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2025 CWA Dagger Awards Announced
The 2025 winners of 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 awards were announced this evening [ 3 July] at the CWA gala dinner at De Vere Grand Connaught Rooms, London.
The prestigious KAA Gold Dagger, sponsored by Kevin Anderson & Associates, which is awarded for the best crime novel of the year, went to Anna Mazzola for Book of Secrets.
Inspired by real events, prosecutor Stefano Bracchi investigates why men are dying in unnatural numbers months after the plague has ravaged Rome. Judges praised it as an expertly crafted ‘engrossing cat-and-mouse thriller’ set in 17th century Rome.
The Ian Fleming Steel Dagger, sponsored by Ian Fleming Publications Ltd, showcases the thriller of the year and was awarded to Lou Berney for his masterful thriller, Dark Ride, where an unlikely hero goes up against a deadly crime boss. Judges praised it as ‘sublime thriller full of heartache and humanity’ and a ‘moving yet nail-biting novel.’
The much-anticipated ILP John Creasey First Novel Dagger which highlights the best debut novels of the year went to Katy Massey’s debut set in the shadow of the Yorkshire Ripper, All Us Sinners. Judges praised it as ‘vivid and brutally honest’ and an ‘important and bold take on the Yorkshire Ripper murders told with passion and respect from the point of view of the women who were never heard.’
The Historical Dagger, sponsored by Morgan Witzel in memory of Dr Marilyn Livingstone, went to A.J. West with The Betrayal of Thomas True which is set in the excitement and squalor of London’s underworld in the year 1710.
Nadine Matheson, Chair of the CWA, said: "This has been another exemplary year, and our judges once again faced the exciting but difficult task of selecting from a truly impressive shortlist. The winners reflect the strength, diversity, and continuing legacy of crime writing today.
“I would also like to extend our congratulations to the winners of the Twisted Dagger and the Whodunnit Dagger, Tracy Sierra and Lisa Hall. The inclusion of these two new categories continues to highlight the evolution and innovation happening within the genre.”
The Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger, sponsored in honour of Dolores Jakubowski, was awarded to the debut gangland thriller The Night of Baba Yaga from Japan’s Akira Otani translated by Sam Bett – hot-on-the-heels from winning the 2025 CrimeFest Specsavers Debut Crime Novel of the Year.
Judges said: “Like a manga cartoon, this savage depiction of Japanese yakuza life is relentlessly violent if only to highlight the deep humanity of its fish out of water characters. Mean and lean, this saga sparkles with originality and delivers a splendid if bizarre love story.”
The Night of Baba Yaga pipped another Japanese bestseller to the post, Asako Yuzuki’s Butter translated by Polly Barton.
The ALCS Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction was awarded to Kate Summerscale’s retelling of the Christie murders, The Peepshow: The Murders at 10 Rillington Place. It was praised as a ‘remarkable read, riveting without ever being salacious’ offering a fresh perspective on one of Britain’s most notorious cases.
The CWA Daggers are one of the few high-profile awards that honour the short story. This year Short Story Dagger went to the academic and expert on Agatha Christie, J.C Bernthal, for A Date on Yarmouth Pier, praised as a ‘mini-masterpiece with a killer twist.’
2025 saw 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.
It was awarded to Nightwatching by Tracy Sierra, a slow-burning tale of a mother who will do anything to protect her children. The books unusual voice captured the judges, who praised it as, ‘horrific, compelling, nerve-shreddingly tense and cleverly twisted.’
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.
The inaugural winner is Lisa Hall with The Case of the Singer and the Showgirl. Judges admired its cleverly handled twist on a classic mystery featuring Hollywood icons: ‘A glamorous, evocative timeslip mystery that took us right back to sparkling Vegas in the fifties.’
The Emerging Author Dagger, which has been going for over 20 years, celebrates aspiring crime novelists, sponsored by Fiction Feedback. The competition is open to unpublished authors, and is judged on the best opening for an unpublished crime novel. Over two dozen past winners and shortlisted Debut Dagger authors have signed publishing deals to date.
2025’s Emerging Author Dagger was awarded to Joe Eurell for Ashland. Judges compared it as Mare of Easttown meets We Begin at the End: “A beautifully written story evoking a powerful sense of place and conveying a rare energy. Rounded characters are portrayed in fascinating depth.”
Richard Osman was awarded the 2025 Dagger in the Library award. The nominee longlist is voted by librarians and library users, chosen for the author’s body of work and support of libraries.
Best Crime and Mystery Publisher of the Year Dagger, which celebrates publishers and imprints demonstrating excellence and diversity in crime writing, was awarded to Orenda Books.
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.
Mick Herron said: “I’ve spent the best part of my life – not the majority of it; just the best part – in the crime writers’ community, and to receive this accolade from these friends and colleagues is both a career highlight and a personal joy. I’m touched and thrilled beyond measure, and will try to live up to the honour.”
The 2025 Winners in Full:
The KAA GOLD DAGGER
Anna Mazzola: Book of Secrets (Orion)
THE IAN FLEMING STEEL DAGGER
Lou Berney: Dark Ride (Hemlock Press/ HarperCollins)
THE ILP JOHN CREASEY FIRST NOVEL DAGGER
Katy Massey: All Us Sinners (Little, Brown /Sphere)
THE TWISTED DAGGER
Tracy Sierra: Nightwatching (PRH/ Viking)
THE WHODUNNIT DAGGER
Lisa Hall, The Case of the Singer and the Showgirl (Hera)
THE HISTORICAL DAGGER (Sponsored in Honour of Dr. Marilyn Livingstone)
A.J. West, The Betrayal of Thomas True (Orenda Books)
THE ALCS GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION
Kate Summerscale: The Peepshow: The Murders at 10 Rillington Place (Bloomsbury Circus)
THE CRIME FICTION IN TRANSLATION DAGGER (Sponsored in Honour of Dolores Jakubowski)
Akira Otani: The Night of Baba Yaga (Faber) tr. Sam Bett
THE SHORT STORY DAGGER
J.C Bernthal: ‘A Date on Yarmouth Pier’ in Midsummer Mysteries edited by Martin Edwards (Flame Tree Publishing/Flame Tree Collections)
THE DAGGER IN THE LIBRARY
Richard Osman
THE DAGGER FOR THE BEST CRIME AND MYSTERY PUBLISHERS
Orenda Books
THE EMERGING AUTHOR DAGGER (sponsored by Fiction Feedback)
Joe Eurell, Ashland
THE CWA DIAMOND DAGGER AWARD
Mick Herron
