New Releases - July 2021

Here's a snapshot of what I think is published for the first time in July 2021 (and is usually a UK date but occasionally will be a US or Australian date). July and future months (and years) can be found on the Future Releases page. If I've missed anything or got the date wrong, do please leave a comment.

• Ægisdóttir, Eva Björg - Girls Who Lie #2 Forbidden Iceland
• Alderson, Sarah - The Stalker
• Allan, Claire - Ask No Questions
• Amphlett, Rachel - A Darker Place #10 Detective Kay Hunter
• Anderson, Lin - The Killing Tide #17 Rhona MacLeod, forensic scientist, Glasgow
• Ashley, Jennifer - Death at the Crystal Palace #5 Kat Holloway, Victorian Era
• Billingham, Mark - Rabbit Hole
• Black, P R - The Runner
• Bradley, Lisa - The Lesson
• Bugler, Sheila - The Lucky Eight
• Cole, Daniel - Mimic
• Connolly, John - The Nameless Ones #19 Charlie Parker, PI, Maine
• Dahl, Alex - Cabin Fever
• Denzil, Sarah A - The Housemaid (ebook only)
• Doherty, Paul - Mother Midnight #22 Hugh Corbett
• Doughty, Stuart - Killing Art #4 John Kite
• Dranfield, Wendy - Little Girl Taken #3 Detective Madison Harper
• Duffy, Margaret - The Not Quite Perfect Murderer #23 Major Patrick Gillard, MI5 & Ingrid Langley, author (ex MI5)
• Edwards, Mark - The Hollows
• Edwards, Martin - The Crooked Shore #8 Daniel Kind, Historian and DCI Hannah Scarlett, Lake District
• Ellis, Joy - Marshlight #4 Matt Ballard
• Finlay, Mick - Arrowood and The Meeting House Murders #4 Arrowood, PI, 1895
• Finney, Keith - A Deadly Coincidence #1 Lipton St Faith Mysteries, Norfolk
• Flood, Helene - The Therapist
• Fowler, Christopher - Bryant & May - London Bridge is Falling Down #18 Inspectors Bryant and May, London
• Frank, Matthew - The Killer Inside #3 Ex-soldier police detective Joseph Stark, London
• Freeman, Dianne - A Fiancee's Guide to First Wives and Murder #4 Countess of Harleigh, Victorian England
• Granger, Ann - The Truth-Seeker's Wife #8 Lizzie Martin, Lady's companion and Inspector Ben Ross, Victorian Era
• Green, Simon R - Buried Memories #10 Ishmael Jones
• Hanington, Peter - A Cursed Place #3 William Carver, BBC Reporter
• Harris, Oliver - Ascension #2 Elliot Kane
• Henry, James - Whitethroat #3 DI Nick Lowry, Essex, 1983
• Hewitt, J M - The Life She Wants
• Hill, Suzette A - Shadow Over Southwold #6 Rosy Gilchrist
• Humphreys, Neil - Bloody Foreigners #1 Inspector Low, London
• Hurley, Graham - Kyiv #6 Wars Within
• Indridason, Arnaldur - The Darkness Knows #1 Detective Konrad
• Jackson, David - The Rule
• Jewell, Lisa - The Night She Disappeared
• Kaya, Kerry - The Price
• Khan, Vaseem - The Dying Day #2 Inspector Persis Wadia
• Kiernan, Olivia - The Murder Box #4 DCS Frankie Sheehan
• Kinsey, T E - A Baffling Murder at the Midsummer Ball #2 Dizzy Heights
• Kinsley, Erin - Missing
• Kluver, Joy - Broken Girls (ebook only) #2 Detective Bernadette Noel
• Koomson, Dorothy - I Know What You've Done
• Kovach, Carla - One Left Behind #9 Detective Gina Harte
• Lackberg, Camilla - Silver Tears #2 Faye Adelheim
• Leather, Stephen - Fast Track #18 Dan Shepherd, SAS trooper turned undercover cop
• Leonard, Niall - M, King's Bodyguard
• Lovesey, Peter - Diamond and the Eye #20 Peter Diamond, Bath
• Lynes, S E - The One to Blame
• MacDonald, Siobhan - The Bride Collector
• MacNeal, Susan Elia - The Hollywood Spy #10 Maggie Hope
• Mara, Andrea - All Her Fault
• McAllister, Gillian - That Night
• McDermott, Andy - Rogue Asset #1 Alex Reeve
• McLean, Rachel - The Corfe Castle Murders #1 DCI Lesley Clarke, Dorset
• McLean, Rachel - The Clifftop Murders (ebook only) #2 DCI Lesley Clarke, Dorset
• Moore, Ian - Death and Croissants #1 Follet Valley Mystery
• Murphy, Peter - A Statue for Jacob
• Musso, Guillaume - The Secret Life of Writers
• O'Connor, Carlene - Murder in Connemara #2 Tara Meehan
• Parker, Rob - Far from the Tree #1 Thirty Miles Trilogy
• Philby, Charlotte - The Second Woman
• Pineiro, Claudia - Elena Knows
• Rowe, Rosemary - A Dreadful Destiny #19 Mosaicist Libertus, Glevum (modern Gloucester)
• Ryder, John - The Witness (ebook only)
• Sáenz, Eva García - The Lords of Time #3 Inspector Unai Lopez de Ayala
• Scarrow, Alex - Burning Truth (ebook only) #3 DCI Boyd
• Schellman, Katharine - Silence in the Library #2 Lily Adler, London, 1815
• Schneider, Hansjorg - The Basel Killings
• Sedgwick, Helen - Where the Missing Gather #2 Burrowhead Mystery
• Sedira, Samira - People Like Them
• Sigurdardottir, Yrsa - The Doll #5 Children's House series
• Stacey, Lynda - No Place Like Home
• Staincliffe, Cath - Running out of Road
• Stone, Lisa - The Cottage
• Stringer, Jay - Don't Tell A Soul
• Taylor, Marsali - The Shetland Sea Murders #9 Shetland Sailing Mysteries
• Temple, Rose - Death on the Doorstep (ebook only) #2 ex-Met PC Jemima Cotton, Little Cote
• Todd, Charles - An Irish Hostage #12 Bess Crawford, battlefield nurse, WWI
• Tremayne, Peter - The House of Death #30 Sister Fidelma
• Walker, Rosie - House Fire
• Walsh, Jackie - Her White Lie
• Wassmer, Julie Strictly Murder #8 Pearl Nolan, Whitstable (June release)
• Watt, Holly - The Hunt and the Kill #3 Casey Benedict, Investigative Journalist
• Whitehouse, Lucie - Risk of Harm #2 Ex-DI Robin Osborne, Birmingham
• Woods, Karen - Tracks

CWA Dagger Awards 2021 - Winners

Please find below, the press release detailing the winners of this year's CWA Dagger Awards. I've highlighted the translated authors.

The shortlists can be found here.

CWA Dagger Awards Announced

Chris Whitaker, Michael Robotham, Vaseem Khan and Peter May win 2021 CWA Daggers.

The winners of the 2021 CWA Daggers, which honour the very best in the crime writing genre, have been announced.

The prestigious 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.

Winner of the CWA Gold Dagger, which is awarded for the crime novel of the year, goes to Chris Whitaker for We Begin at the End. Past winners of the Gold Dagger include John le Carré, Reginald Hill and Ruth Rendell.

Praised as ‘truly memorable’ by the CWA judges, We Begin at The End has been a Waterstones Thriller of the Month and sold in 17 territories, with screen rights snapped up by Disney. Chris Whitaker was first recognised by the CWA as a debut author, when he received the John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger in 2017 for Tall Oaks.

Chris has said writing ‘saved his life’ twice. He began writing as a therapeutic response to being mugged, and stabbed, aged 19, then later falling into serious debt in his job as a city trader. Quitting his finance job in London aged 30, he moved to Spain to write his debut novel.

Maxim Jakubowski, Chair of the Crime Writers’ Association, said: ‘This year’s Gold Dagger shortlist featured remarkable books, but We Begin at the End is an astoundingly beautiful and moving achievement in storytelling. Chris’s talent shone through when we awarded him the John Creasey Dagger in 2017. It’s inspiring to see him now take Gold, and I’m delighted that the CWA judges recognised this now acclaimed author from the very start.’

S A Cosby for Blacktop Wasteland and Nicci French with House of Correction were also Highly Commended in the Gold Dagger category.

Michael Robotham, who won the Gold Dagger in 2015 and 2020, wins this year’s Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for best thriller, for When She Was Good.

The Ian Fleming Steel Dagger is sponsored by Ian Fleming Publications Ltd, the Fleming family-owned company that looks after the James Bond literary brand. CWA judges praised the novel as ‘an urgent, poignant and terrifying thriller’.

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 been translated into 25 languages.

The much-anticipated John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger highlights the best debut novels. This year the accolade goes to Eva Björg Ægisdóttir for The Creak on the Stairs. The Icelandic author wrote her debut while working as a flight attendant and juggling being a mother, writing the first draft in just nine months. It was a bestseller in Iceland before being picked up in the UK by Orenda Books.

Vaseem Khan wins the Sapere Books Historical Dagger for Midnight at Malabar House, set in 1949/1950 Bombay. Born in London, Vaseem spent a decade in India as a management consultant. Since 2006 he has worked at University College London’s Jill Dando Institute of Security and Crime Science.

The Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger goes to South Korean author Yun Ko-eun for The Disaster Tourist, translated by Lizzie Buehler, praised by the CWA judges as a ‘wildly entertaining eco-thriller’.

The ALCS Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction is awarded to forensic pathologist, Sue Black, for Written in Bone praised by the CWA judges as a ‘humane, wise book’.

The CWA Daggers are one of the few high-profile awards that honour the short story. Clare Mackintosh wins the award with her short story ‘Monsters’ in First Edition: Celebrating 21 Years of Goldsboro Books. The judges praised it for its powerful twist.

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 Peter May. The Scottish author has become well recognized for his work both as a novelist and in film and television. His books have sold several million copies worldwide and have won awards in the UK, the USA, and France.

Chair of the judges, Sue Wilkinson, said: ‘Peter May infuses his books with a real sense of place, whether it be China, France or the Hebrides.  His books are tense, atmospheric and complex but always utterly absorbing.’

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 securing representation and a publishing contract. This year the winner is Hannah Redding for Deception.

The judges said: ‘Deception has all the ingredients of a compelling mystery, complete with unreliable narrators, a cut-off location and a nicely compact time frame.’

Fiona McPhillips was also Highly Commended for Underwater. Praised as being ‘full of intrigue…  The issues of class, sexuality and power explored were very well done.’

The Best Crime and Mystery Publisher of the Year Dagger, which celebrates publishers and imprints demonstrating excellence and diversity in crime writing, goes to the independent publisher, Head of Zeus. Established in 2012, Head of Zeus went from start-up to a multi-million-pound business and positioned itself at the forefront of the eBook revolution.

Maxim said: “These awards testify to the wealth of great books and diversity within the crime genre. The Daggers are assuredly the best and most accurate reflection of what's happening on the crime and mystery writing front, with all judges independent of the CWA and renewed on a regular basis.”

The winners were announced at a virtual ceremony on I July, Daggers Live! dubbed the ‘Oscars of the crime genre’.

The evening was hosted by leading crime expert, Barry Forshaw with guest speaker, Abir Mukherjee, who won last year’s CWA Sapere Books Historical Dagger for his novel Death in the East.

Martina Cole also featured at the awards event as the recipient of the 2021 Diamond Dagger for lifetime achievement, the highest honour in British 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. They are regarded by the publishing world as the foremost British awards for crime-writing.

Dagger Winners 2021

CWA GOLD DAGGER

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

Highly Commended

S A Cosby: Blacktop Wasteland (Headline, Headline Publishing Group); Nicci French: House of Correction (Simon & Schuster)

 

CWA IAN FLEMING STEEL DAGGER

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

 

CWA JOHN CREASEY (NEW BLOOD) DAGGER

Eva Björg Ægisdóttir: The Creak on the Stairs (Orenda), Translator: Victoria Cribb

 

CWA SAPERE BOOKS HISTORICAL DAGGER

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

 

CWA ALCS GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION

Sue Black: Written in Bone (Doubleday, Penguin)

 

CWA CRIME FICTION IN TRANSLATION DAGGER

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

 

CWA SHORT STORY DAGGER

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

 

CWA DAGGER IN THE LIBRARY

Peter May

 

CWA PUBLISHERS DAGGER

Head of Zeus

 

CWA DEBUT DAGGER

(Competition for an unpublished novel)

Winner: Hannah Redding – Deception

Highly commended: Fiona McPhillips – Underwater

Award News: Petrona Award Entries 2021

I am pleased to announce that 28 of the 29 titles that were eligible for the 2021 Petrona Award for the Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year have been entered by the publishers.

The winner of the Award will be announced online later this year.

The rules for eligibility are:

• The submission must be in translation and published in English in the UK during the preceding calendar year ie 1 January – 31 December 2020.
• The author of the submission must either be born in Scandinavia* or the submission must be set in Scandinavia*.
• The submission must have been published in its original language after 1999.

(E-books that meet the above criteria may be considered at the judges’ discretion (does not include self-published titles))
*in this instance taken to be Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

More details about the award and the history behind it can be found on the Petrona Award website. The winner of the 2020 Award was Little Siberia by Antti Tuomainen, translated from the Finnish by David Hackson and published by Orenda Books.

The award is sponsored by David Hicks.

Entries 

[10 titles are by Female authors, 17 by Male and 1 title is by a M & F pairing. There are 17 translators (10 Female (17 titles) and 7 Male (11 titles)) and 6 countries are represented (9 Sweden, 8 Norway, 6 Iceland, 3 Denmark, 1 Finland, 1 Germany).]

I have tagged these titles on Goodreads.

Jussi Adler-Olsen - Victim 2117  tr. William Frost (M, Denmark) Quercus

Eva Björg Ægisdóttir - The Creak on the Stairs tr. Victoria Cribb (F, Iceland) Orenda Books

Stefan Ahnhem - X Ways to Die tr. Agnes Broomé (M, Sweden) Head of Zeus

Fredrik Backman - Anxious People tr. Neil Smith (M, Sweden) Michael Joseph

Heine Bakkeid - Scatter Her Ashes tr. Anne Bruce (M, Norway) Raven Books

Lina Bengtsdotter - For the Dead tr. Agnes Broomé (F, Sweden) Orion

Kjell Ola Dahl - Sister tr. Don Bartlett (M, Norway) Orenda Books 

Katrine Engberg - The Tenant tr. Tara Chace (F, Denmark) Hodder Paperbacks

Thomas Enger & Jorn Lier Horst - Death Deserved tr. Anne Bruce (M, Norway) Orenda Books

Anne Holt - A Necessary Death tr. Anne Bruce (F, Norway) Corvus

Jorn Lier Horst - The Inner Darkness tr. Anne Bruce (M, Norway) Michael Joseph

Ragnar Jonasson - Winterkill tr. David Warriner (M, Iceland) Orenda Books

Ragnar Jonasson - The Mist tr. Victoria Cribb (M, Iceland) Michael Joseph

Lars Kepler - Lazarus tr. Neil Smith (M&F, Sweden) HarperCollins

Camilla Lackberg - The Gilded Cage tr. Neil Smith (F, Sweden) HarperCollins

Jo Nesbo - The Kingdom tr. Robert Ferguson (M, Norway) Harvill Secker

Hakan Nesser - The Secret Life of Mr Roos tr. Sarah Death (M, Sweden) Mantle

Mikael Niemi - To Cook a Bear tr. Deborah Bragan-Turner (M, Sweden) MacLehose Press

Sólveig Pálsdóttir - The Fox tr. Quentin Bates (F, Iceland) Corylus Books Ltd

Agnes Ravatn - The Seven Doors tr. Rosie Hedger (F, Norway) Orenda Books

Max Seeck - The Witch Hunter tr. Kristian London (M, Finland) Welbeck

Lilja Sigurdardottir - Betrayal tr. Quentin Bates (F, Iceland) Orenda Books

Yrsa Sigurdardottir - Gallows Rock tr. Victoria Cribb (F, Iceland) Hodder & Stoughton

Gunnar Staalesen - Fallen Angels tr. Don Bartlett (M, Norway) Orenda Books

Jesper Stein - Die For Me tr. Charlotte Barslund (M, Denmark) Mirror Books

Viveca Sten - In the Name of Truth tr. Marlaine Delargy (F, Sweden) AmazonCrossing

Mats Strandberg - The Home tr. Agnes Broomé (M, Sweden) Jo Fletcher Books

Christer Tholin - Guilty? tr. Christina Lagaris (M, Germany) Christer Tholin

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[Not Entered - Helene Tursten - Snowdrift tr. Marlaine Delargy (F, Sweden) Soho Press]