Crime Writers’ Association Announces 2026 Dagger Awards Longlists

 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

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)

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

The Devil Takes Bitcoin by Jake Adelstein (Scribe)      

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

A Granite Silence by Nina Allan (Quercus/riverrun)

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)

 

CWA Dagger Awards Longlists Announced

 

The 2024 longlists for the prestigious Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) Dagger awards, which honour the very best in the crime-writing genre, have been announced [8pm, April 20 at the CWA annual conference, Brighton].

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.

Past winners of the prestigious Gold Dagger, which is awarded for the best crime novel of the year, include Ian Rankin, John le Carré, Reginald Hill, and Ruth Rendell.

Authors in contention for the Gold Dagger this year include the debut novel Black River from Nilanjana Roy. She is up against stalwarts of the genre Mick Herron, Chris Hammer, and Dennis Lehane.

Also in the category are historical crime writer Alis Hawkins, the journalist turned international bestseller, Julia Haeberlin, and the bestselling children’s author Maz Evans with her first adult debut novel, Over My Dead Body. 

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

The longlist for 2024 includes James Wolff, who was a British intelligence officer for over ten years before leaving to write espionage novels, with The Man in the Corduroy Suit.

He’s joined by giants of the genre Linwood Barclay, David Baldacci, and Karin Slaughter alongside relative newcomers such as Jordan Harper, whose second thriller, Everybody Knows, makes the longlist. 

Also in contention are TJ Newman, the former flight attendant who became a Hollywood sensation with her latest thriller, Drowning, and Japanese author Isaka Kotaro for The Mantis; Kotaro is best-known for Bullet Train, which was adapted into a Brad Pitt movie.

Vaseem Khan, Chair of the Crime Writers’ Association, said: "As ever, the announcement of the CWA Daggers longlist is greeted with immense excitement in the crime and thriller writing world. Once again, our independent panels of expert judges have mulled, cogitated, debated, and, when all else has failed, challenged each other to duels, in their sterling efforts to pick longlists from the incredible array of books submitted to each Dagger. The Daggers are the gold standard of awards in the genre, and Dagger recognition has often served as a stepping stone for careers. More importantly, a Dagger longlisting means that genre readers can be assured of quality. Buy these books. You will not be disappointed."

The much-anticipated John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger highlights the best debut novels.

Among the rising stars of 2024 is Jo Callaghan with her BBC Between the Covers Book Club pick, The Blink of an Eye; the sensational fiery debut featuring a crime-solving queer punk nun, Scorched Grace by Margot Douaihy, and the Victorian gothic, The Tumbling Girl from Bridget Walsh.

Booker Prize winner John Banville is a heavyweight contender on the Historical Dagger longlist. The prizewinning novelist and literary polymath is in the running foriThe Lock-Up. Banville is up against established names including Ambrose Parry, S.G. MacLean, Alis Hawkins, and James Lee Burke with Flags on the Bayou.

The Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger includes international hits such as The Prey from the Icelandic author Yrsa Sigurðardóttir’s, translated by Victoria Cribb.

Maud Ventura’s My Husband, translated by Emma Ramadan, which was a sensation in France, likened to Patricia Highsmith and Gone Girl. And the Spanish writer Javier Castillo behind the international phenomenon, The Snow Girl, which was adapted to screen by Netflix, translated by Isabelle Kaufeler.

The ALCS Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction includes Nicholas Shakespeare’s Ian Fleming: The Complete Man, The Art Thief by Michael Finkel, the true story of the world’s most prolific art thief who accumulated a collection worth over $1.4 billion, and No Comment by Jess McDonald, who quit her job as a Met detective to tell all about her work on rape and domestic violence cases that left her with PTSD and a determination to speak out.

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

This year sees the bestselling juggernaut Lee Child with his story Safe Enough. He’s up against Robert Scragg with Revenge is Best Served Hot, Sanjida Kay’s The Divide, and Rachel Amphlett with Three Ways to Die.

The Dagger in the Library nominees are 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 MW Craven, Anthony Horowitz, Vaseem Khan, and LJ Ross.

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 Harper Fiction Headline and Simon & Schuster against independent publishers Joffe Books, Bitter Lemon Press and Canelo. 

The Debut Dagger, which has been going for over 20 years, celebrates aspiring crime novelists.

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 2024 it was jointly awarded to Lynda La Plante and James Lee Burke.

The CWA Dagger shortlists will be announced on 10 May at the UK’s largest crime fiction convention, CrimeFest, hosted in Bristol.

The winners will be announced at the award ceremony at the CWA gala dinner on 4 July 2024 

The Longlists in Full:

GOLD DAGGER

Over My Dead Body by Maz Evans, (Headline)

Dead Man’s Creek by Chris Hammer, (Wildfire Books)

A Bitter Remedy by Alis Hawkins, (Canelo)

Night Will Find You by Julia Haeberlin, (Penguin, Michael Joseph)

The Secret Hours, by Mick Herron (Baskerville, John Murray)

The White Lie by J G Kelly (Hodder & Stoughton)

 Death of a Lesser God, by Vaseem Khan (Hodder & Stoughton

Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane (Abacus, Little Brown)

Tell me What I Am, by Una Mannion (Faber & Faber)

 Homecoming by Kate Morton, (Mantle, Pan Macmillan)

Black River, by Nilanjana Roy (Pushkin Vertigo)

Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers, by Jesse Sutanto (HQ ,Harper Collins)

IAN FLEMING STEEL DAGGER

 Simply Lies, by David Baldacci (Macmillan Pan Macmillan)

 The Lie Maker, by Linwood Barclay (HQ HarperCollins)

All the Sinners Bleed, by S A Cosby (Headline, Hachette)

Ozark Dogs, by Eli Cranor  (Headline Hachette)

The House Hunt by C M Ewan  (Macmillan, Pan Macmillan)

Everybody Knows, by Jordan Harper (Faber & Faber)

The Mantis by Kotaro Isaka, (Harvill Secker, Penguin Random House) 

Gaslight by Femi Kayode (Raven Books, Bloomsbury)

 77 North by D L Marshall, (Canelo)

Drowning, by T J Newman (Simon & Schuster)

After that Night, by Karin Slaughter (HarperCollins)

The Man in the Corduroy Suit, by James Wolff (Bitter Lemon Press

ILP JOHN CREASEY (NEW BLOOD) DAGGER

A Most Unusual Demise by Kathryn Black  (Bloodhound Books)

In The Blink of An Eye, by Jo Callaghan  (Simon & Schuster UK)

The Golden Gate by Amy Chua, (Corvus, Atlantic Books)

Scorched Grace, by Margot Douaihy (Pushkin Vertigo)

Murder By Natural Causes, by Helen Erichsen (Muswell Press)

The Maiden, by Kate Foster (Mantle Pan Macmillan)

The Golden Spoon, by Jessa Maxwell (Penguin)

West Heart Kill, by Dann McDorman (Raven Books)

Obsessed, by Liza North (Constable)

Go Seek by Michelle Teahan (Headline)

The Other Half, by Charlotte Vassell (Faber & Faber)

The Tumbling Girl by Bridget Walsh, (Gallic Books)

HISTORICAL DAGGER

Clara & Olivia, by Lucy Ashe (Magpie, Oneworld Publications)

The Lock-Up by John Banville  Faber & Faber

Flags on the Bayou, by James Lee Burke  Orion Fiction (Hachette)

Murder in the Bookshop by Anita Davison (Boldwood Books)

Harlem After Midnight by Louise Hare  (HQ, HarperCollins)

A Bitter Remedy by Alis Hawkins (Canelo)

Viper's Dream by Jake Lamar (No Exit Press)

The Winter List by S.G. MacLean (Quercus Fiction, Quercus)

The Murder Wheel by Tom Mead (Aries Head of Zeus)

Scarlet Town by Leonora Nattrass (Viper, Profile Books)

Voices of the Dead by Ambrose Parry (Canongate Books)

Lady MacBethad by Isabelle Schuler (Raven Books, Bloomsbury)

CRIME FICTION IN TRANSLATION DAGGER

The Snow Girl by Javier Castillo (translated by Isabelle Kaufeler), Penguin Books

Red Queen by Juan Gómez-Jurado, (translated by Nick Caistor,) Macmillan

The Girl By The Bridge by Arnaldur Indridason (translated by Philip Roughton,) Vintage

The Mantis by Kotaro Isaka, (translated by Sam Malissa,) Vintage

The Sins Of Our Fathers by translated by Frank Perry), Maclehose Press

Thirty Days Of Darkness, by Jenny Lund Madsen (translated by Megan E.Turney), Orenda Books

Nothing Is Lost, by Cloé Mehdi (translated by Howard Curtis), Europa Editions UK

He Murder Of Anton Livius, by Schneider Hansjörg (translated by Astrid Freuler), Bitter Lemon Press

The Consultant, by Im Seong-sun (translated by An Seong Jae,) Raven Books

Not Russian by Mikhail Shevelev (translated by Brian James Baer & Ellen Vayner), Europa Editions UK

The Prey by Yrsa Sigurdardottir (translated by Victoria Cribb), Hodder & Stoughton

My Husband by Maud Ventura (translated by Emma Ramadan,) Hutchinson Heinemann

ALCS GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION 

The Art Thief, by Michael Finkel (Simon & Schuster)

G-Man, by Beverly Gage (Simon & Schuster)

The Many Lives of Mama Love, by Lara Love Hardin (Endeavour)

No Ordinary Day by Matt Johnson with John Murray  (Ad Lib Publishers)

Chasing Shadows by Miles Johnson, (The Bridge Street Press)

The Snakehead by Patrick Radden Keefe (Picador)

Devil’s Coin by Jennifer McAdam with Douglas Thompson  (Ad Lib Publishers Ltd)

No Comment by Jess McDonald (Raven Books)

Seventy Times Seven by Alex Mar (Bedford Square Publishers)

How Many More Women? By Jennifer Robinson & Keina Yoshida  (Endeavour)

Ian Fleming: The Complete Man by Nicholas Shakespeare, (Vintage)

Murder at Home, by David Wilson (Sphere)

SHORT STORY DAGGER

Three Ways to Die by Rachel Amphlett from No W.W.M.  - Thrill Ride #3, edited by M. L. "Matt" Buchman, (Buchman Bookworks, Inc)

Safe Enough by Lee Child from An Unnecessary Assassin, edited by Lorraine Stevens, (Rivertree)

The Last Best Thing by Mia Dalia from Bang!:An Anthology of Modern Noir Fiction, edited by Andrew Hook, (Head Shot Press)

Slap Happy by Andrew Humphrey from Bang!:An Anthology of Modern Noir Fiction edited by Andrew Hook, (Head Shot Press)

The Also-Rans by Benedict J Jones from Bang!:An Anthology of Modern Noir Fiction edited by Andrew Hook, (Head Shot Press)

The Divide by Sanjida Kay from The Book of Bristol edited by Joe Melia and Heather Marks, (Comma Press)

The Spendthrift and the Swallow, by Ambrose Parry (Canongate Books)

 Drive Bye by DG Penny from An Unnecessary Assassin edited by Lorraine Stevens, (Rivertree)

Best Served Cold by FD Quinn from An Unnecessary Assassin edited by Lorraine Stevens, (Rivertree)

Revenge is Best Served Hot  by Robert Scragg from An Unnecessary Assassin edited by Lorraine Stevens, (Rivertree)

DAGGER IN THE LIBRARY

Louise Candlish 

MW Craven

Lucy Foley

Cara Hunter

Anthony Horowitz

Vaseem Khan

Angela Marsons

Kate Rhodes

LJ Ross 

Diane Saxon

PUBLISHERS’ DAGGER

Bitter Lemon Press

Canelo

Harper Fiction (HarperCollins)

Harvill Secker (PenguinRandomHouse)

Headline (Hachette)

Joffe Books

Michael Joseph (PenguinRandomHouse)

Pushkin Press

Raven (Bloomsbury)

Simon & Schuster

DEBUT DAGGER (Sponsored by ProWritingAid)

Burnt Ranch by Katherine Ahlert,

Unnatural Predators by Caroline Arnoul

Vilomah by Matt Coot

Good Criminals by Judy Hock

Vigilante Love Song by JR Holland

Bluebirds by Alan Jackson

Makoto Murders by Richard Jerram

Long Way Home by Lynn McCall, 

Not a Good Mother by Karabi Mitra

The Last Days of Forever by Jeremy Tinker

A Politician’s Guide to Murder by James Tobin 

The Blond by Megan Toogood