CWA Dagger Awards Longlists Announced

The 2025 longlists for the prestigious Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) Dagger awards, which honour the very best in the crime-writing genre, are announced.

 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.

The longlist for the prestigious Gold Dagger, which is awarded for the best crime novel of the year, includes five debut novels including Bonnie Burke-Patel’s Died at Fallow Hall, the debut whodunnit from Kristen Perrin, How to Solve Your Own Murder, and the first book from bestselling author Harriet Evans, under her penname, Harriet F Townson: D is for Death.

The debuts are up against established authors in the genre, including RJ Ellory, Tana French, and Attica Locke.

The Ian Fleming Steel Dagger, sponsored by Ian Fleming Publications Ltd, showcases the thriller of the year.

The longlist for 2025 includes Chris Whitaker with All the Colours of the Dark. Whitaker has previously taken home the CWA John Creasey New Blood Dagger in 2017 and CWA Gold Dagger in 2021. 

He’s up against firm favourites including MW Craven with Nobody’s Hero, Liz Moore’s The God of the Woods, and Abir Mukherjee’s Hunted. 

The much-anticipated ILP John Creasey First Novel Dagger highlights the best debut novels.

Among the rising stars of 2025 is the debut set in the shadow of the Yorkshire Ripper, Katy Massey’s All of Us Are Sinners, former prison officer Claire Wilson’s assured debut, Five by Five, and the moody neo-noir love letter to New York, An Honest Living by Dwyer Murphy.

DV Bishop makes two longlists with A Divine Fury – the Gold and the Historical Dagger. The book is the fourth in the Cesare Aldo series featuring a sixteenth century detective in Florence.

The Historical Dagger is sponsored by Morgan Witzel in memory of Dr Marilyn Livingstone. The longlist also includes Clare Whitfield’s Poor Girls: Meet the Female Peaky Blinders, which exposes the criminal underbelly of 1920s London, and Anna Mazzola’s The Book of Secrets set in 17th century Italy.

Maxim Jakubowski, Chair of the CWA Daggers’ committee, said: “Once again our independent and rotating judging panels have come up with surprises galore, highlighting the impressive efforts of both major authors and newcomers, with a convincing demonstration of how diverse and talented the crime, mystery and thriller field is at present. A wonderful embarrassment of outstanding titles.”

The Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger, sponsored in honour of Dolores Jakubowski, features the smash-hit, Waterstones Book of the Month, Butter by Asako Yuziki, translated by Polly Barton.

From France comes Artifice, a thriller with a twist from Claire Berest translated by Sophie Lewis, and the queer debut gangland thriller The Night of Baba Yaga from Japan’s Akira Otani also makes the longlist.

The ALCS Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction includes giants of the genre with John Grisham and Jim McCloskey’s Framed, which looks at ten wrongful convictions, Lynda La Plante’s memoir, Getting Away with Murder and Kate Summerscale’s retelling of the Christie murders, The Peepshow: The Murders at 10 Rillington Place.

The CWA Daggers are one of the few high-profile awards that honour the short story.

This year sees multiple bestselling names from the genre up for the award including Ann Cleeves, Elly Griffiths, Janice Hallet, Clare Mackintosh, Ruth Ware and Vaseem Khan.

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 including Michael Joseph (Penguin Random House), Hemlock Press (HarperCollins) and Sphere (Little Brown) against independent publishers, Bitter Lemon Press and Canelo. 

2025 sees the announcement of two new CWA Dagger Awards.

The Twisted Dagger celebrates psychological thrillers and dark and twisty tales that often feature unreliable narrators, disturbed emotions, a healthy dose of moral ambiguity, and a sting in the tail.

Longlist titles include NJ Cracknell’s The Perfect Couple, Beautiful People by Amanda Jennings and Catherine Steadman’s Look in the Mirror. Tracy Sierra’s Nightwatching also makes two longlists: the Twisted and the Gold Dagger.

The Whodunnit Dagger celebrates books that focus on the intellectual challenge at the heart of a good mystery. Books in this category include cosy crime, traditional crime, and Golden Age-inspired mysteries.

Longlisted authors include Tess Gerritsen with The Spy Coast, Tom Spencer with The Mystery of the Crooked Man, and Lisa Hall with The Case of the Singer and the Showgirl.

The Dagger in the Library nominee longlist is voted by librarians and library users, chosen for the author’s body of work and support of libraries. This year sees firm favourites from the genre including Richard Osman, Kate Atkinson, Robert Galbraith, and Barbara Nadel.

The Emerging Author Dagger, which has been going for over 20 years, celebrates aspiring crime novelists and is sponsored by Fiction Feedback.

The competition is open to unpublished authors and is judged on the best opening for an unpublished crime novel. The winner will gain the attention of leading agents and top editors; over two dozen past winners and shortlisted Debut Dagger authors have signed publishing deals to date.

The CWA Diamond Dagger, awarded to an author whose crime-writing career has been marked by sustained excellence, is announced in early spring and in 2025 was awarded to Mick Herron.

The CWA Dagger shortlists will be announced later in the year on 29 May.

The winners will be announced at the award ceremony at the CWA gala dinner on 3 July.

The Longlists in Full:

GOLD DAGGER 

D V Bishop: A Divine Fury (Macmillan)

Bonnie Burke-Patel: I Died at Fallow Hall (Bedford Square Publishers)

Ben Creed: Man of Bones (Mountain Leopard Press/Headline)

R J Ellory: The Bell Tower (Orion)

Tana French: The Hunter (Penguin Books Ltd)

Attica Locke: Guide Me Home (Profile Books Ltd)

Anna Mazzola: Book of Secrets (Orion)

Kristen Perrin: How to Solve Your Own Murder (Quercus)

Tracy Sierra: Nightwatching (Penguin Books Ltd)

Marie Tierney: Deadly Animals (Bonnier Books Ltd)

Harriet F Townson: D is for Death (Hodder & Stoughton)

Bridget Walsh: The Innocents (Pushkin Press)

IAN FLEMING STEEL DAGGER

Lou Berney: Dark Ride (Hemlock Press/ HarperCollins)

I S Berry: The Peacock and the Sparrow (No Exit Press)

Chris Brookmyre: The Cracked Mirror (Abacus/Little Brown, Hachette)

M W Craven: Nobody's Hero (Constable/Little Brown, Hachette)

Blake Crouch: Run (Macmillan/Pan Macmillan)

Garry Disher: Sanctuary (Viper/Profile Books)

Dervla McTiernan: What Happened to Nina? (HarperCollins)

Liz Moore: The God of the Woods (The Borough Press/(HarperCollins)

Abir Mukherjee: Hunted (Harvill & Secker/ Penguin Random House)

Stuart Neville: Blood Like Mine (Simon & Schuster)

Chris Whitaker: All the Colours of Dark (Orion/Hachette)

Don Winslow: City in Ruins (Hemlock Press/HarperCollins)

ILP JOHN CREASEY (NEW BLOOD) DAGGER

Jack Anderson: The Grief Doctor (Bloomsbury/Raven Books)

Eleanor Barker-White: My Name Was Eden (HarperCollins/ HarperNorth)

Jessica Bull: Miss Austen Investigates (Penguin Random House/ Michael Joseph)

Justine Champine: Knife River (Bonnier Books UK/ Manilla Press)

Anders Lustgarten: Three Burials (Penguin Random House/ Hamish Hamilton)

Gay Marris: A Curtain Twitcher's Book of Murder (Bedford Square Publishers)       

Katy Massey: All Us Sinners (Little, Brown /Sphere)

Alice McIlroy: The Glass Woman (Watkins Media/ Datura Books)

Dwyer Murphy: An Honest Living (No Exit Press)

Marie Tierney: Deadly Animals (Bonnier Books UK/ Zaffre)

Claire Wilson: Five by Five (Penguin Random House/ Michael Joseph)

 

HISTORICAL DAGGER

Rory Clements: Munich Wolf (Bonnier Books UK, Zaffre)

Emily Critchley: The Undoing of Violet Claybourne (Bonnier Books UK, Manilla Press)

D.L. Douglas: Dr Spilsbury and the Cursed Bride (Orion Publishing)

Douglas Jackson: Blood Roses (Canelo)

Chris Lloyd: Banquet of Beggers (Orion Fiction/Orion Publishing)

Anna Mazzola: The Book of Secrets (Orion Fiction/Orion Publishing)

Lizzie Pook: Maude Horton’s Glorious Revenge (Picador)

Sally Smith: A Case of Mice and Murder (Raven Books/Bloomsbury Publishing)

L.C. Tyler: The Three Deaths of Justice Godfrey (Constable/Little, Brown)

A.J. West, The Betrayal of Thomas True (Orenda Books)

Clare Whitfield: Poor Girls (Aries / Head of Zeus)

CRIME FICTION IN TRANSLATION DAGGER

Claire Berest: Artifice (Mountain Leopard) tr. Sophie Lewis

Carlo Fruttero & Franco Lucentini: The Lover of No Fixed Abode (Bitter Lemon Press) tr. Gregory Dowling

Anne Mette Hancock: Ruthless (Swift Press) tr. Tara Chase

Kotaro Isaka: Hotel Lucky Seven (Harvill Secker) tr. Brian Bergstrom

Andrey Kurkov: The Silver Bone (Maclehose Press) tr. Boris Dralyuk

Hervé Le Corre: Dogs and Wolves (Europa Editions UK) tr. Howard Curtis

Pierre Lemaitre: Going to the Dogs (Maclehose Press) tr. Frank Wynne

Patrícia Melo: The Simple Art of Killing a Woman (The Indigo Press) tr. Sophie Lewis

Akira Otani: The Night of Baby Yaga (Faber & Faber) tr. Sam Bett

Satu Rämö: The Clues in the Fjord (Zaffre) tr.  Kristian London 

Asako Yuziki: Butter (4th Estate) tr. Polly Barton

Alia Trabucco Zerán: Clean (4th Estate) tr. Sophie Hughes

ALCS GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION

Jared Cade: Secrets From the Agatha Christie Archive (Pen & Sword) 

Chris Chan with Patricia Meyer Chan, Ph.D.: The Autistic Sleuth (MX Publishing) 

Jonathan Coffey & Judith Moritz: Unmasking Lucy Letby (Seven Dials)  

Jeremy Craddock: The Lady in the Lake (Mirror Books)  

John Grisham & Jim McCloskey: Framed (Hodder & Stoughton) 

Duncan Harding: The Criminal Mind (PRH/Michael Joseph)  

Henry Hemming: Four Shots in the Night (Quercus)  

Joseph Hone: The Book Forger (Chatto & Windus)  

Emma Kenny: The Serial Killer Next Door (Sphere)  

Lynda LaPlante: Getting Away with Murder (Zaffre/Bonnier Books)  

Jane Rosenberg: Drawn Testimony (Manilla Press/Bonnier Books)  

Kate Summerscale: The Peepshow: The Murders at 10 Rillington Place (Bloomsbury Circus)  

SHORT STORY DAGGER

S.J Bennett: ‘The Glorious Twelfth’ in Midsummer Mysteries edited by Martin Edwards (lame Tree Publishing/Flame Tree Collections)

J.C Berthal: ‘A Date on Yarmouth Pier’ in Midsummer Mysteries edited by Martin Edwards (Flame Tree Publishing/Flame Tree Collections)

Ann Cleeves: ‘Parkrun’ in Murder in Harrogate edited by Vaseem Khan (Orion Publishing Group/Orion Fiction)

Elly Griffiths: ‘The Valley of the Queens’ in The Man in Black and Other Stories (Quercus)

Janice Hallett: ‘Why Harrogate?’ in Murder in Harrogate edited by Vaseem Khan (Orion Publishing Group/Orion Fiction)

Vaseem Khan: ‘Murder in Masham’ in Murder in Harrogate edited by Vaseem Khan (Orion Publishing Group/Orion Fiction)

Clare Mackintosh: ‘The Perfect Smile’ in Murder in Harrogate edited by Vaseem Khan (Orion Publishing Group/Orion Fiction)

William Burton McCormick: ‘City Without Shadows’ in Midsummer Mysteries edited by Martin Edwards (Flame Tree Publishing/Flame Tree Collections)

Meeti Shroff-Shah: ‘A Ruby Sun’ in Beyond and Within: Midsummer Mysteries edited by Martin Edwards (Flame Tree Publishing/Flame Tree Collections)

Ruth Ware: ‘Murder at the Turkish Baths’ in Murder in Harrogate edited by Vaseem Khan, (Orion Publishing Group/ Orion Fiction)

WHODUNNIT DAGGER

SJ Bennett, A Death in Diamonds Bonnier Books UK, Zaffre

Andreina Cordani, Murder at the Christmas Emporium Bonnier Books UK, Zaffre

Tess Gerritsen, The Spy Coast, Transworld, Penguin Random House, Bantam

Lisa Hall, The Case of the Singer and the Showgirl Hera Hera

Ellery Lloyd, The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby, Macmillan         

Laura Marshall,  A Good Place to Hide a Body, Hodder & Stoughton    

Nita Prose, The Mystery Guest, HarperCollins Publishers, HarperFiction

Meeti Shroff-Shah, A Matrimonial Murder, Joffe Books   

Sally Smith, A Case of Mice and Murder, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. Raven Books

Tom Spencer, The Mystery of the Crooked Man, Pushkin Press, Pushkin Vertigo

Benjamin Stevenson, Everyone On This Train Is A Suspect, PRH, Michael Joseph

Jamie West, Murder at the Matinee, Brabinger Publishing

 TWISTED DAGGER

Sharon Bolton: The Neighbour's Secret (Orion Publishing Group/ Orion Fiction)

NJ Cracknell: The Perfect Couple (Bloodhound Books)      

Clara Dillon: The Playdate (PRH/Penguin Sandycove)

Caz Frear: Five Bad Deeds (Simon & Schuster UK)

Kellye Garrett: Missing White Woman (Simon & Schuster UK)

Andrew Hughes: Emma, Disappeared (Hachette Books Ireland)

Amanda Jennings: Beautiful People (HarperCollins/ HQ FICTION)

John Marrs: The Stranger In Her House (Amazon Publishing/ Thomas & Mercer)

Hannah Richell: The Search Party (Simon & Schuster UK)

CS Robertson: The Trials Of Marjorie Crowe (Hodder & Stoughton)            

Tracy Sierra: Nightwatching (PRH/ Viking)

Catherine Steadman: Look In The Mirror (Quercus)   

     

DAGGER IN THE LIBRARY

Richard Osman

Janice Hallett

Kate Atkinson

Barbara Nadel

CJ Tudor

Edward Marston

Julia Chapman

Lisa Jewell

Robert Galbraith

Tim Sullivan

PUBLISHERS’ DAGGER

Allison & Busby

Bitter Lemon Press

Canelo

Faber & Faber

Michael Joseph (Penguin Random House)

Hemlock Press (HarperCollins)

Orenda

Orion Books

Pan Macmillan

 

The CWA’s National Crime Reading Month a Blazing Success this June

With over 150 events from the Channel Islands to the tip of Scotland via ambassador Emma Christie’s camper van in Croatia and institutions such as the British Library and Senate House, National Crime Reading Month 2023 has been declared a huge success by the Crime Writers Association and its partner, The Reading Agency.

Kicking off with simultaneous launches in London, Belfast and Edinburgh, National Crime Reading Month director, Irish crime writer Sam Blake, this year focused on the many subgenres within ‘crime’. Sam Blake explains: “From cosy to hardboiled, romantic to dystopian the #pickupapagerturner hashtag linked in-person and online events throughout Britain and Ireland, bringing new readers to every aspect of the genre. I’m thrilled with the number of events and readers that we have reached this year. Our ambassadors have been amazing, organising and attending events in June, and our partnership with The Reading Agency is true synergy.”

The Reading Agency’s Quick Reads series regularly features crime reads, and aims to increase access to reading through shorter, engaging texts by great authors, bringing new readers to the page. Partnering for the sparkling London launch event, hosted by Waterstones Piccadilly, The Reading Agency has brought the NCRM message to libraries, which, together a magnificent response from CWA members, independent bookshops and Waterstones nationwide – and this year, a school - has secured National Crime Reading Month as a key event in the literary calendar.

Karen Napier, CEO of The Reading Agency said: “Through our work with adults, we see the crucial importance of crime writing. As well as being an important genre for reading lovers, crime writing can provide a fantastic route into reading for less confident and emerging readers. It has been a pleasure to work with our partners at Crime Writers Association to bring the joy of crime fiction to people across the UK this summer.”

NCRM events included workshops, talks, panel events, and themed walks, with
Weymouth library hosting murder mystery board game sessions. There was ‘literally’ something for every reader. Events listed at the National Crime Reading Month website www.crimereading.com can be searched by location so readers are able to see what’s happening near them. Launch events alone brought over 300 crime lovers together with some of the UK’s biggest authors, with Steve Cavanagh’s star-studded online event reaching another 150 (watch it back at crimereading.com).

Sam Blake says: “We’ve had terrific support from LoveReading.com and we will be linking to their articles, as well as Waterstones recommended reads, podcasts and blog posts - including one focusing on LGBTQ characters - so readers can read/watch or listen back after June. Articles, podcasts and recorded online events will remain on the site until NCRM 2024, giving readers – and authors – a feel for the possibilities.”

This year the CWA welcomed the first school to NCRM where, at Yavneh College in Borehamwood, librarians ran a series of crime-related events. Students were treated to a crime-themed ‘books and biscuits’, a regular lunchtime reading event for years 7-11s. They ran their first ever school-wide murder mystery with clues in the library and beyond, to work out whodunnit. The CWA’s Abi Silver was invited to speak on different types of crime fiction; psychologist Brendi Waks ran a fascinating session on psychopaths for sixth formers and Carl Woolf, criminal advocate, discussed murder cases. Librarians librarians Amanda Blakeley and Laura Brandman said, ‘We have made book displays, including crime fiction, psychology and true crime, and there is a real buzz amongst our students!’

National Crime Reading Month leads up to the prestigious Daggers, the CWA’s internationally recognised awards, this year taking place on 6th July in London. 

Vaseem Khan, chair of the CWA said: "This year's National Crime Reading Month has been bigger and more gripping than ever. The Crime Writers' Association-led initiative has seen events take place across the country in June, showcasing the broad church that crime fiction now represents and reflecting the enormous appetite for murder and mayhem among the British reading public. Thank you to all those who organised or participated!

First Deadline Looms for Famed CWA Daggers

 

Authors and publishers have until 31 July to nominate titles published in the first half of 2022 for the Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) 2023 Dagger awards.

The famed annual 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 awards include icons of the genre, including Ruth Rendell, Reginald Hill, John le Carré and Lee Child, and in the 2022 Daggers, awarded in a ceremony on 29 June, winners included MW Craven, Janice Hallet, Ray Celestin, Mark Billingham and Simone Buchholz.

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 has undergone a refresh in recent years, updating and diversifying its Dagger judging panels and its board. To reflect the changes in the publishing landscape, the awards are now open to all traditionally published authors and to self-published authors who are CWA members, as well as publishers.

The deadline is 31 July for nominating titles published between January and June 2022 and 15 November for those published between July and December. For the first time in many years, the Daggers 2023 will be awarded along with a cash prize.

Maxim Jakubowski, Chair of the Crime Writers’ Association, said: “We are delighted not only to open the Daggers to author-nominations but also to recognise the very best crime writing in this way.”

Categories include the coveted Gold Dagger for the best crime novel of the year and the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for best thriller, sponsored by Ian Fleming Publications Ltd, the Fleming family-owned company that looks after the James Bond literary brand.

The awards also recognise best historical crime novel, crime fiction in translation, the best short story, and the ALCS Gold Dagger for non-fiction titles. An annual highlight is the anticipated John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger for the best debut novel. The Dagger judging panels include leading authors, bloggers, newspaper reviewers, academics and media professionals.

The Daggers also provide a platform for unpublished writers, many of whom enter the Debut Dagger competition sponsored by ProWritingAid, and for authors who are favourites with libraries and their borrowers with the librarian-nominated Dagger in the Library.

To enter visit the website: The CWA Daggers - The Crime Writers’ Association

CWA Dagger Awards 2020 Winners Announced

 

    

Michael Robotham, Lou Berney, Casey Cep, and Abir Mukherjee win 2020 CWA Dagger awards.  The winners of the 2020 CWA Daggers, 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. 

The winners were announced during a live virtual ceremony (22 October, from 7.30pm), hosted by one of the UK’s leading experts on crime fiction, the writer and reviewer Barry Forshaw. The evening also featured guest speaker, Richard Osman. 

The 2020 CWA Gold Dagger for the best crime novel went to Michael Robotham for Good Girl, Bad Girl, featuring forensic psychologist, Cyrus Haven. Born in Australia, Michael worked as a journalist in Australia, America and the UK as senior feature writer for the Mail on Sunday before becoming a ghost writer collaborating with politicians and show business personalities to write their autobiographies. Since his first psychological thriller, The Suspect caused a bidding war at the London Book Fair in 2002, his novels have won numerous awards and have been translated into 25 languages. He was previously awarded the Gold Dagger for Life or Death in 2015.

Lou Berney has won the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for best thriller for November Road, a poignant crime novel set against the assassination of JF Kennedy. The novel attracted widespread acclaim from reviewers and fellow authors alike, with Stephen King declaring it ‘exceptional’. The American author has previously won the Edgar, Anthony, Macavity, Barry, and Oklahoma Book awards. Berney was also Highly Commended in the CWA Gold Dagger category.

The much-anticipated John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger highlights the best debut novels. This year the accolade goes to Trevor Wood for The Man on the Street, featuring a homeless veteran grappling with PTSD, dubbed by Lee Child as ‘an instant classic’. Wood, a journalist and playwright, has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia. He served in the Royal Navy for 16 years.

Abir Mukherjee wins the Sapere Books Historical Dagger for his fourth novel featuring Sam Wyndham, Death in the East. The accountant turned crime writer was inspired to become an author after watching Lee Child on breakfast TV say he started writing age 40. Abir’s debut, A Rising Man, won the Dagger for best historical crime novel in 2017. Death in the East explores the legacy of colonialism in India.  The Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger goes to Hannelore Cayre for The Godmother, translated by Stephanie Smee. Hannelore Cayre is an award-winning French novelist, screenwriter and director, as well as a practising criminal lawyer. The Godmother has been made into a feature film starring Isabelle Huppert. Stephanie Smee, who lives in Sydney, worked as a lawyer in Sydney and London before becoming a translator, specialising in French to English.  The ALCS Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction is awarded to Casey Cep, a staff writer at the New York Times whose first book Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud and the Last Trial of Harper Lee, has received acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic. An instant New York Times bestseller, Furious Hours was a Barack Obama Book of the Year. The CWA Daggers are one of the few high-profile awards that honour the short story. Lauren Henderson receives the Short Story Dagger for #Me Too which features in the anthology Invisible Blood, edited by Maxim Jakubowski.  Linda Stratmann, Chair of the Crime Writers’ Association, said: “The winners, and all those who were in contention for a Dagger are, as always, to be commended. One thing the pandemic and lockdown has taught us is the value and importance of books and storytelling – for escapism and comfort and for our well-being. Books have always been the conduit to other worlds and into other lives. They let us know we are not alone, so our 2020 virtual awards feel even more significant as many vulnerable people are in enforced isolation and we are all socially distancing. We’re proud to celebrate the crime genre.” 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 it goes to Scottish novelist Christopher Brookmyre, whose books mix comedy, politics and social comment. The journalist turned award-winning novelist is widely considered as one of Britain’s leading crime authors, selling more than two million copies of his novels in the UK alone. One of the anticipated highlights of the annual Daggers is the Debut Dagger competition, open to unknown and uncontracted writers. The competition for unpublished writers can lead to them securing representation and a publishing contract. This year the winner is Josephine Moulds for Revolution Never Lies. Anna Caig was Highly Commended for The Spae-Wife.  The Best Crime and Mystery Publisher of the Year Dagger, which celebrates publishers and imprints demonstrating excellence and diversity in crime writing, goes to Orenda Books. The London-based publisher was established in 2014 by Karen Sullivan.  Writer Barry Forshaw, MC for the Dagger Awards evening, said: “The CWA Dagger Awards are the most prestigious prizes in crime fiction, and this year has furnished a particularly strong set of books and authors. Nothing dampens the excitement of the Daggers – not even pandemics!” DIAMOND DAGGER Awarded every year to an author whose crime-writing career has been marked by sustained excellence, and who has made a significant contribution to the genre. Votes from CWA members go forward to be deliberated on by an independent panel.  This Dagger is announced in early spring each year and in 2020 goes to celebrated Golden Age specialist, anthology editor, reviewer and fiction writer Martin Edwards. 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. They are regarded by the publishing world as the foremost British awards for crime-writing. The Winners: GOLD DAGGER  Michael Robotham: Good Girl, Bad Girl (Sphere) Lou Berney: November Road (Harper Fiction) – Highly Commended IAN FLEMING STEEL DAGGER Lou Berney: November Road (Harper Fiction) JOHN CREASEY (NEW BLOOD) DAGGER Trevor Wood: The Man on the Street (Quercus Fiction) SAPERE BOOKS HISTORICAL DAGGER Abir Mukherjee: Death in the East (Harvill Secker) CRIME FICTION IN TRANSLATION DAGGER Hannelore Cayre: The Godmother, translated by Stephanie Smee (Old Street Publishing) SHORT STORY DAGGER Lauren Henderson: #Me Too in Invisible Blood, edited by Maxim Jakubowski (Titan Books) ALCS GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION Casey Cep: Furious Hours (William Heinemann) DAGGER IN THE LIBRARY Christopher Brookmyre DEBUT DAGGER  Josephine Moulds: Revolution Never Lies  Anna Caig: The Spae-Wife - Highly Commended  PUBLISHERS’ DAGGER  Orenda Books