CWA Dagger nominee shortlist announced

S J Bolton, Mo Hayder and Susan Hill are among the authors shortlisted for this year’s Crime Writers Association’s Dagger in the Library, as the CWA reveals its Dagger shortlists.

Jason Goodwin, Philip Kerr and R J Ellory are also in the running for the award, sponsored by the Random House Group, which is awarded to an author for a body of work. The prize, worth £1,500, also donates £300 to a participating library readers’ group and is nominated and judged by librarians.

The shortlists were announced on Friday night (20th May) at CrimeFest in Bristol, with the winners to be announced at an event at the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival on 22nd July.

CWA Chair Peter James said: “Our shortlists this year reflect the high quality of modern crime writing.  The range and invention shown in the shortlisted works is impressive and augers well for the health of the great tradition of ours.”

The shortlists in full:

CWA International Dagger (for crime, thriller, suspense or spy fiction novels which have been translated into English. Prize money £1000 for the author and £500 for the translator)

The Wings of the Sphinx by Andrea Camilleri, tr. Stephen Sartarelli (Mantle)

Needle in a Haystack by Ernesto Mallo, tr. Jethro Soutar (Bitter Lemon Press)

The Saint-Florentin Murders by Jean-François Parot, tr. Howard Curtis (Gallic)

Three Seconds by Anders Roslund & Börge Hellström, tr. Kari Dickson (Quercus)

River of Shadows by Valerio Varesi, tr. Joseph Farrell (Maclehose)

An Uncertain Place by Fred Vargas, tr. Siân Reynolds (Harvill Secker)

Death on a Galician Shore by Domingo Villar, tr. Sonia Soto (Abacus)

CWA Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction (Prize money £1,000)

Judith Flanders: The Invention of Murder (HarperCollins)

Colin Evans: Slaughter on a Snowy Morn (Icon Books)

Douglas Starr: The Killer of Little Shepherds (Simon & Schuster)

Wilbert Rideau: In the Place of Justice (Profile)

Michael Capuzzo: The Murder Room (Michael Joseph)

Kate Colquhoun: Mr Briggs’ Hat (Little, Brown)

CWA Short Story Dagger (worth £500)

East of Suez, West of Charing Cross Road by John Lawton - Agents of Treachery - Ed Otto Penzler (Atlantic Books)

Wednesday’s Child by Ken Bruen - First Thrills - Ed. Lee Child (Atlantic Books)

The Princess of Felony Flats - by Bill Cameron - First Thrills - Ed. Lee Child -  (Atlantic Books)

The Dead Club - by Michael Palmer & Daniel Palmer - First Thrills - Ed. Lee Child (Atlantic Books)

Homework by Phil Lovesey - The Mammoth Book of Best British Crime Vol 8 - Ed Maxim Jakubowski (Constable and Robinson)

Dagger in the Library

SJ Bolton
RJ Ellory
Jason Goodwin
Mo Hayder
Susan Hill
Philip Kerr

CWA Debut Dagger (sponsored by Orion, for unpublished writing. Winner receives £700 plus two free tickets to the CWA Dagger Awards)

A Burial Place for Strangers – Sharon Hunt (Canada)

A Quiet Night in Entebbe – Peter Wynn Norris (UK)

A Vicious Indulgence – Annie Hauxwell (Australia)

Biographies of a Victim – Gunnar Lange-Nielsen (Norway)

Hide and Seek – Sarah Darby (UK)

Men of the Rose – Jessica Ramage (UK)

The Boy Who Loved Penguins – SWC Webb (UK)

The Greengrocers and Fruiterers’ Convention – Martin Ungless (UK)

The Outrageous Behaviour of Left-Handed Dwarves – Graham Brack (UK)

The Temp – Luke Melia (UK)

Unveiled Threats – Stephanie Light (UK)

What Hidden Lies – Michele Rowe (South Africa)