The Crime Writers Association (CWA) Dagger Awards, the premier literary crime-writing awards in the United Kingdom, announced this year's shortlists. There are four Daggers which are not nominated by publishers: the Debut Dagger for unpublished works; the Dagger in the Library, nominated by librarians; the Publishers’ Dagger, nominated by an industry committee; and the Diamond Dagger for a lifetime contribution to crime writing, nominated by CWA members. Winners in all categories will be announced in a virtual live ceremony on Thursday, July 1. Here are the finalists:
CWA GOLD DAGGER
- S A Cosby: Blacktop Wasteland (Headline, Headline Publishing Group)
- Ben Creed: City of Ghosts (Welbeck Fiction, Welbeck Publishing Group)
- Nicci French: House of Correction (Simon & Schuster)
- Robert Galbraith: Troubled Blood (Sphere, Little, Brown Book Group)
- Elly Griffiths: The Postscript Murders (Quercus)
- Thomas Mullen: Midnight Atlanta (Little, Brown, Little, Brown Book Group)
- Chris Whitaker: We Begin at the End (Zaffre, Bonnier)
CWA IAN FLEMING STEEL DAGGER
- Robert Galbraith: Troubled Blood (Sphere, Little, Brown Book Group)
- 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 (Vintage, Harvill Secker)
- Chris Whitaker: We Begin at the End (Zaffre, Bonnier Books UK)
CWA JOHN CREASEY (NEW BLOOD) DAGGER
- Eva Björg Ægisdóttir: The Creak on the Stairs (Orenda), Translator: Victoria Cribb
- Ben Creed: City of Ghosts (Welbeck Publishing)
- Egan Hughes: The One That Got Away (Sphere, Little, Brown Book Group)
- S W Kane: The Bone Jar (Thomas & Mercer, Amazon Publishing)
- Stephen Spotswood: Fortune Favours the Dead (Wildfire, Headline)
- John Vercher: Three-Fifths (Pushkin Press)
CWA SAPERE BOOKS HISTORICAL DAGGER
- John Banville: Snow (Faber)
- Vaseem Khan: Midnight at Malabar House (Hodder & Stoughton)
- Chris Lloyd: The Unwanted Dead (Orion Fiction, The Orion Publishing Group)
- Michael Russell: The City Under Siege (Constable, Little, Brown Book Group)
- David Stafford: Skelton’s Guide to Domestic Poisons (Allison & Busby)
- Ovidia Yu: The Mimosa Tree Mystery (Constable, Little, Brown Book Group)
CWA ALCS GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION
- Sue Black: Written in Bone (Doubleday, Penguin)
- Becky Cooper: We Keep the Dead Close (William Heinemann, Penguin)
- Andrew Harding: These Are Not Gentle People (MacLehose Press, 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)
CWA 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)
- Yun Ko-eun: The Disaster Tourist, translated by Lizzie Buehler (Serpent's Tail)
- D A Mishani: Three, translated by Jessica Cohen (Riverrun, Hachette Book Group)
- 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)
CWA SHORT STORY DAGGER
- Robert Scragg: ‘A Dog Is for Life, Not Just for Christmas’ in Afraid of the Christmas Lights, edited by Miranda Jewess (Criminal Minds Group)
- Elle Croft: ‘Deathbed’ in Afraid of the Light, edited by Robert Scragg & Various (Criminal Minds Group)
- Dominic Nolan: ‘Daddy Dearest’ in Afraid of the Light, edited by Robert Scragg & Various (Criminal Minds Group)
- Victoria Selman: ‘Hunted’ in Afraid of the Christmas Lights, edited by Miranda Jewess (Criminal Minds Group)
- Clare Mackintosh: ‘Monsters’ in First Edition: Celebrating 21 Years of Goldsboro Books (The Dome Press)
- James Delargy: ‘Planting Nan’ in Afraid of the Light, edited by Robert Scragg & Various (Criminal Minds Group)
CWA PUBLISHERS DAGGER
- Faber & Faber
- Head of Zeus
- Michael Joseph
- No Exit Press
- Raven
- Viper
CWA DEBUT DAGGER
- Ashley Harrison – The Looking Glass Spy
- Fiona McPhillips – Underwater
- Biba Pearce – Rough Justice
- Hannah Redding – Deception
- Edward Regenye – Lightfoot
- Jennifer Wilson O’Raghallaigh – Mandatory Reporting
CWA DAGGER IN THE LIBRARY
- C L Taylor
- Peter May
- Lisa Jewell
- James Oswald
- Denise Mina
- LJ Ross
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