The 2024 shortlists for the prestigious Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) Dagger awards, which honour the very best in the crime-writing genre, have been 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
shortlist for the Gold Dagger, which is awarded for the best crime novel of the
year, includes the debut novel Black River from Nilanjana Roy. She is up
against stalwarts of the genre,
Mick Herron for The Secret Hours, and Dennis
Lehane, with Small Mercies.
The bestselling children’s author Maz Evans also makes the list with her debut adult novel, Over My Dead Body. As does the Irish-American author Una Mannion, with her haunting second novel, Tell Me What I Am, and the Chinese-Indonesian author, Jesse Sutanto, with Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers.
Past winners of the prestigious Gold Dagger, include Ian Rankin, John le Carré, Reginald Hill, and Ruth Rendell.
The Ian Fleming Steel Dagger, sponsored by Ian Fleming Publications Ltd, showcases the thriller of the year.
The shortlist sees relative newcomer Jordan Harper, with his second thriller, Everybody Knows, up against TJ Newman, the former flight attendant who became a Hollywood sensation, with her latest thriller, Drowning, and Japanese author Kotaro Isaka for The Mantis; Kotaro is best-known for Bullet Train, which was adapted into a Brad Pitt movie.
They’re
joined on the Fleming shortlist by SA Crosby, Eli Cranor, and Femi Kayode.
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; and the Victorian gothic, The Tumbling Girl
from Bridget Walsh. The shortlist also includes Amy Chua’s The Golden Gate,
Kate Foster with The Maiden, Dan McDorman’s West Heart Kill and Go Seek by
Michelle Teahan.
The
Historical Dagger shortlist sees Voices of the Dead by Ambrose Parry in
contention with A Bitter Remedy by
Alis Hawkins.
They’re joined by Lucy Ashe with Clara & Olivia, Louise Hare’s Harlem After Midnight, Jake Lamar’s Viper’s Dream, and Scarlet Town by Lenora Nattrass.
The
ALCS Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction shortlist sees Nicholas Shakespeare’s Ian
Fleming: The Complete Man, up against 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.
Also in
the Non-Fiction category are Matt Johnson and John Murray for No Ordinary Day,
Jennifer McAdam with Douglas Thompson for Devil’s Coin, Alex Mar’s Seventy
Times Seven and How Many More Women? by Jennifer Robinson and Keina Yoshida.
The
shortlist for the Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger includes The Prey from
the Icelandic author Yrsa Sigurðardóttir’s, translated by Victoria Cribb, and
Maud Ventura’s My Husband, translated by Emma Ramadan, which was a sensation in
France, likened to Patricia Highsmith and Gone Girl.
They’re joined by the Spanish journalist and author, Juan Gómez-Jurado, Sweden’s Âsa Larsson, French author Cloé Mehdi, and Korea’s Im Seong-sun.
Maxim
Jakubowski, Chair of the CWA Daggers’ committee, said: “Once again, our
independent judges across all the Dagger categories have come up trumps. Their
selections feature well-established authors and new faces, a refreshingly
diverse palette highlighting the talent of writers from all origins and
publishers large and small, and a steadfast affirmation of how healthy the
crime and mystery field is right now. We at the CWA couldn't be prouder.”
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 Mia Dalia, J Benedict Jones, Sanjida Kay, Ambrose Parry, and FD
Quinn.
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 on the shortlist: Louise Candlish, MW Craven,
Anthony Horowitz, Cara Hunter, 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 Headline (Hachette), Michael Joseph
(Penguin Random House), Simon & Schuster, and Pushkin Vertigo (Pushkin
Press) against independent publishers Joffe Books and Canelo Crime.
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 were announced on 10 May at the crime fiction
convention, CrimeFest, hosted in Bristol.
The
winners will be announced at the award ceremony at the CWA gala dinner on July
4.
The Shortlists in Full:
GOLD DAGGER
Maz
Evans Over My Dead Body, Headline
Mick Herron The Secret Hours, Baskerville (John Murray)
Dennis Lehane Small Mercies, Abacus (Little Brown)
Una Mannion Tell me What I Am, Faber & Faber
Nilanjana Roy Black River, Pushkin (Vertigo)
Jesse Sutanto Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers, HQ (Harper Collins)
IAN FLEMING STEEL DAGGER
S A Cosby All the Sinners Bleed, Headline (Hachette)
Eli Cranor Ozark Dogs, Headline (Hachette)
Jordan Harper Everybody Knows, Faber & Faber
Kotaro Isaka The Mantis, Harvill Secker (PRH)
Femi Kayode Gaslight, Raven Books (Bloomsbury)
T J Newman Drowning, Simon & Schuster
JOHN CREASEY (NEW BLOOD) DAGGER
Jo
Callaghan In The Blink of An Eye, Simon & Schuster UK
Amy
Chua The Golden Gate, Corvus (Atlantic Books)
Kate
Foster The Maiden, Mantle (Pan Macmillan)
Dann
McDorman West Heart Kill, Raven Books
Michelle
Teahan Go Seek, Headline Publishing Group
Bridget
Walsh The Tumbling Gir, Gallic Books
HISTORICAL
DAGGER
Lucy
Ashe Clara & Olivia, Magpie (Oneworld Publications)
Louise
Hare Harlem After Midnight, HQ (HarperCollins)
Alis
Hawkins A Bitter Remedy, Canelo
Jake
Lamar Viper's Dream, No Exit Press
Leonora
Nattrass Scarlet Town, Viper (Profile Books)
Ambrose Parry Voices of the Dead, Canongate Books
CRIME
FICTION IN TRANSLATION DAGGER
Juan
Gómez-Jurado Red Queen,
translated by Nick Caistor, Macmillan
Âsa
Larsson The Sins Of Our Fathers,
ranslated by Frank Perry, Maclehose Press
Cloé
Mehdi Nothing Is Lost,
ranslated by Howard Curtis, Europa Editions UK
Im
Seong-sun The Consultant,
translated by An Seong Jae, Raven Books
Yrsa
Sigurdardottir The Prey,
translated by Victoria Cribb, Hodder & Stoughton
Maud
Ventura My Husband,
translated by Emma Ramadan, Hutchinson Heinemann
ALCS
GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION
Michael
Finkel The Art Thief, Simon & Schuster
Matt
Johnson with John Murray No Ordinary Day, Ad Lib Publishers
Jennifer McAdam with Douglas Thompson Devil’s Coin, Ad Lib Publishers Ltd
Alex Mar Seventy Times Seven, Bedford Square Publishers
Jennifer Robinson & Keina Yoshida How Many More Women? Endeavour
SHORT
STORY DAGGER
Lee
Child Safe Enough from An Unnecessary Assassin, edited by Lorraine Stevens,
Rivertree
Mia
Dalia The Last Best Thing from Bang!:An Anthology of Modern Noir Fiction,
edited by Andrew Hook, Head Shot Press
Benedict
J Jones The Also-Rans from Bang!:An Anthology of Modern Noir Fiction edited by
Andrew Hook, Head Shot Press
Sanjida
Kay The Divide from The Book of Bristol edited by Joe Melia and Heather Marks,
Comma Press
Ambrose
Parry The Spendthrift and the Swallow, Canongate Books
FD
Quinn Best Served Cold from An Unnecessary Assassin edited by Lorraine Stevens,
Rivertree
DAGGER
IN THE LIBRARY
Louise Candlish
MW Craven
Cara Hunter
Anthony Horowitz
LJ Ross
PUBLISHERS’
DAGGER
Canelo
Headline (Hachette)
Joffe Books
Michael Joseph (PenguinRandomHouse)
Pushkin Press
Simon
& Schuster
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