The Petrona Award 2021 - Shortlist

From the press release which was embargoed until 8.00am today:

The Petrona Award 2021 - Update

Just a quick update to let you know that the shortlist for the Petrona Award 2021 will be announced on Thursday 30 September aka International Translation Day. The shortlist will be taken from the 28 titles entered. These 28 titles are listed here.

Check back on Thursday to read the press release revealing the six books in the running for this year's Best Scandinavian Crime Novel. 

The winner will be announced on 4 November 2021.

New Releases - September 2021

Here's a snapshot of what I think is published for the first time in September 2021 (and is usually a UK date but occasionally will be a US or Australian date). September 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.

• Anthology: Bodies from the Library 4 (ed. Tony Medawar)
• Anthology: Daggers Drawn (ed. Maxim Jakubowski)
• Abdullah, Kia - Next of Kin
• Blake, Sam - High Pressure (ebook only)
• Boland, Shalini - The Couple Upstairs
• Bonner, Hilary - The Danger Within #4 DI David Vogel, Bristol
• Bottini, Oliver - Night Hunters #4 The Black Forest Investigations
• Bradley, Rebecca - Seconds to Die (ebook only) #2 Claudia Nunn
• Bridgestock, R C - Persecution #3 DI Charley Mann, Yorkshire
• Browne, Sheryl - The Liar's Child
• Bruen, Ken - Callous
• Buchanan, Tracy - Trail of Destruction
• Chambers, Kimberley - The Family Man
• Clark, Anne Wyn - Whisper Cottage
• Cleeves, Ann - The Heron's Cry #2 Detective Matthew Venn, Devon
• Cooper, Catherine - The Chateau
• Cumming, Charles - Judas 62 #2 Box 88
• Curtis, Emma - Invite Me In
• Dalgliesh, J M - To Die For (ebook only) #9 Tom Janssen
• Daws, N R - A Quiet Place to Kill #1 Lizzie Hayes, Pilot & DI Jonathan Kember, 1940
• Day, Elizabeth - Magpie
• Delaney, Luke - The Killing Boys (ebook only)
• Doherty, Paul - Dark Queen Watching #3 Margaret Beaufort
• Douglas, Claire - The Couple at No 9
• Dowd, Victoria - The Supper Club Murders (ebook only) #3 Ursula Smart
• Down, Holly - The Courier
• Elliott, Lexie - How to Kill Your Best Friend
• Ford, Martyn - All Our Darkest Secrets
• Francis, Dick - Iced (by Felix Francis)
• French, Nicci - The Unheard
• Gatward, D J - Blood Sport (ebook only) #7 DCI Harry Grimm
• Gibney, Patricia - Little Bones #10 Detective Lottie Parker
• Goodwin, Sarah - Stranded
• Greene, Morgan - Old Blood (ebook only) #3 DI Jamie Johansson
• Griffiths, Elly - The Midnight Hour #6 Stephens and Mephisto, Brighton, 1950s
• Griffiths, Rebecca - The Girl at My Door
• Hannah, Mari - Her Last Request #8 Detective Chief Inspector Kate Daniels
• Hawkins, Alis - Not One Of Us #4 Harry Probert-Lloyd, 1850s, Wales
• Hayes, Samantha - The Trapped Wife
• Heley, Veronica - False Face #15 Bea Abbott, Sixty-something owner of The Abbott (Domestic) Agency
• Holland, Jane - Keep Me Close
• Hunter, M A - Exposed #6 The Missing Children Case Files
• Johnson, Alan - The Late Train to Gipsy Hill
• Knight, Alex - Darkness Falls
• Kovach, Carla - What She Did
• Lackberg, Camilla - Truth or Dare (ebook only) - Novella
• Lancaster, Neil - Dead Man's Grave #1 DS Max Craigie, Scotland
• Lee, M J - When the Guilty Cry #7 DI Ridpath
• Lynch, Rachel - Lying Ways #9 DI Kelly Porter, Lake District
• Mark, David - Past Life #9 Detective Sergeant McAvoy of Humberside CID
• Marsh, Alec - Ghosts of the West #3 Drabble and Harris
• Martin, Faith - Murder Now and Then (ebook only) #19 DI Hillary Greene, Oxfordshire
• Maslen, Andy - Death Wears A Golden Cloak (ebook only) #6 DI Stella Cole
• McCleave, Simon - The River Seine Killings (ebook only) #10 DI Ruth Hunter
• McIlvanney, William & Ian Rankin - The Dark Remains #1 Laidlaw's First Case
• Mey, Louise - The Second Woman
• Meyrick, Denzil - Terms of Restitution
• Mina, Denise - Rizzio
• Monroe, J S - The Man on Hackpen Hill
• Moss, NJ - Her Final Victim (ebook only)
• Mullen, Owen - The Accused (ebook only) #4 PI Charlie Cameron
• Mulrooney, Gretta - Murder in Mallow Cottage #3 DI Siv Drummond
• Nesbo, Jo - The Jealousy Man and Other Stories - Short Stories
• North, Lauren - Safe at Home
• Osman, Richard - The Man Who Died Twice #2 The Thursday Murder Club
• Penrose, Andrea - Murder at the Royal Botanic Gardens #5 Wrexford & Sloane
• Perry, Anne - Three Debts Paid #5 Daniel Pitt, Barrister,1910
• Peston, Robert - The Whistleblower
• Petersen, Christoffer - Warrior (ebook only) #6 Greenland Crime
• Probyn, Jack - The Cadre (ebook only) #4 DC Jake Tanner
• Ramsay, Caro - The Silent Conversation #13 DCI McAlpine, DS Anderson and DS Costello, Glasgow
• Reynolds, Rod - Black Reed Bay #1 Detective Casey Wray, USA
• Rigby, Sally - Dark Secrets (ebook only) #11 DCI Whitney Walker & Dr Georgina Cavendish
• Rogers, Gemma - The Babysitter (ebook only)
• Scarr, Louisa - Under a Dark Cloud #2 DS Butler & DC West
• Seeck, Max - The Ice Coven #2 Jessica Niemi
• Shaw, Alex - Traitors #1 Sophie Racine and Aidan Snow
• Simenon, Georges - Death Threats: And Other Stories - Short Stories
• Smith, Alexander McCall - The Joy and Light Bus Company #22 Mma Ramotswe, PI, Botswana
• Tallon, Emma - Her Rival #2 Scarlet Drew
• Todd, Marilyn - Bad Blood (ebook only) #3 Julia McAllister, Victorian Era
• Tyler, L C - Too Much of Water #7 John Grey, lawyer, 1657
• Walden, Celia - Payday
• Walters, Victoria - Murder At The House On The Hill #1 Dedley End Mystery
• Ward, Rhiannon - The Shadowing
• Westerson, Jeri - The Deadliest Sin #15 Crispin Guest, ex Knight, Medieval times
• White, S R - Prisoner
• Wilkinson, Kerry - The Perfect Daughter (ebook only)
• Yahagi, Toshihiko - The Wrong Goodbye #3 Eiji Futamura

New Releases - August 2021

Here's a snapshot of what I think is published for the first time in August 2021 (and is usually a UK date but occasionally will be a US or Australian date). August 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.

• Anthology: Many Deadly Return (ed. Martin Edwards)
• Allen, Jo - Death in the Woods (ebook only) #6 DCI Jude Satterthwaite, Lake District
• Amsinck, Heidi - My Name is Jensen
• Anderson, Lin - The Killing Tide #17 Rhona MacLeod, forensic scientist, Glasgow
• Batchelor, Penny - Her New Best Friend
• Bonda, Katarzyna - Conspiracy of Blood #2 Sasza Zaluska
• Calkins, Susanna - The Cry of the Hangman #6 Lucy Campion, Chambermaid, 17thC
• Cameron, Stella - The Playing Fields #7 Alex Duggins, Folly-on-Weir, Cotswolds
• Candlish, Louise - The Heights
• Carpenter, Elisabeth - The Vacancy
• Cavanagh, Steve - The Devil's Advocate #6 Eddie Flynn, USA
• Chaudhuri, A A - She's Mine
• Clark, Cassandra - The Day of the Serpent #2 Brother Chandler, 1399
• Conway, Simon - The Saboteur #2 Jude Lyon, MI6
• Croft, Elle - Buried
• Cutler, Judith - Death's Long Shadow #3 Matthew Rowsley, Steward & Mrs Faulkner, Housekeeper, Victorian Era
• Cutts, Lisa - Murder in the Village (ebook only) #4 Harry Powell
• De Giovanni, Maurizio - Bread For the Bastards of Pizzofalcone #5 Bastards of Pizzofalcone
• de la Motte, Anders - End of Summer #3 Seasons Quartet
• Dennison, Hannah - Danger at the Cove #2 Island Sisters
• Dixon, Patricia - The Other Woman
• Dunn, Matthew - The Spy Thief #5 Ben Sign, MI6
• Ellis, Kate - The Stone Chamber #25 Wesley Peterson (policeman) and Neil Watson (archaeologist), Tradmouth, Devon
• Ellwood, Nuala - The Perfect Life
• Feeney, Alice - Rock Paper Scissors
• Fitzek, Sebastian - The Soul Breaker
• Gatland, Jack - A Ritual For the Dying #6 DI Declan Walsh
• Grace, Ed - A Deadly Weapon #4 Jay Sullivan
• Gregory, Susanna - The Chancellor's Secret #25 Matthew Bartholomew, 14th Century physician, Cambridge
• Hamilton, Karen - The Ex-Husband
• Haughton, Emma - The Dark
• Hawkins, Paula - A Slow Fire Burning
• Hawkswood, Sarah - Wolf at the Door #9 Bradecote and Catchpoll, Worcestershire, C12 Bradecote and Catchpoll, Worcestershire, C12
• Holliday, Susi - Substitute
• Horowitz, Anthony - A Line to Kill #3 Detective Daniel Hawthorne
• Howard, Catherine Ryan - 56 Days
• Hrib, Bogdan - Resilience
• Huber, Anna Lee - Murder Most Fair #5 Verity Kent, England, 1919
• Hunter, M A - Repressed #5 The Missing Children Case Files
• Jameson, Emma - A Death at Candlewick Castle #2 Jemima Jago, Librarian, Isles of Scilly
• Jecks, Michael - The Moorland Murderers #6 Jack Blackjack, Tudor Era
• Jolly, Meg - The Mistakes We Deny #3 DI Ward, Yorkshire
• Jones, Sandie - The Guilt Trip
• Kent, Anna - The House of Whispers
• Kirk, JD - Colder than the Grave #8 DCI Logan
• La Plante, Lynda - Unholy Murder #7 WPC Tennison
• Lawrance, Jodie - The Evidence #2 Detective Helen Carter, Edinburgh, 1970s
• Legat, Anna - Death Comes to Bishops Well #1 Shires Mysteries
• Louth, Nick - The Body on the Moor #8 DCI Craig Gillard
• Mark, David - Darkness Falls #1 McAvoy Prequel
• Marsh, JJ - Wolf Tones
• Marshall, Laura - The Anniversary
• McDermid, Val - 1979 #1 Allie Burns, Journalist
• McDermott, Alan - When Death Strikes #4 Eva Driscoll
• McGeorge, Chris - Half-Past Tomorrow
• McIver, Ruth - I Shot the Devil
• McLean, Rachel - The Island Murders #3 DCI Lesley Clarke, Dorset
• Mo, Johanna - The Night Singer #1 Detective Hanna Duncker
• Morris, Vera - The Great Shroud #5 Anglian Detective Agency series
• Paulson-Ellis, Mary - Emily Noble's Disgrace
• Robb, Candace - The Riverwoman's Dragon #13 Owen Archer
• Robson, Amanda - The Unwelcome Guest
• Rose, C E - The House on the Water's Edge (ebook only)
• Russell, Leigh - Deep Cover #16 DI Geraldine Steel
• Saunders, Kate - The Mystery of the Sorrowful Maiden #3 Laetitia Rodd, Private Detective, Victorian Era
• Sennen, Mark - Puppet (ebook only) #7 DI Charlotte Savage
• Sharp, Zoe - Trial Under Fire #1 Charlie Fox Prequel
• Sheridan, Sara - Celtic Cross #9 Mirabelle Bevan (retired Secret Service), 1950s
• Silver, Abi - The Midas Game #5 Burton and Lamb
• Sivakumaran, Anita - Cold Sun
• Skelton, Douglas - A Rattle of Bones #3 Rebecca Connolly
• Smith, Alex - Every Mother's Son #6 DCI Robert Kett, Norfolk
• Spencer, Sally - Poison #14 DCI Monika Paniatowski, Whitebridge
• Sykes, S D - The Good Death #5 Oswald de Lacy, 14C Kent
• Temple, Rose - A Fatal Move (ebook only) #3 ex-Met PC Jemima Cotton, Little Cote
• Trinchieri, Camilla - The Bitter Taste of Murder #2 Nico Doyle, Chianti, Italy
• Unge, Christian - Hell and High Water #1 Dr Tekla Berg
• Waller, Anita - Blood Red
• Young, Glenda - Murder at the Seaview Hotel #1 Helen Dexter, Scarborough

E C R Lorac - Two-Way Murder

Despite Martin Edwards' best efforts it would be fair to say I have not read much classic crime fiction other than that by Agatha Christie, and a few by D L Sayers. However like a very large ship I am slowly turning in the right direction.

Last year I reviewed Anthony Gilbert's Death in Fancy Dress and earlier this year I listened to the Shedunnit podcast featuring E C R Lorac. I believe I chose this particular episode to download as author Sarah Ward featured on it. Sarah gave a talk at 'Bodies in the Library 2019' about E C R Lorac, a prolific author but of whom little is now known. 

You can read the transcript of the episode or listen to it at Shedunnit.

Fortunately the British Library has published several of Lorac's books as well as Crossed Skis which was released under her pseudonym of Carol Carnac.

I rootled round my library's catalogue and saw that they had several books including from 2021, Two-Way Murder, which I promptly reserved. I was surprised to find out in the introduction by Martin Edwards that this is its first publication, having been written shortly before the author's death in 1958.

I enjoyed Two-Way Murder very much. Initially I was worried that I'd chosen something very similar to Death in Fancy Dress as both seemed to feature a significant Ball and a young lady every man wanted to marry. Fortunately that wasn't the case.

Two-Way Murder revolves around the discovery of a body in the road, a road that was clear only a few hours earlier and a road very lightly used. The police struggle to even identify the body let alone how he came to be in the road.  All the main characters have alibis for the estimated time of death and the local police are stumped until Inspector Waring from CID is brought in and he has a brainwave.

The story is narrated from several points of view but even so they are quite cagey with the reader so even if the 'who' is guessable/deducible then I don't think the "why" is. This does not detract from an atmospheric whodunnit, set in a chilly, misty January on the English south coast. 

I shall be seeking out more by this author.

2021 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year - Winner

The winner of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2021 was We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker, with a Highly Commended for The Last Crossing by Brian McGilloway.

More details can be found at the Harrogate Festivals blog.

Amazon blurb: For fans of Jane Harper's The Dry comes a powerful novel about the lengths we will go to keep our family safe. This is a story about good and evil and how life is lived somewhere in between.

Thirty years ago, Vincent King became a killer.

Now, he's been released from prison and is back in his hometown of Cape Haven, California. Not everyone is pleased to see him. Like Star Radley, his ex-girlfriend, and sister of the girl he killed.

Duchess Radley, Star's thirteen-year-old daughter, is part-carer, part-protector to her younger brother, Robin - and to her deeply troubled mother. But in trying to protect Star, Duchess inadvertently sets off a chain of events that will have tragic consequences not only for her family, but also the whole town.

Murder, revenge, retribution.

How far can we run from the past, when the past seems doomed to repeat itself?

Technical Issues

I had hoped to have the August releases out on time however we are having some technical issues at the moment. We've moved from a desktop to a laptop and couldn't take the MS Office license with us and the new code we've been sent hasn't worked. I'm in touch with the company so hopefully it'll be resolved soon. It's causing a bit of stress, to add to everything else going on!

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

---

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

Bloody Scotland Awards

The longlist for the The McIlvanney Prize for the best Scottish Crime book of the year has been announced:

Last year's winner was Pine by Francine Toon.

Also announced is the shortlist for the Scottish Crime Debut of the Year:

Bloody Scotland 2021 is scheduled for 17-19 September, keep up to date via their website.

2021 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year - Shortlist

The shortlist for the 2021 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year has been announced and you can cast your vote here. (The longlist is here.) Congratulations to all the nominees.

The 2021 Harrogate Crime Writing Festival programme has been announced and Rover tickets can be booked from today. Go to the HCWF website for more details and there is a FAQ on how the event will be managed to be COVID safe.

CrimeFest Awards 2021 - Winners

Here are the winners of the CrimeFest Awards 2021.

From the Press Release:

CRIMEFEST, one of Europe’s leading crime writing conventions, has announced the winners of its annual awards.

Now in its 14th year, the awards honour the best crime books released in 2020 in the UK.

Trevor Wood receives a £1,000 prize for the CRIMEFEST Specsavers Debut Crime Novel Award for The Man in the Street. Trevor Wood served in the Royal Navy for 16 years. The Man on the Street is set in his home city Newcastle, featuring a homeless veteran grappling with PTSD, dubbed by Lee Child as ‘an instant classic’.

Specsavers co-founder, Dame Mary Perkins, said: “Many congratulations to Trevor who really captured the city of Newcastle wonderfully in his book and let’s hope there’s more to come from this up-and-coming author. We don’t need research to tell us that more people have taken to reading in these last 15 months than ever before – with stories to take them out of their lockdowns and isolation – so we were delighted once again to sponsor this award.”

The £1,000 prize for the CRIMEFEST Audible Sounds of Crime Award, sponsored by Audible, and voted for by Audible subscribers goes to Richard Osman and the actress Lesley Manville who read The Thursday Murder Club. Osman has ruled the bestseller lists with his smash-hit debut crime novel.

The CRIMEFEST H.R.F Keating Award for the best biographical or critical book in the genre goes to Martin Edwards, editor of Howdunit: A Masterclass in Crime Writing by Members of the Detection Club, which has also been nominated for the 2021 Edgar Allen Poe Award.

As well as a prolific novelist, Martin Edwards is a renowned editor, reviewer, columnist and versatile writer of non-fiction, and is a leading authority on crime fiction; he received the CWA Diamond Dagger in 2020

The CRIMEFEST Last Laugh Award goes to Carl Hiaasen for Squeeze Me, a novel that captures the Trump era with Hiaasen's inimitable savage humour and eccentric characters.

The CRIMEFEST eDunnit Award for best e-book sees Ian Rankin take the title with A Song for the Dark Times, beating fellow giants of the genre, Michael Connelly and James Lee Burke.

The Publishers Association latest figures show fiction sales soared by 16% in 2020, with audiobook sales climbing by more than a third, as readers locked down escaped into books. The crime genre has led the rise in book sales and reading during the pandemic. Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club is one of the key titles being cited as one of the key drivers.

Laurence Howell, Vice President, Content at Audible, said: “Congratulations to Richard Osman for the Audible Sounds of Crime Award. Audiobooks have been a great comfort to many over the past year, because of their intimate, immersive nature and the crime and mystery genre has been incredibly popular.”

CRIMEFEST Best Crime Novel for Children, aged 8-12, goes to Serena Patel for Anisha, Accidental Detective, which has already garnered plaudits, including the Sainsbury’s Children’s Book Award for Fiction, and is shortlisted for the British Book Awards Children fiction Book of the Year 2021.

CRIMEFEST Best Crime Novel for Young Adults, aged 12-16, goes to the multi-award-winning author Patrice Lawrence, who won the CRIMEFEST award in 2018 for Indigo Donut. This year her book Eight Pieces of Silva, an addictive tale of a teenager’s hunt for her missing sister, takes the top prize.

Adrian Muller, Co-host of CRIMEFEST, said: “A huge congratulations to all CRIMEFEST award winners this year. We had to cancel the last two physical conventions due to the pandemic, so it’s a real pleasure to be able to continue CRIMEFEST’s annual awards, albeit virtually. We are thankful to both Specsavers and to Audible for their on-going support.”

CRIMEFEST has had to postpone its 2020 and 2021 conventions, due to Covid restrictions. Hosted in Bristol, it is one of the biggest crime fiction events in Europe, and one of the most popular dates in the international crime fiction calendar, with circa 60 panel events and 150 authors over four days. Tentative dates for next year's Bristol CRIMEFEST are 12-15 May, 2022.

In light of Covid-19, the 2021 winners were announced online with an awards ceremony, hosted by Agatha Raisin co-star Matt McCooey, who plays Inspector Bill Wong in the hit series. The ceremony is available on the website www.crimefest.com and via its social media pages, from midnight on Tuesday, 1 June.

All winners receive a Bristol Blue commemorative Glass Award.

Leading British crime fiction reviewers and reviewers of fiction for children and young adults form the CRIMEFEST judging panels, aside from Audible Sounds, where Audible listeners establish the shortlist and the winning title.

CRIMEFEST was created following the hugely successful one-off visit to Bristol in 2006 of the American Left Coast Crime convention. It was established in 2008. It follows the egalitarian format of most US conventions, making it open to all commercially published authors and readers alike.

2021 CRIMEFEST Awards: Shortlists in full (winners in bold)

CRIMEFEST SPECSAVERS DEBUT CRIME NOVEL AWARD

Eva Bjorg Aegisdottir for The Creak on the Stairs (Orenda Books)

Marion Brunet for Summer of Reckoning (Bitter Lemon Press)

Robin Morgan-Bentley for The Wreckage (Trapeze)

Richard Osman for The Thursday Murder Club (Viking)

Mara Timon for City of Spies (Zaffre)

Trevor Wood for The Man on the Street (Quercus)

 

CRIMEFEST AUDIBLE SOUNDS OF CRIME AWARD

Lee and Andrew Child for The Sentinel, read by Jeff Harding (Transworld)

Lucy Foley for The Guest List read by Olivia Dowd, Aoife McMahon, Chloe Massey, Sarah Ovens, Rich Keeble and Jot Davies (HarperFiction)

Robert Galbraith for Troubled Blood read by Robert Glenister (Little, Brown Book Group)

Anthony Horowitz for Moonflower Murders read by Lesley Manville and Allan Corduner (Penguin Random House Audio)

Peter James for Find Them Dead read by Daniel Weyman (Pan)

Lisa Jewell for The Invisible Girl read by Rebekah Staton (Penguin Random House Audio)

Lynda La Plante for Buried read by Alex Hassell and Annie Aldington (Zaffre)

TM Logan for The Catch read by Philip Stevens (Zaffre)

Richard Osman for The Thursday Murder Club read by Lesley Manville (Viking)

Ian Rankin for A Song for the Dark Times read by James Macpherson (Orion)

CRIMEFEST H.R.F. KEATING AWARD

Mark Aldridge for Agatha Christie’s Poirot: The Greatest Detective in the World (HarperCollins)

Martin Edwards (editor) for Howdunit: A Masterclass in Crime Writing by Members of the Detection Club (Collins Crime Club)

Colin Larkin for Cover Me: The Vintage Art of Pan Books: 1950-1965 (Telos Publishing)

Andrew Lycett for Conan Doyle’s Wide World (Tauris Parke)

Heather Martin for The Reacher Guy (Little, Brown Book Group)

Sheila Mitchell for HRF Keating: A Life of Crime (Level Best Books)

Craig Sisterson for Southern Cross Crime: The Pocket Essential Guide to the Crime Fiction, Film & TV of Australia and New Zealand (Oldcastle Books)

Peter Temple for The Red Hand: Stories, reflections and the last appearance of Jack Irish (riverrun)

 

CRIMEFEST LAST LAUGH AWARD

Ben Aaronovitch for False Value (Gollancz)

Christopher Fowler for Bryant & May - Oranges and Lemons (Doubleday)

Elly Griffiths for The Postscript Murders (Quercus)

Carl Hiaasen for Squeeze Me (Little, Brown Book Group)

Richard Osman for The Thursday Murder Club (Viking)

Malcolm Pryce for The Corpse in the Garden of Perfect Brightness (Bloomsbury Publishing)

Khurrum Rahman for Ride or Die (HQ)

Olga Wojtas for Miss Blaine's Prefect and the Vampire Menace (Contraband)

CRIMEFEST eDUNNIT AWARD

Gabriel Bergmoser for The Hunted (Faber)

Sharon  Bolton for The Split (Trapeze) 

J. P. Carter for Little Boy Lost (Avon, HarperCollins)

Steve Cavanagh for Fifty-Fifty (Orion Fiction)

Michael Connelly for Fair Warning (Orion Fiction)

James Lee Burke for A Private Cathedral (Orion Fiction)

Ian Rankin for A Song for the Dark Times (Orion Fiction)

Holly Watt for The Dead Line (Raven Books)

 

CRIMEFEST BEST CRIME NOVEL FOR CHILDREN (ages 8-12)

Sophie Deen for Mission Shark Bytes (Walker Books)

Elly Griffiths for A Girl Called Justice - The Smugglers' Secret (Quercus Children's Books)

Anthony Horowitz for Nightshade (Walker Books)

Jack Noel for My Headteacher is an Evil Genius (Walker Books)

Serena Patel for Anisha, Accidental Detective (Usborne Publishing)

Serena Patel for School's Cancelled (Usborne Publishing)

Onjali Q. Rauf for The Night Bus Hero (Orion Children's Books)

Dave Shelton for The Pencil Case (David Fickling Books)

 

CRIMEFEST BEST CRIME NOVEL FOR YOUNG ADULTS (ages 12-16)

William Hussey for Hideous Beauty (Usborne Publishing)

Lauren James for The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker (Walker Books)

Matt Killeen for Devil Darling Spy (Usborne Publishing)

Patrice Lawrence for Eight Pieces of Silva (Imprint - Hodder Children's Books)

Simon Lelic for Deadfall (Imprint - Hodder Children's Books)

Robert Muchamore for Hacking, Heists & Flaming Arrows (Hot Key Books)

Patrick Ness for Burn (Walker Books)

Nancy Springer for The Case of the Missing Marquess (Hot Key Books)

 

New Releases - June 2021

Here's a snapshot of what I think is published for the first time in June 2021 (and is usually a UK date but occasionally will be a US or Australian date). June 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.

• Adams, Jane - Bright Young Things #7 Detective Chief Inspector Henry Johnstone, 1928
• Arlidge, M J - Truth or Dare #10 Helen Grace, Southampton Police
• Austin, Stephanie - The Dartmoor Murders #4 Juno Browne
• Bannister, Jo - China Roses #5 Detective Constable Hazel Best & Gabriel Ash
• Boyd, Damien - Dying Inside #11 DI Nick Dixon
• Brown, Eric - Murder At Standing Stone Manor #8 Donald Langham, Crime Writer, London, 1955
• Bussi, Michel - The Other Mother (apa The Double Mother)
• Clarke, Karen - And Then She Ran
• Corry, Jane - The Lies We Tell
• Costello, Liza - The Estate
• Cowan-Erskine, Beth - Loch Down Abbey
• Craven, M W - Dead Ground #4 Washington Poe
• Dean, Jason - Tracer #1 Korso
• Dhand, A A - The Blood Divide
• Dunford, Caroline - A Death on Stage #16 Euphemia Martins
• Edwards, Rachel - Lucky
• Eldridge, Jim - Murder at Madame Tussauds #6 Former Detective Inspector Daniel Wilson
• Erskine, Fiona - Phosphate Rocks: A Death in Ten Objects
• Evans, Kate - A Wake of Crows #1 DCI Donna Morris, Scarborough
• Gerhardsen, Carin - Black Ice
• Goldberg, Leonard - The Abduction of Pretty Penny #5 Daughter of Sherlock Holmes series
• Harrison, Cora - Murder in an Orchard Cemetery #8 Reverend Mother Aquinas, Cork, 1920s
• Hausmann, Romy - Sleepless
• Hilary, Sarah - Fragile
• Hughes, Kim - Operation Black Key #2 Staff Sergeant Dom Riley
• Isaac, Jane - One Good Lie
• Johnson, Kate - Death on the Aisle #3 Molly Higgins
• Jonasson, Ragnar - The Girl Who Died
• Jones, Nick - The Shadows of London #2 Joseph Bridgeman
• King, Laurie R - Castle Shade #17 Mary Russell and her husband, Sherlock Holmes
• Knox, Joseph - True Crime Story
• Le Corre, Herve - In the Shadow of the Fire
• Mackay, Niki - The Girls Inside (as NJ Mackay)
• Mackintosh, Clare - Hostage
• MacLeod, Torquil - Mammon in Malmo #8 Inspector Anita Sundstrom
• Mahmood, Imran - I Know What I Saw
• Marques, Patricia - The Colours of Death #1 Inspector Isabel Reis, Lisbon
• Massey, Sujata - The Bombay Prince #3 Perveen Mistry, India's only female lawyer, 1920s
• McEwan, Lynne - In Dark Water #1 DI Shona Oliver, Dumfries
• McKenna, Clara - Murder at Keyhaven Castle #3 Stella and Lyndy, 1905
• Meyrick, Denzil - For Any Other Truth #9 DCI Daley
• Michaelides, Alex - The Maidens
• Moore, Syd - Strange Tricks #6 Rosie Strange
• Nickson, Chris - Brass Lives #9 Detective Inspector Tom Harper, Leeds Police, 1890s
• Padura, Leonardo - The Transparency of Time #8 Lt Mario Conde, Cuba
• Pearse, Lesley - Suspects
• Phifer, Helen - The Hiding Place #3 Detective Morgan Brookes
• Redondo, Dolores - The North Face of the Heart
• Robotham, Michael - When You Are Mine
• Roslund, Anders - Knock Knock #9 Ewert Grens
• Seeber, Claire - The Street Party
• Silver, Abi - The Midas Game #5 Burton and Lamb
• Steadman, Catherine - The Disappearing Act
• Thomas, Joe - Brazilian Psycho #4 The São Paulo Quartet
• Thomson, Rupert - Barcelona Dreaming
• Tucker, Nancy - The First Day of Spring
• Waugh, Daisy - Phone for the Fish Knives #2 Tode family
• Wilkes, Elena - The Man I Married
• Willberg, T A - Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder
• Wood, Trevor - One Way Street #2 Jimmy Mullen, Newcastle
• Wyer, Carol - A Cut for a Cut #2 DI Kate Young, Staffordshire
• Yahagi, Toshihiko - The Wrong Goodbye #3 Eiji Futamura

CWA Dagger Awards 2021 - Shortlists

Please find below, the press release detailing the shortlists for this year's CWA Dagger Awards. I have highlighted the authors' in translation and details of the Awards ceremony.

CWA Dagger Awards Shortlists Announced

A debut novel is up against one of Britain’s biggest and most celebrated authors for the crime novel of the year.

The 2021 shortlists for the prestigious CWA Dagger awards, which honour the very best in the crime writing genre, have been announced.

The world-famous 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.

Past winners of the CWA Gold Dagger, which is awarded for the crime novel of the year, include John le Carré, Reginald Hill and Ruth Rendell.

This year’s shortlist sees City of Ghosts by Ben Creed, praised as a ‘brilliantly orchestrated and totally engrossing’ debut thriller by the CWA judges, up against Robert Galbraith’s Troubled Blood, hailed as a ‘magnificent multi-layered epic’.

Galbraith, the pseudonym for J.K. Rowling, is also in contention for the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger. The Ian Fleming Steel Dagger is supported by Ian Fleming Publications Ltd, the Fleming family-owned company that looks after the James Bond literary brand. The award celebrates the best thriller.

Heating up the shortlist is Chris Whitaker, who took home the John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger in 2017 with his debut, Tall Oaks. His latest novel, We Begin at The End is not only up for the Ian Fleming Steel but also the Gold Dagger. 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.

Maxim Jakubowski, Chair of the Crime Writers’ Association, said: “The Dagger shortlists again highlight the wealth of great books and diversity within the crime genre. With terrific new titles from authors both familiar and new, including some books impressively nominated in more than a single category, the presence on the Publisher Dagger shortlist of long-standing traditional publishing houses and smaller independents and even, on the Dagger in the Library (voted on by librarians throughout the country), a first, with a self-published writer rubbing shoulders with established veterans. The Daggers are assuredly the best and most prestigious reflection of what's happening on the crime and mystery writing front.”

Set against the bleakness, terror and depravity of Stalin’s 1950s Leningrad, City of Ghosts by Ben Creed returns for the much-anticipated CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger, awarded to the best debut novel. Ben Creed is the pseudonym for an author duo who met on a writing course, Barney Thompson a classically trained musician and fluent Russian speaker, and Chris Rickaby, formerly an advertising copywriter.

Booker prize winner John Banville is the heavyweight contender on the Sapere Books Historical Dagger shortlist. The prizewinning novelist and literary polymath, considered Ireland’s greatest living novelist, is in the running for Snow, his first murder mystery published under his real name rather than his nom de plume, Benjamin Black. The shortlist also includes Vaseem Khan who swapped his contemporary light-hearted Baby Ganesh Agency series with a historical crime novel Midnight at Malabar House, set in 1950s Bombay.

The ALCS Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction sees the forensic pathologist Sue Black’s reflections, Written in Bone on the shortlist, praised by the CWA judges as a ‘humane, wise book’. She’s up against Andrew Harding’s These Are Not Gentle People, a beautifully written investigation into dark and murderous events in a rural South African community, dubbed by Alexander McCall Smith as a masterpiece.

The Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger shortlist features the Swedish writer Mikael Niemi with his sumptuous blend of historical fact with fictional intrigue, To Cook a Bear, translated by Deborah Bragan-Turner. From one of Israel’s most beloved writers is Three by D A Mishani, translated by Jessica Cohen, and from South Korea is Yun Ko-eun’s original and inventive thriller The Disaster Tourist translated by Lizzie Buehler.

The CWA Daggers are one of the few high-profile awards that honour the short story. The shortlist features the Sunday Times bestseller, Clare Mackintosh, and the founding member of the North East Noir crime writers’ group, Robert Scragg.

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 sees C L Taylor, Peter May, Lisa Jewell, James Oswald, Denise Mina and L J Ross on the shortlist.

The Best Crime and Mystery Publisher of the Year Dagger celebrates publishers and imprints demonstrating excellence and diversity in crime writing. Among the shortlist, the esteemed Faber & Faber vies against the independent publisher, No Exit Press. 

The winners will be announced at Daggers Live!, the online CWA Dagger awards ceremony on 1 July at 7.30pm. Barry Forshaw will be Master of Ceremonies and Abir Mukherjee is the guest speaker.

The 2021 Diamond Dagger for lifetime achievement, the highest honour in British crime writing, has already been announced, awarded to Martina Cole. She will also feature in the Daggers Live! event.

 

Dagger Shortlists 2021

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

(Competition for an unpublished novel)

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