

Lynda La Plante has been given a vast number of awards and they include a CBE in 2008,. an Edgar Award in 1993, two Emmy Awards in 1993 and 1994. The Dennis Potter BAFTA Award for Screen Writing in 2001. In 2009 she was inducted into the Crime Thriller Awards Hall of Fame . In 2013 she was awarded an Honorary Fellowship with the Forensic Science Society (FSSoc), and most recently in 2024 she was awarded the CWA Diamond Dagger.

Getting Away With Murder: My Unexpected Life on Page, Stage and Screen by Lynda La Plante (Bonnier Zaffre) Out Now

Lynda La Plante has lived an illustrious life and has the stories to prove it. From her early days in Liverpool to her unexpected acceptance into RADA, joining peers Anthony Hopkins, John Hurt and Ian McShane; from beginning her scriptwriting career with Widows and Prime Suspect and becoming a BAFTA award-winning writer and producer, Lynda's tales of stage and screen will have you gasping in shock as well as laughing in the aisles.  Lynda has an important story to tell, one of breaking down stereotypes and blazing a trail for others along the way. Starting her writing career in the eighties, an era of entrenched gender inequality both in front of and behind the camera, Lynda faced innumerable obstacles to her vision.  Getting Away with Murder shows how she overcame them to create generation-defining television and become a multi-million-copy Sunday Times bestselling author. Still at the very top of her game, Lynda shares her story on her own terms, in a way that's guaranteed to make you laugh, cry and be inspired to live a life without limits.

Crime Writers of Canada 2024 Awards of Excellence Shortlist & Grand Master Award Recipient

 

Crime Writers of Canada (CWC) announced the Shortlists for the 2024 Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence in Canadian Crime Writing. 

Since 1984, Crime Writers of Canada has recognized the best in mystery, crime, suspense fiction, and crime nonfiction by Canadian authors, including citizens abroad and new residents. 

Winners will be announced on Wednesday 29 May 2024.

Maureen Jennings is this year’s recipient of the 2024 Grand Master Award. Established in 2014, the Grand Master (GM) Award recognizes a Canadian crime writer with a substantial body of work that has garnered national and international recognition.

THE 2024 AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE SHORTLISTS

The Peter Robinson Award for Best Crime Novel sponsored by Rakuten Kobo, with a $1000 prize

The Drowning Woman by Robyn Harding, Grand Central Publishing

Everyone Here is Lying by Shari Lapena, Doubleday Canada

Middlemen by Scott Thornley, House of Anansi Press

Sunset and Jericho by Sam Wiebe, Harbour Publishing

The Maid's Diary by Loreth Anne White, Montlake

Best Crime First Novel, sponsored by Melodie Campbell, with a $1000 prize

The Bittlemores by Jann Arden, Random House Canada 

Adrift by Lisa Brideau, Sourcebooks

The End Game by Charlotte Morganti, Halfdan Press 

The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters, Harper Perennial 

Perfect Shot by Steve Urszenyi, Minotaur

The Howard Engel Award for Best Crime Novel Set in Canada, sponsored by Charlotte Engel and Crime Writers of Canada, with a $500 prize

The Almost Widow by Gail Anderson-Dargatz, Harper Avenue/HarperCollins

Elmington by Renee Lehnen, Storeyline Press

Cruel Light by Cyndi MacMillan Crooked Lane

Wild Hope by Joan Thomas, Harper Perennial/HarperCollins

Shapes of Wrath by Melissa Yi, Windtree Press

The Whodunit Award for Best Traditional Mystery sponsored by Jane Doe, with a $500 prize

The Legacy by Gail Bowen ECW Press

Steeped in Malice by Vicki Delany, Kensington Books

The Game is a Footnote, by Vicki Delany, Crooked Lane Books 

 The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose, Viking

 To Track a Traitor by Iona Whishaw, TouchWood Editions

Best Crime Short Story

Wisteria Cottage, by M.H. Callway, Wildside Press (for Malice Domestic) 

Reversion by Marcelle Dubé Mystery Magazine

The Canadians by Mary Keenan, (Killin' Time in San Diego), Down & Out Books 

Troubled Water by Donalee Moulton, Black Cat Weekly (Wildside Press) 

American Night by Zandra Renwick, Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine

The Best French Language Crime Book (Fiction and Nonfiction)

La Punition by Jean-Philippe Bernié, Glénat Québec

Le Mois Des Morts, by Chrystine Brouillet, Éditions Druide

Le Dernier Souffle Est Le Plus Lourd by Catherine Lafrance, Éditions Druide 

La Sainte Paix, by André Marois, Héliotrope

Rien by Jean-Jacques Pelletier, Alire

Best Juvenile/YA Crime Book, sponsored by Shaftesbury Films with a $500 prize (Fiction and Nonfiction)

Someone is Always Watching by Kelley Armstrong, Tundra Books 

Funeral Songs for Dying Girls by Cherie Dimaline,Tundra Books 

The Big Sting by Rachelle Delaney, Tundra Books

Catfish Rolling by Clara Kumagai,  Penguin Teen Canada

Champions of the Fox by Kevin Sands, Puffin Canada

The Brass Knuckles Award for Best Nonfiction Crime Book sponsored by David Reid Simpson Law Firm (Hamilton), with a $300 prize

The Survivor: How I Survived Six Concentration Camps and Became a Nazi Hunter by Josef Lewkowicz and Michael Calvin,  HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

The Human Scale by Michael Lista Véhicule Press

Jukebox Empire by David Rabinovitch, Rowman & Littlefield

Cheated by Bill Waiser and Jennie Hansen, ECW Press

Clara at the Door with a Revolver, by Carolyn Whitzman, UBC Press, On Point Press

Best Unpublished Crime Novel manuscript written by an unpublished author

The Patient by Tom Blackwell, 

Requiem for a Lotus by Craig H. Bowlsby, 

Murder on Richmond Road: An Enquiry Bureau Mystery by Sheilla Jones and James Burns, 

The Forest Beyond William Wodhams, Thirty Feet Under by Nora Sellers

CWA Announce Double Diamond Dagger Winners

 

Lynda La Plante and James Lee Burke honoured 

with highest accolade in crime writing

For the first time in its 70-year history, the Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) is awarding two authors its annual Diamond Dagger.

Lynda La Plante and James Lee Burke are 2024’s recipients of the Diamond Dagger- the highest accolade in the genre.

The award recognises authors whose crime writing careers have been marked by sustained excellence, and who have made a significant contribution to the genre.

Vaseem Khan, Chair of the CWA, said: “The Diamond Dagger judges almost came to blows this year and for good reason. Ultimately, they have chosen to recognise two incredible bodies of work that have each, in their own way, made their mark.”

Lynda La Plante CBE began her career as an actor in TV and theatre. She graduated from RADA, where her fellow students included Anthony Hopkins and John Hurt.

La Plante wrote her first treatment for TV, Widows, which went on to become one of the highest rating series in the 1980s. She became a sought-after crime writer, with her debut novel, The Legacy, published in 1987.

In 1990, La Plante began work on Prime Suspect, which was released in 1991, starring Helen Mirren as DCI Jane Tennison. In 1993, she received the Dennis Potter Award from BAFTA and was made a fellow of the British Film Institute. The success led to her forming her own television production company, La Plante Productions.

She also wrote and produced multiple shows in the US, with actors including Vanessa Redgrave, Sam Neill, and Rob Lowe. In 2014, she formed a new global rights and production company – La Plante Global. Her current book series features Detective Jack Warr. She received a CBE for services to Literature, Drama and Charity in 2008.

Vaseem Khan said: “Lynda La Plante's Prime Suspect redefined the role of women in police procedurals and made a star of Helen Mirren, while Widows remains a talismanic - and wickedly entertaining - female-led heist caper.”

Lynda La Plante said: “In 2024 I will publish both the final book in the young Tennison series, and a memoir detailing my long career as an actress, television producer and crime writer. To also be awarded the Diamond Dagger from the CWA makes 2024 even more special, and I look forward to thanking all those involved in person at the awards ceremony on July 4th.”

Born in Houston in 1936, James Lee Burke’s first novel was compared to the work of Faulkner and Sartre by the New York Times. Despite this, he was out of hardback print for 13 years until his third novel, The Lost Get-Back Boogie was published and submitted for a Pulitzer Prize, after being rejected over 111 times. Over the years, he’s taught at universities, worked as a case worker with former felons, as a pipeliner for an oil company, a long-distance truck driver, and a newspaper reporter.

James Lee Burke has two Edgar Awards, a Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America, and has been a Guggenheim Fellow. 

Vaseem Khan said: “James Lee Burke's lyrical depiction of the American South transcends crime fiction - his prose is often considered among the best to have graced the genre. For many, Dave Robicheaux is the very embodiment of the dogged, morally incorruptible detective beset by personal demons - a beautifully rendered character.”

James Lee Burke said: “I wish to thank the judges of the Diamond Dagger committee for honouring me with such a prestigious award. I'm honoured and humbled to receive it. It is also an honour to have my name among the best mystery and crime writers in the world. I cannot thank you enough.”

Nominations for the CWA Diamond Dagger are recommended by CWA members. Industry experts then narrow these down to a shortlist.  

The winner is then voted for by a panel of past Diamond Dagger winners comprising of Peter James, Walter Mosley, Lee Child, Lawrence Block, Ian Rankin, Michael Connelly, Lindsey Davis, Andrew Taylor, Martina Cole, Ann Cleeves, Val McDermid, Robert Goddard, Martin Edwards, Catherine Aird and Simon Brett.

Lynda La Plante and James Lee Burke join icons of the genre who have been recognised with the accolade, including Ruth Rendell, PD James, Colin Dexter, Reginald Hill, and John Le Carré.

Maxim Jakubowski, Chair of the CWA Daggers’ committee, said: “By an extraordinary quirk of fate, due to our new voting process, this year's Diamond Dagger is, for the first time in seven decades, being awarded to two authors. If the Booker Prize can do it, so can we! Both such wonderful and deserving writers who, between them, demonstrate the marvellous diversity of crime writing.”

One of the UK’s most prominent societies, the CWA was founded in 1953 by John Creasey; the awards started in 1955 with its first award going to Winston Graham, best known for Poldark.

The CWA Daggers are now regarded by the publishing world as the foremost British awards for crime-writing. As the oldest awards in the genre, they have been synonymous with quality crime writing for over half a century.

The Diamond Dagger is presented at the annual CWA Dagger Awards, dubbed the ‘Oscars of the crime genre,’ which take place this year on July 4.

 

Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award Finalists!

 

The 2021 Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award Finalists have been announced. The winners will be announced at the The Killer Nashville Awards Dinner that is due to take place on August 21 2021.

Best Action/ Adventure

The Medina Device by T. J. Champitto

Hot Flash Decisions by Shirley B. Garrett

Dead Men’s Silence by James Lindholm

Trojan Horse by S. Lee Manning

The Crow’s Nest by Richard Meredith

Best Comedy

Con Me Once by J. L. Delozier

Risky Whiskey by Lucy Lakestone

Once is Never Enough by Haris Orkin

Slightly Murderous Intent by Lida Sideris

Murder by Milk Bottle by Lynne Truss

Best Cozy

Winter Witness by Tina deBellegarde

Dead Man’s Watch by Kay DiBianca

Three Treats Too Many by Debra H. Goldstein

Family Twist by Bonita Y. McCoy

Murder in First Position by Lori Robbins

Larceny at the Library by Colleen J. Shogan

Seas the Day by Maggie Toussaint

Dr. Shine Cracks the Case by Cathy Tully

Rose by Any Other Name by Becki Willis

A Sew Deadly Cruise by Lois Winston

Best Historical

Copy Boy by Shelley Blanton-Stroud

Dark Secrets of the Bayou by Kim Carter

A Child Lost by Michelle Cox

The Lost Wisdom of the Magi by Susie Helme

Death on the Homefront by Frances McNamara

Best Investigator

Narco Noir by Carmen Amato

The Last Scoop by R. G. Belsky

Within Plain Sight by Bruce Robert Coffin

The Vultures by Mark Hannon

The Garbage Man by Candace Irving

A Palette for Love and Murder by Saralyn Richard

Stardust Trail by J. R. Sanders

Facets of Death by Michael Stanley

In Twilight’s Hush by Laurie Stevens

All We Buried by Elena Taylor

Dirty Old Town by Gabriel Valjan

Best Juvenile/YA

The Crossingway by Lynn H. Elliott

Irish Town by Matthew John Meagher

Kassy O’Roarke Treasure Hunter by Kelly Oliver

Astrobia by James C. Paavola

Someone is Burning My Lord, Kumbaaya by Fiza Pathan and Michaelangelo Zane

Best Mystery

Every Kind of Wicked by Lisa Black

Dark Secrets of the Bayou by Kim Carter

Travels of Quinn by Sasscer Hill

Three Houses on a Hill by Nicholas Holloway

Relative Silence by Carrie Stuart Parks

Calling for the Money by Cathy Perkins

Love Power by Martha Reed

Murder, Forgotten by Deb Richardson-Moore

Code Gray by Benny Sims

Murder at Lolly Beach by Jane Suen

Best Non-Fiction

The Cold Vanish: Seeking the Missing in North America’s Wildlands by Jon Billman

The Five Core Conversations for Couples by David and Julie Bulitt

Words Whispered in Water by Sandy Rosenthal

Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Jeremy and the Witches Medallion by Randy Gauthier

Servant of the Crown by Duncan M. Hamilton

In the Shadow of a Valiant Moon by Stu Jones & Gareth Worthington

Otaku by Chris Kluwe

Odyssey Tale by Cody Schlegel

Best Short Story/Anthology

Crossing Borders by Lisa Brackmann & Matt Coyle

Judge Lu’s Case Files, Stories of Crime & Mystery in Imperial China by P.A. De Voe

Minnesota Not So Nice: Eighteen Tales of Bad Behavior by Barbara Merritt Deese, Pat Dennis, Michael Allan Mallory, and Timya Owen

Couch Detective Book 2 by James Glass

Children of the Fang and Other Genealogies by John Langan

Best Supernatural

Slipping into Darkness by D. M. Bourgeois

Borrowings of the Shan Van Vocht by Catherine Moore

Wonderland by Zoje Stage

Sisters of the Moon by Alexandrea Weis

Borrowed Memories by Christine Mager Wevik

Inn the Spirit of Competition by Becki Willis

Best Suspense

Inherent Fate by Alicia Anthony

Purgatory, A Progeny’s Quest by T.M. Brown

The Stepdaughter by Georgina Cross

Athena’s Dilemma by Donna Del Oro

A Thousand Miles from Spokane by S. D. Goldman

Ring of Conspiracy by J. Robert Kinney

Trojan Horse by S. Lee Manning

The Golden Girl by Dana Perry

Last Call by Cathi Stoler

Let the Guilty Pay by Rick Treon

Best Thriller

Collateral byBrian Andrews & Jeffrey Wilson

Bakersfield Boys Club by Anne Da Vigo

Blind Edge by Candace Irving

The Venezuelan by Bill King

Fall by Leslie McCauley

Percentages of Guilt by Michael Niemann

Ripple in the Sea by Charley Pearson

Hot Ice, Cold Blood by Holly Spofford

The Divine Devils by R. Weir

Scorpion Scheme by Melissa Yi

Congratulations to all the nominated authors.

2021 CWA Dagger Longlists announced

 The 2021 longlists for the prestigious CWA Dagger awards, which honour the very best in the crime writing genre, have been announced.

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.

Past winners of the prestigious Gold Dagger, which is awarded for the crime novel of the year, include Ian Rankin, John le Carré, Reginald Hill and Ruth Rendell. This year sees 2019’s winner of the Gold Dagger, M W Craven, return with The Curator. The former probation officer credited the CWA Debut Dagger competition in 2013 for opening the door to his career as an author.

Amer Anwar, who won the Debut Dagger competition in 2008, makes the list with Stone Cold Trouble. Anwar is up against the mighty JK Rowling writing as Robert Galbraith, alongside multi-award-winning authors including Nicci French, Elly Griffiths and Antonia Hodgson.

The Ian Fleming Steel Dagger is famed for showcasing blockbuster thrillers – past winners include Gillian Flynn and Robert Harris. Robert Galbraith is once more in the running, along with Ian Rankin, Stuart Turton, Catherine Ryan Howard, Ruth Ware and Michael Robotham, last year’s Gold winner.

Holly Watt, who won the Fleming Dagger in 2019, also returns to the longlist with The Dead Line. Another to watch on the Fleming longlist is Chris Whitaker; his book Tall Oaks won the CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger in 2017. Whitaker is long-listed for his latest novel We Begin At The End, which was a Waterstones Thriller of the Month and has sold in 17 territories, with screen rights snapped up by Disney. 

Linda Stratmann, Chair of the Crime Writers’ Association, said: “The CWA Dagger awards are unparalleled for their reputation and longevity. The longlists showcase authors – established and new – at the top of their game. It’s not surprising that sales of crime fiction have been so strong during Covid-19. Both fiction and non-fiction have proven to be a great escape for many as we have been stuck at home. As our longlists show, these stories and insights take readers all over the world and through time, from Bombay of the 1950s to ancient Athens to modern-day California and many points between." 

“Crime books can be thrilling mysteries, but they can also provide social commentary, insights into true crime, or explore big questions in life. The vast and diverse talent in these longlists show why it’s the UK’s most popular and enduring genre. We are proud to provide a platform for debut, emerging and established authors, and to honour the very best in crime writing.”

The much-anticipated John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger highlights the best debut novels. Among the rising stars of 2021 is Susan Allot with her Australian-set debut, The Silence, praised by the Wall Street Journal as ‘emotionally wrenching’. 

New writing duo Chris Rickaby and Barney Thompson, writing under the pseudonym Ben Creed, also feature with their debut, City of Ghosts, a tense historical novel set in 1951 Russia. The global theme continues with Stephanie Scott’s accomplished debut, What’s Left of Me Is Yours, set in modern day Japan, exploring romantic and familial love, duty and murder.

Booker prize winner John Banville is a heavyweight contender on the Sapere Books Historical Dagger longlist. The prizewinning novelist and literary polymath, considered Ireland’s greatest living novelist, is in the running for Snow, his first murder mystery published under his real name rather than his nom de plume, Benjamin Black.

This Sapere Books Historical Dagger longlist also includes Nicola Upson, who was shortlisted for the award in 2018, and S J Parris, whose Giordano Bruno books, Heresy, Sacrilege and Treachery have all been previously shortlisted. Vaseem Khan also features on the list as he swaps his contemporary light-hearted Baby Ganesh Agency series with his historical crime novel Midnight at Malabar House, set in 1950s Bombay.

The Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger sees the bestselling Jo Nesbo on the list with his stand-alone thriller, The Kingdom, translated by Robert Ferguson. Joining the Norwegian is Swedish writer Mikael Niemi with his sumptuous blend of historical fact with fictional intrigue, To Cook a Bear, centred around the Laestadian revivalist movement of the 1850s, translated by Sarah Death.

From one of Israel’s most beloved writers is Three by D A Mishani, translated by Jessica Cohen, and from South Korea, Yun Ko-eun’s original and inventive thriller The Disaster Tourist makes the longlist, with translator Lizzie Buehler.

The CWA Daggers are one of the few high-profile awards that honour the short story. Christopher Fowler, the award-winning author of the Bryant & May mystery novels, has written over 50 novels and short story collections. Fowler, who won the CWA Dagger in the Library in 2015, is longlisted for his short story, Head Count. The list also features acclaimed authors Clare Mackintosh and Stuart Turton. Founding member of the North East Noir crime writers’ group, Robert Scragg, also dominates the category as an editor and writer of short stories. 

The ALCS Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction features the 2020 CWA Diamond Dagger winner, Martin Edwards, with Howdunit. A renowned editor, prolific novelist, and leading authority on crime fiction, Howdunit offers a masterclass in crime writing by leading exponents of the genre.

Dan Smith also features with The Peer and the Gangster which tells the incredible story of one of the largest-scale political cover-ups in British history – the 1964 scandal of an alleged homosexual affair between Lord Boothby, a well-known member of the House of Lords, and London’s most notorious mobster Ronnie Kray.

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 sees firm favourites from the genre including Nicci French, Lisa Jewell, Margaret Murphy, Erin Kelly, Peter May and Denise Mina on the longlist.

The Best Crime and Mystery Publisher of the Year Dagger, which celebrates publishers and imprints demonstrating excellence and diversity in crime writing, pits big publishing houses Harper Fiction and Faber & Faber against independent publishers such as No Exit Press. 

The CWA Dagger shortlist will be announced in May with the awards ceremony taking place at the start of July. The 2021 Diamond Dagger for lifetime achievement, the highest honour in British crime writing, has already been announced, awarded to Martina Cole.

The Longlists in Full:

GOLD DAGGER

Amer Anwar: Stone Cold Trouble (Dialogue Books, Little, Brown Book Group)

S A Cosby: Blacktop Wasteland (Headline, Headline Publishing Group)

M W Craven: The Curator (Constable, Little, Brown Book Group)

Ben Creed: City of Ghosts (Welbeck Fiction, Welbeck Publishing Group)

Garry Disher: Peace (Viper, Profile Books)

Mick Finlay: Arrowood and the Thames Corpses (HQ, HarperCollins)

Nicci French: House of Correction (Simon & Schuster)

Robert Galbraith: Troubled Blood (Sphere, Little, Brown Book Group)

Elly Griffiths: The Postscript Murders (Quercus)

Antonia Hodgson: The Silver Collar (Hodder & Stoughton)

S G Maclean: The House of Lamentations (Quercus Fiction, Quercus)

C D Major: The Other Girl (Thomas & Mercer)

Thomas Mullen: Midnight Atlanta (Little, Brown, Little, Brown Book Group)

S J Parris: Execution (Harper Fiction, HarperCollins)

Tade Thompson: Making Wolf (Constable, Little, Brown Book Group)

Nicola Upson: The Dead of Winter (Faber)

Chris Whitaker: We Begin at the End (Zaffre, Bonnier)

Rebecca Whitney: The Hidden Girls (Mantle, Pan Macmillan)

IAN FLEMING STEEL DAGGER

Charles Cumming: Box 88 (HarperFiction, HarperCollins)

Robert Galbraith: Troubled Blood (Sphere, Little, Brown Book Group)

Ryan Gattis: The System (Picador, Pan Macmillan)

Ian Rankin: Song for the Dark Times (Orion Fiction, The Orion Publishing Group)

Rod Reynolds: Blood Red City (Orenda Books)

Craig Robertson: Watch Him Die (Simon & Schuster)

Michael Robotham: When She Was Good (Sphere, Little, Brown Book Group)

Catherine Ryan Howard: The Nothing Man (Atlantic Books)

Stuart Turton: The Devil and the Dark Water (Raven Books, Bloomsbury Publishing)

Ruth Ware: One by One (Harvill Secker, Vintage)

Holly Watt: The Dead Line (Raven Books, Bloomsbury Publishing)

Chris Whitaker: We Begin at the End (Zaffre, Bonnier Books UK)

JOHN CREASEY (NEW BLOOD) DAGGER

Eva Björg Ægisdóttir: The Creak on the Stairs (Orenda)

Susan Allott: The Silence (Borough, HarperCollins)

Emma Christie: The Silent Daughter (Welbeck Publishing)

Catherine Cooper: The Chalet (Harper Fiction, HarperCollins)

Ben Creed: City of Ghosts (Welbeck Publishing)

Judi Daykin: Under Violent Skies (Joffe Books)

Egan Hughes: The One That Got Away (Little Brown, Sphere)

S W Kane: The Bone Jar (Thomas & Mercer)

Rob McInroy: Cuddies Strip (Ringwood Press)

Stephanie Scott: What's Left of Me Is Yours (Orion, Weidenfeld)

Stephen Spotswood: Fortune Favours the Dead (Headline, Wildfire)

John Vercher: Three Fifths (Pushkin Press)

S R White: Hermit (Headline)

SAPERE BOOKS HISTORICAL DAGGER

J M Alvey: Justice for Athena (Canelo Digital Publishing Limited)

John Banville: Snow (Faber)

Vaseem Khan: Midnight at Malabar House (Hodder & Stoughton)

Laurie King: Riviera Gold (Allison & Busby)

Chris Lloyd: The Unwanted Dead (Orion Fiction, The Orion Publishing Group)

S J Parris: Execution (HarperFiction, HarperCollins)

Ben Pastor: The Night of Shooting Stars (Bitter Lemon Press)

Michael Russell: The City Under Siege (Constable, Little, Brown Book Group)

David S. Stafford: Skelton’s Guide to Domestic Poisons (Allison & Busby)

A D Swanston: Chaos (Bantam Press, Transworld)

Nicola Upson: The Dead of Winter (Faber)

Ovidia Yu: The Mimosa Tree Mystery (Constable, Little, Brown Book Group)

CRIME FICTION IN TRANSLATION DAGGER

Fredrik Backman: Anxious People, translated by Neil Smith (Michael Joseph, Penguin)

Roxanne Bouchard: The Coral Bride, translated by David Warriner (Orenda Books)

Marc Elsberg: Greed, translated by Simon Pare (Black Swan, Penguin)

Yun Ko-eun: The Disaster Tourist, translated by Lizzie Buehler (Serpent's Tail)

Volker Kutscher: The March Fallen, translated by Niall Sellar (Sandstone Press)

D A Mishani: Three, translated by Jessica Cohen (Riverrun, Hachette Book Group)

Jo Nesbo: The Kingdom, translated by Robert Ferguson (Harvill Secker, Penguin)

Håkan Nesser: The Secret Life of Mr Roos, translated by Sarah Death (Mantle, Pan Macmillan)

Mikael Niemi: To Cook a Bear, translated by Deborah Bragan-Turner (Maclehose Press, Quercus)

Agnes Ravatn: The Seven Doors, translated by Rosie Hedger (Orenda Books)

Maike Wetzel: Elly, translated by Lyn Marven (Scribe UK)

SHORT STORY DAGGER

Robert Scragg: ‘A Dog is for Life, Not Just for Christmas’ in Afraid of the Christmas Lights, edited by Robert Scragg (Robert Scragg)

Elle Croft: ‘Deathbed’ in Afraid of the Light, edited by Robert Scragg (Robert Scragg)

Dominic Nolan: ‘Daddy Dearest’ in Afraid of the Light, edited by Robert Scragg (Robert Scragg)

Adam Southward: ‘Especially at Christmas’ in Afraid of the Christmas Lights, edited by Robert Scragg (Robert Scragg)

Christopher Fowler: ‘Head Count’ in First Edition: Celebrating 21 Years of Goldsboro Books (The Dome Press)

Victoria Selman: ‘Hunted’ in Afraid of the Christmas Lights, edited by Robert Scragg (Robert Scragg)

Clare Mackintosh: ‘Monsters’ in First Edition: Celebrating 21 Years of Goldsboro Books (The Dome Press)

Stuart Turton: ‘Murder Most Vial’ in First Edition: Celebrating 21 Years of Goldsboro Books (The Dome Press)

Livia Llewelyn: ‘One of These Nights’ in Cutting Edge: Noir Stories by Women, edited by Joyce Carol Oates (Pushkin Press, Pushkin Vertigo)

James Delargy: ‘Planting Nan’ in Afraid of the Light, edited by Robert Scragg (Robert Scragg)

Simpson Grears: ‘The Foot of the Walk Murders’ in The Foot of the Walk Murders, edited by Simpson Grears (Rymour Books)

ALCS GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION

Sue Black: Written in Bone (Doubleday, Penguin)

Amanda Brown: The Prison Doctor; Women Inside (HQ, HarperCollins)

Becky Cooper: We Keep the Dead Close (William Heinemann, Penguin)

Martin Edwards: Howdunit (Collins Crime Club, HarperCollins)

Andrew Harding: These Are Not Gentle People (MacLehose, Quercus)

Debora Harding: Dancing with the Octopus (Profile Books Limited)

Nick Hayes: The Book of Trespass (Bloomsbury Circus, Bloomsbury Publishing)

Ben MacIntyre: Agent Sonya (Viking, Penguin)

Jax Miller: Hell in the Heartland (HarperCollins)

Daniel Smith: The Peer and the Gangster (The History Press)

Ravi Somaiya: Operation Morthor (Viking, Penguin)

Kate Summerscale:The Haunting of Alma Fielding (Bloomsbury Circus, Bloomsbury Publishing)

Mark Townsend: No Return (Guardian, Faber & Faber)

DAGGER IN THE LIBRARY

Lin Anderson

Nicci French

Lisa Jewell

Erin Kelly

Peter May

Denise Mina

Margaret Murphy

James Oswald

L J Ross

C L Taylor

PUBLISHERS’ DAGGER

Bitter Lemon Press

Faber & Faber

Harper Fiction

Head of Zeus

Michael Joseph

No Exit Press

Orenda Books

Pushkin Vertigo

Raven

Sphere

Viper

Strand Critics Awards

The Strand Critics Awards, recognizing excellence in the field of mystery fiction, were judged by a select group of book critics and journalists. They were presented on 12^th July 2017 in New York City.

Best Novel 
The Trespasser by Tana French (Viking) 

Best Debut Novel: 
The Lost Girls by Heather Young (William Morrow)

Clive Cussler was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award

Congratulations to All!