Awards News: Dagger in the Library Winner; McIlvanney Prize Longlist

The winner of the Dagger in the Library was announced on Saturday, From the press release.

The winner of the CWA 2017 Dagger in the Library has been revealed: Mari Hannah.

The winner was declared at a reception at the British Library on Saturday 17 June by Martin Edwards, Chair of the CWA. Martin said: ‘At a time when the CWA is expanding its support for public and independent libraries, I am delighted to congratulate Mari. Her DCI Kate Daniels books, set in the North East, are tremendously popular and we know they’re eagerly devoured by library goers and book groups. Congratulations also to the quintet of superb shortlisted authors: Kate Ellis, James Oswald, Tara French, CJ Sansom and Andrew Taylor on reaching the shortlist stage of what is a highly competitive award.’

The Dagger in the Library is a prize for a body of work by a crime writer that users of libraries particularly admire. In 2017 the CWA worked alongside The Reading Agency to involve book clubs and reading groups, via Reading Groups for Everyone, in reaching the shortlist and winner stages. However, the Dagger in the Library is unique among crime-writing awards in that only library staff are able to make the original author nominations.

Mari will also be honoured at the CWA Dagger Awards Dinner in London on October 26 – tickets are now available from admin@thecwa.co.uk.

The McIlvanney Prize longlist has just been announced:

LONGLIST ANNOUNCED FOR THE McILVANNEY PRIZE
SCOTTISH CRIME BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD 2017

‘In what is shaping up to be a record-breaking year at Bloody Scotland (we sold twice as many tickets on our first day as last year), I’m pleased to see so many of the highlights of the 2017 programme featured on this longlist. It’s also brilliant to see a few debut novels on there slugging it out with the more established names. I certainly don’t envy our judges the task of picking a winner from this excellent crop of crime novels’
Bob McDevitt, Director of Bloody Scotland, June 2017

‘I went to Bloody Scotland and I was just knocked out....this event was so friendly, so supportive I was honestly overwhelmed’
William McIlvanney – speaking on BBC Scotland, 2012

Last year the Scottish Crime Book of the Year Award was renamed the McIlvanney Prize in memory of William McIlvanney who established the tradition of Scottish detective fiction. His brother Hugh McIlvanney OBE, came to Stirling to present the prize to Chris Brookmyre who won it for Black Widow. The book went on to be shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger and is currently on the shortlist for the Theakston’s Old Peculier Prize to be announced at the Harrogate Festival next month.

Ever a step ahead, Bloody Scotland today announce the longlist for this year’s McIlvanney Prize. The winner will be announced at the opening reception at Stirling Castle on Friday 8 September (6.30-8.30pm) and followed by a torchlight procession – open to the public - led by Ian Rankin on his way down to his event celebrating 30 years of Rebus. The award recognises excellence in Scottish crime writing, includes a prize of £1000 and nationwide promotion in Waterstones.

The longlist which has been chosen by an independent panel of readers and features 6 male and 6 female writers, established authors and debut writers, small Scottish publishers and large London houses, is released today:

Lin Anderson – None But the Dead (Macmillan)
Chris Brookmyre – Want You Gone (Little, Brown)
Ann Cleeves – Cold Earth (Macmillan)
Helen Fields – Perfect Remains (Harper Collins)
Val McDermid – Out of Bounds (Little, Brown)
Claire MacLeary – Cross Purpose (Contraband)
Denise Mina – The Long Drop (Random House)
Owen Mullen – Games People Play (Bloodhound)
Ian Rankin – Rather Be the Devil (Orion)
Craig Robertson – Murderabilia (Simon and Schuster)
Craig Russell – The Quiet Death of Thomas Quaid (Quercus)
Jay Stringer – How to Kill Friends & Implicate People (Thomas & Mercer)

The judges will be chaired by Director of Granite Noir, Lee Randall, comedian and crime fiction fan, Susan Calman and journalist, Craig Sisterson who between them cover three continents. The finalists will be revealed at the beginning of September and the winner kept under wraps until the ceremony itself.

Previous winners are Chris Brookmyre with Black Widow 2016, Craig Russell with The Ghosts of Altona in 2015, Peter May with Entry Island in 2014, Malcolm Mackay with How A Gunman Says Goodbye in 2013 and Charles Cumming with A Foreign Country in 2012.

Dagger in the Library 2017 Longlist Announced

The latest Dagger in the Library longlist has been announced (and I feel a library display coming on!). Here is the press release (with links to the authors' Euro Crime website bibliographies and reviews):

Dagger in the Library 2017 Longlist Announced

The longlist of the CWA 2017 Dagger in the Library was officially announced on the evening of February 6th at the First Monday crime writing meeting in London.

The Dagger in the Library is a prize for a body of work by a crime writer that users of libraries particularly admire. It is one of the most prestigious crime writing awards in the UK and previous winners include Elly Griffiths (2016), Christopher Fowler, Sharon Bolton, Belinda Bauer, Mo Hayder, Colin Cotterill, Craig Russell, Stuart MacBride, Jake Arnott, Alexander McCall Smith, Stephen Booth, Peter Robinson and Lindsey Davis.

The CWA, in discussion with its 2017 partners, The Reading Agency, revised the 2017 Dagger in the Library format so that, uniquely among crime writing awards, only library staff were able to nominate authors. Nominations were received from 175 libraries across the UK and Ireland – with 110 authors suggested as worthy winners.

The Dagger in the Library is intended to promote crime fiction in general and, in particular, the longlisted authors. The CWA will work with The Reading Agency, local libraries and the Crime Readers’ Association to promote novels from the longlisted authors to reading groups across the country during over the next few months – and in particular to the 175 libraries already engaged with the Dagger. We will be utilising The Reading Agency’s website, Reading Groups for Everyone, and The CWA’s Dagger Reads website to host reading group material for novels by the longlisted authors. Feedback received from reading groups via Reading Groups for Everyone feedback will be a major factor in the judges’ decision as to who should proceed to the shortlist and the eventual winner.

Here is the longlist:

Alison Bruce

Kate Ellis

Chris Ewan

Tana French

Mari Hannah

Brian MacGilloway

James Oswald

C J Sansom

Andrew Taylor

Nicola Upson

Awards News: CWA Dagger in the Library 2013 - Longlist

The longlist for the 2013 CWA Dagger in the Library has been announced, with 13 authors vying for the title. In the order listed on the CWA's website. You can read Euro Crime reviews of many of the authors' books by clicking on the links below. As I currently specialise in translated fiction I've only read titles from 5 of the 13 authors so far, how many have you read?:

Belinda Bauer
Alison Bruce
S J Bolton
Peter May
Gordon Ferris
Tania Carver
Elly Griffiths
Christopher Fowler
Michael Ridpath
Jane Casey
Phil Rickman
Alex Gray
Frances Brody

"Unlike most other literary prizes, the Dagger in the Library is awarded not for an individual book but for the author’s body of work. Last year’s winner was Steve Mosby, and previous winners have included Mo Hayder, Colin Cotterill, Stuart MacBride and Craig Russell; whilst Lesley Horton and C J Sansom have been Highly Commended.

The nominated authors must be alive, preferably working in Britain and cannot have won the award before. As the award is for a body of work, authors should have published at least three books."

Dagger in the Library - Longlist

The longlist for the 2012 CWA Dagger in the Library has been announced. Firstly, here's a bit of information on the award from the CWA's website:

Authors like Val McDermid and Ian Rankin are well-known amongst the readers of crime fiction but, beneath the top rank of bestsellers are a host of writers, some new and some who have built loyal followings over the years but who have never quite broken through. It is to give a boost to these authors that the Crime Writers’ Association Dagger in the Library Award exists. Again kindly sponsored by the publishers, Random House, the Dagger is awarded to a writer nominated by library users and chosen by a panel of librarians, all of whom work with the public.

Unlike most other literary prizes, the Dagger in the Library is awarded not for an individual book but for the author’s body of work. Last year’s winner was Mo Hayder, and previous winners have included Colin Cotterill, Stuart MacBride and Craig Russell; whilst Lesley Horton and C J Sansom have been Highly Commended.

The nominated authors must be alive, preferably working in Britain and cannot have won the award before. As the award is for a body of work, authors should have published at least three books. Entries from reading groups or individuals are submitted through libraries.

[drumroll]...the longlisted authors are:

Belinda Bauer
Simon Beckett
S J Bolton
Frances Brody
Gordon Ferris
Elena Forbes
Nicci French
Elly Griffiths
John Harvey
Susan Hill
Shona MacLean
Peter May
Steve Mosby
Imogen Robertson
M J Trow

(links are to the Euro Crime website's bibliographies pages with reviews of many of the authors' titles)

The shortlist will be announced on 15 May at CrimeFest and the winner on 5 July 2012.