The Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) recently announced the shortlists for the prestigious annual Dagger awards for crime writing. The Crime Writers’ Association had announced earlier that Michael Connelly is to receive the 2018 CWA Diamond Dagger, the highest honor in British crime writing. The Dagger award recognizes authors whose crime writing careers have been marked by sustained excellence, and who have made a significant contribution to the genre.

Here are the shortlists for the other Dagger awards. The winners of the CWA Daggers will be announced at the Dagger Awards dinner in London on October 25. This gives you plenty of time to read nominated books. Don’t forget to look for these titles in the Web Store!  https://store.poisonedpen.com/

THE GOLD DAGGER

The Gold Dagger is awarded to the best crime novel of the year.

The CWA Gold Dagger 2018 Shortlist

Author                                                       Title

Steve Cavanagh                                        The Liar

Mick Herron                                              London Rules

Dennis Lehane                                          Since We Fell

Attica Locke                                               Bluebird, Bluebird

Abir Mukherjee                                        A Necessary Evil

Emma Viskic                                             Resurrection Bay

THE CWA IAN FLEMING STEEL DAGGER

Emily Koch                                                If I Die Before I Wake

Attica Locke                                              Bluebird, Bluebird

Colette McBeth                                         An Act of Silence

CJ Tudor                                                    The Chalk Man

Don Winslow                                           The Force

THE CWA JOHN CREASEY (NEW BLOOD) DAGGER

William Boyle                                          Gravesend

Joe Ide                                                        I.Q.

Danya Kukafka                                        Girl in Snow

Melissa Scrivner Love                            Lola

Khurrum Rahman                                  East of Hounslow

Emma Viskic                                            Resurrection Bay

THE CWA ALCS GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION

Piu Eatwell                                               Black Dahlia Red Rose

David Grann                                            Killers of the Flower Moon

Thomas Harding                                     Blood on the Page

Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich          The Fact of a Body

Christian Miller & Ken Armstrong      A False Report

Laura Thompson                                    Rex V Edith Thompson

THE CWA HISTORICAL DAGGER

Abir Mukherjee                                      A Necessary Evil

L. C. Tyler                                                 Fire

Thomas Mullen                                      Lightning Men

Ngaio Marsh & Stella Duffy                 Money in the Morgue

Nicola Upson                                          Nine Lessons

Rory Clements                                        Nucleus

THE CWA INTERNATIONAL DAGGER

Author, Translator                             Title

Oliver Bottini, tr Jamie Bulloch          Zen and the Art of Murder

Pierre Lemaitre, tr France Wynne     Three Days and a Life

Henning Mankell, tr Marlaine Delargy       After the Fire

Jon Michelet, tr Don Bartlett                The Frozen Woman

Dolores Redondo, tr Nick Caistor & Lorenza Garzia         Offering to the Storm

Fred Vargas, tr Sian Reynolds              The Accordionist

THE CWA SHORT STORY DAGGER

“The Last Siege of Bothwell Castle” by Chris Brookmyre      Bloody Scotland

“Second Son” by Lee Child                                                           No Middle Name: The Complete Collected Jack Reacher Stories

“Smoking Kills” by Erin Kelly                                                      “The Body” Killer Women Crime Club Anthology 2

“Nemo Me Impune Lacessit” by Denise Mina                          Bloody Scotland

“Accounting for Murder” by Christine Poulson                       Mystery Tour: CWA Anthology of Short Stories

THE CWA DAGGER IN THE LIBRARY

Nominated by libraries.

Martin Edwards

Nicci French

Edward Marston

Peter May

Rebecca Tope

Simon Kernick

THE CWA DEBUT DAGGER

 For the opening of a crime novel from a writer without a traditional publishing contract.

The Eternal Life of Ezra Ben Simeon by Bill Crotty

Riverine Blood by Joseph James

Original Sins by Linda McLaughlin

Trust Me, I’m Dead by Sherryl Clark