The Crime Readers' Association

CWA Announce Longlists for Prestigious Crime Writing Daggers

22nd May 2018

The Crime Writers’ Association announced the much anticipated longlists for the annual Dagger awards at a reception during CrimeFest in Bristol on the evening of Friday 18 May.

Several titles appear on more than one list: The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton and Resurrection Bay by Emma Viskic both appear on the longlist for the CWA Gold Dagger and the John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger, while A Necessary Evil by Abir Mukherjee is on the Gold and the Historical longlists. Meanwhile London Rules by Mick Herron appears on the Gold and the Ian Fleming Steel longlists – he won the Ian Fleming last year with Spook Street, just as Mukherjee won the Historical with A Rising Man.

For the CWA International Dagger, names like Fred Vargas, Pierre Lemaitre and Dolores Redondo again make an appearance together with Lilja Sigurdardottir and the late Henning Mankell, while the late Philip Kerr also appears on the Historical longlist. So do plenty of other stars including Nicola Upson, LC Tyler and Frances Brody.

Lee Child makes three appearances on the CWA Short Story Dagger longlist, and Christine Poulson also appears there with her story ‘Accounting for Murder’ from the CWA’s own anthology, Mystery Tour – she was also shortlisted for the Margery Allingham Short Story prize, awarded at the same event.

Chair of the CWA and President of the Detection Club, Martin Edwards, is longlisted for the ALCS Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction with The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books and he also appears on the longlist for the Dagger in the Library, together with other stand-out names such as Sophie Hannah, Peter May, Martina Cole and several others  – it’s an exceptionally strong list this year.

The CWA Daggers, which are the probably the awards crime authors and publishers alike most wish to win, are awarded every year in 10 categories. The Diamond Dagger, for a career’s outstanding contribution to crime fiction as nominated by CWA members, was announced earlier in the year and has been awarded to best-selling author Michael Connelly.

Here are the CWA Dagger longlists for 2018.

The CWA Gold Dagger 2018 Longlist

Author Title Publisher
Ross Armstrong Head Case HQ
Steve Cavanagh The Liar Orion
Mick Herron London Rules John Murray
Dennis Lehane Since We Fell Little Brown
Laura Lippman Sunburn Faber & Faber
Attica Locke Bluebird, Bluebird Serpent’s Tail
Imran Mahmood You Don’t Know Me Michael Joseph
Abir Mukherjee A Necessary Evil Harvill Secker
Stuart Turton The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle Raven Books
Emma Viskic Resurrection Bay Pushkin Vertigo

The CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger 2018 Longlist

Author Title Publisher
Adam Brookes The Spy’s Daughter Sphere
Joseph Finder The Switch Head of Zeus
Mick Herron London Rules John Murray Publishers
Emily Koch If I Die Before I Wake Harvill Secker
Attica Locke Bluebird, Bluebird Serpent’s Tail
Colette McBeth An Act of Silence Wildfire
Abir Mukherjee A Necessary Evil Harvill Secker
Gin Phillips Fierce Kingdom Doubleday
C J Tudor The Chalk Man Michael Jospeh
Don Winslow The Force HarperFiction

The CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger

Author Title Publisher
William Boyle Gravesend No Exit Press
Joe Ide I.Q. Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Greg Keen Soho Dead Thomas & Mercer
Danya Kukafka Girl In Snow Picador
Melissa Scrivner Love Lola Point Blank
Khurrum Rahman East Of Hounslow HQ
John Steele Ravenhill Silvertail
Gabriel Tallent My Absolute Darling Fourth Estate
Stuart Turton The Seven Deaths Of Evelyn Hardcastle Raven Books
Emma Viskic Resurrection Bay Pushkin Vertigo

The ALCS Gold Dagger for Non-fiction 2018 Longlist

Author Title Publisher
Piu Eatwell Black Dahlia Red Rose Coronet
Martin Edwards The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books British Library
David Grann Killers of the Flower Moon Simon & Schuster
Thomas Harding Blood on the Page Heinemann
Alexandria Mariano-Lesnevich The Fact of a Body Macmillan
T. Christian Miller & Ken Armstrong A False Report Hutchinson
Matthew Sweet Operation Chaos Picador
Laura Thompson Rex v Edith Thompson Head Of Zeus
Nick Triplow Getting Carter No Exit
Carla Valentine Past Mortems Sphere

The CWA International Dagger 2018 Longlist

Title Author Translator Publisher
Zen and the Art of Murder Oliver Bottini Jamie Bulloch MacLehose
The Shadow District Arnaldur Indriðason Victoria Cribb Harvill Secker
Three Days and a Life Pierre Lemaitre Frank Wynne MacLehose
After the Fire Henning Mankell Marlaine Delargy Harvill Secker
The Frozen Woman Jon Michelet Don Bartlett No Exit Press
Offering to the Storm Dolores Redondo Nick Caistor & Lorenza Garzía HarperCollins
Three Minutes Roslund & Hellström Elizabeth Clark Wessel Quercus/riverrun
Snare Lilja Sigurdardóttir Quentin Bates Orenda
The Accordionist Fred Vargas Sian Reynolds Harvill Secker
Can You Hear Me? Elena Varvello Alex Valente Two Roads/John Murray

The CWA Historical Dagger 2018 Longlist

Author Title Publisher
Abir Mukherjee A Necessary Evil Harvill Secker
Frances Brody Death in the Stars Piatkus
L. C. Tyler Fire Constable
Thomas Mullen Lightning Men Little Brown
Mark Ellis Merlin at War London Wall Publishing
Ngaio Marsh & Stella Duffy Money in the Morgue HarperCollins
Nicola Upson Nine Lessons Faber & Faber
Rory Clements Nucleus Zaffre Publishing
Philip Kerr Prussian Blue Quercus Fiction
Jessica Fellowes The Mitford Murders Sphere

The CWA Short Story Dagger 2018 Longlist

The Corpse on the Copse by Sharon Bolton
“The Body” Killer Women Crime Club Anthology 2 Edited by Susan Opie (Killer Women Ltd)

The Last Siege of Bothwell Castle by Chris Brookmyre
Bloody Scotland ( Historic Environment Scotland)

Too Much Time by Lee Child
No Middle Name: The Complete Collected Jack Reacher Stories (Bantam Press)

Second Son by Lee Child
No Middle Name: The Complete Collected Jack Reacher Stories (Bantam Press)

Authentic Carbon Steel Forged by Elizabeth Haynes
Deadlier: 100 of the Best Crime Stories Written by Women Edited by Sophie Hannah (Head of Zeus)

Smoking Kills by Erin Kelly
“The Body” Killer Women Crime Club Anthology 2 Edited by Susan Opie (Killer Women Ltd)

Nemo Me Impune Lacessit by Denise Mina
Bloody Scotland (Historic Environment Scotland)

Accounting for Murder by Christine Poulson
Mystery Tour: CWA Anthology of Short Stories Edited by Martin Edwards (Orenda Books)

Faking a Murder by Kathy Reichs and Lee Child
Match Up Edited by Lee Child (Sphere)

Trouble is a Lonesome Town by Cathi Unsworth
Deadlier: 100 of the Best Crime Stories Written by Women Edited by Sophie Hannah (Head of Zeus)

 CWA Dagger In The Library 2018 Longlist

Selected by nominations from libraries.

Simon Beckett

Martina Cole
Martin Edwards
Nicci French
Sophie Hannah
Simon Kernick
Edward Marston
Peter May
Rebecca Tope

Debut Dagger 2018 Longlist

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

 Title Author
The Eternal Life of Ezra Ben Simeon Bill Crotty
The Infant of Prague Nicole Wells
Sharps and Flats Chris Dixon
Orange612 Martin Ungless
Grabbed Peter Lewenstein
The Last Googling of Beth Bailly Luke Melia
Riverine Blood Joseph James
Death Be Drammed Coleen Steele
Original Sins Linda McLaughlin
Trust Me, I’m Dead Sherryl Clark

Shortlists for the Daggers will be announced in July and the winners will be announced at the Dagger Awards dinner in London on 25 October, for which tickets are now available. Visit www.thecwa.co.uk for more information or email admin@thecwa.co.uk .

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