With CrimeFest 2015 in full swing in Bristol this weekend, the Crime Writer’s Association has announced shortlists for some of its annual Dagger awards. The big categories unveiled include the International Dagger and the Historical Dagger, which this year is sponsored by Endeavour Press.
There’s also the fascinating Short Story Dagger – it’s a category that’s often overlooked but there have been some big collaborative anthologies this year such as Face Off – wherein one top author would start a story and another finish it – and OxCrimes, revenues from which go to the global development charity Oxfam. We brought you some OxCrimes excerpts when it came out.
What’s surprising is how few of the traditional big names appear on some of these shortlists. Yes, Pierre Lemaitre and Deon Meyer are there, and Kate Mosse too. But largely they contain plenty of new names and writers who aren’t so well known. Of course, the Debut Dagger, sponsored by Orion, is full of new names. It’s for as yet unpublished crime authors.
The awards will be announced on 30 June, the culmination of the CWA’s National Crime Reading Month. In October, further Daggers will be awarded at the ITV Crime Thriller Awards, including coveted Gold Dagger, the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger and the New Blood Dagger. Not to be confused with the Debut Dagger, the New Blood one is for new authors who’ve made it into print. You can see last year’s winners of these awards here.
The CWA International Dagger
Falling Freely, As If In A Dream by Leif GW Persson
Camille by Pierre Lemaitre
Cobra by Deon Meyer
Arab Jazz by Karim Miské
The Invisible Guardian by Dolores Redondo
Into a Raging Blaze by Andreas Norman
The CWA Short Story Dagger
Apocrypha by Richard Lange – Sweet Nothing
Red Eye by Michael Connelly and Dennis Lehane – Face Off
The Hunter by Dashiell Hammett – The Hunter & Other Stories
Sweet Nothing by Richard Lange – Sweet Nothing
Juror 8 by Stuart Neville – OxCrimes
The Dead Their Eyes Implore Us by George Pelecanos – OxCrimes
The CWA Non Fiction Dagger
In Plain Sight: The Life and Lies of Jimmy Savile by Dan Davies
A Kim Jong-Il Production by Paul Fischer
Ghettoside: Investigating a Homicide Epidemic by Jill Leovy
Gun Baby Gun: A Bloody Journey into the World of the Gun by Iain Overton
One of Us: The Story of Anders Breivik and the Massacre in Norway by Ǻsne Seierstad
Just Mercy: a story of justice and redemption by Bryan Stevenson
The Endeavour Historical Dagger – sponsored by Endeavour Press
Havana Sleeping by Martin Davies
Lamentation by CJ Sansom
The Man from Berlin by Luke McCallin
The Seeker by SG MacLean
The Silent Boy by Andrew Taylor
The Taxidermist’s Daughter by Kate Mosse
The Debut Dagger – sponsored by Orion
Dark Chapter by Winnie M Li
Last Of The Soho Legends by Greg Keen
The Ice Coffin by Jill Sawyer
The Pure Drop by Nigel Robbins
Lock Me In by Kate Simants
