A Prize By Any Other Name ...

Forgive me if my face went absolutely blank at the announcement of nominees for this year’s Duncan Lawrie Dagger Award. The what award? Somehow, I managed to miss the memo about how the British Crime Writers Association (CWA) was renaming its esteemed Gold Dagger Award after a private, London-based bank, which has agreed to kick in the noteworthy sum of £20,000 for the top prize winner. (Ah, what money can buy in our sponsors-obsessed age.)

Anyway, the half dozen nominees for this “biggest crime-writing prize in the world” are:

● The Chemistry of Death, by Simon Beckett (Bantam Press)
● Raven Black, by Ann Cleeves (Macmillan)
● Red Leaves, by Thomas H. Cook (Quercus)
● Safer Than Houses, by Frances Fyfield (Little, Brown)
● Wolves of Memory, by Bill James (Constable)
● A Thousand Lies, by Laura Wilson (Orion)

The winner will be announced during a black tie/evening dress dinner on June 29 at London’s Waldorf Hilton Hotel.

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By the way, I don’t want to fail to mention that American novelist Elmore Leonard was the recipient of the CWA’s 2006 Cartier Diamond Dagger Award for lifetime achievement. This commendation was actually presented to the 80-year-old novelist in early May, but that was before the new Rap Sheet debuted. We offer our own round of cheers to Mr. Leonard, even if it’s belated.

Last year’s Cartier winner was Scottish novelist Ian Rankin.