The Daggers Hit Their Marks

Novelist Ann Cleeves walked away from a black-tie dinner in London this evening £20,000 richer for having won the very first, 2006 Duncan Lawrie Dagger Award (formerly the Gold Dagger Award), presented by the British Crime Writers’ Association (CWA). During the ceremony, conducted at the Waldorf Hilton, winners in half a dozen other categories were also announced.

The full rundown of victors and nominees is as follows:

Duncan Lawrie Dagger Award
(“For the best crime novel written in English.”)

Winner: Raven Black, by Ann Cleeves (Macmillan)

Also nominated: The Chemistry of Death, by Simon Beckett (Bantam Press); Red Leaves, by Thomas H. Cook (Quercus); Safer Than Houses, by Frances Fyfield (Little, Brown); Wolves of Memory, by Bill James (Constable); and A Thousand Lies, by Laura Wilson (Orion)

Duncan Lawrie International Dagger
(“For crime, thriller, suspense novels or spy fiction which have been translated into English from their original language, for UK publication.”)

Winner: The Three Evangelists, by Fred Vargas; translated by Sian Reynolds (Harvill)

Also nominated: Excursion to Tindari, by Andrea Camilleri, translated by Stephen Sartarelli (Picador); Autumn of the Phantoms, by Yasmina Khadra, translated by Aubrey Botsford (Toby Crime); Dead Horsemeat, by Dominique Manotti, translated by Amanda Hopkinson and Ros Schwartz (Eurocrime); Borkmann’s Point, by Håkan Nesser, translated by Laurie Thompson (Macmillan); and Blood on the Saddle, by Rafael Reig; translated by Paul Hammond (Serpent’s Tail)

The CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger
(“[F]or the best adventure/thriller novel in the vein of James Bond.” Sponsored by Ian Fleming Publications Ltd.)

Winner: Mr. Clarinet, by Nick Stone (Penguin)

Also nominated: The Lincoln Lawyer, by Michael Connelly (Orion); Sweet Gum, by Jo-Ann Goodwin (Bantam Press); Pig Island, by Mo Hayder (Bantam Press); The English Assassin, by Daniel Silva (Penguin); The Mercy Seat, by Martyn Waites (Pocket); and Contact Zero, by David Wolstencroft (Hodder & Stoughton)

The CWA Non-Fiction Gold Dagger

Winner: The Dagenham Murder, by Linda Rhodes, Lee Sheldon, and Kathryn Abnett (Borough of Barking and Dagenham)

Also nominated: A Death in Belmont, by Sebastian Junger (Fourth Estate); The Story of Chicago May, by Nuala O’Faolain (Michael Joseph); The Death of Innocents, by Sister Helen Prejean (Canterbury Press); Under and Alone, by William Queen (Mainstream); and And Then the Darkness, by Sue Williams (John Blake)

The CWA New Blood Dagger
(“[A]warded in memory of CWA founder John Creasey, for first books by previously unpublished writers.” Sponsored by BBC Audiobooks.)

Winner: Still Life, by Louise Penny (Headline)

Also nominated: Immoral, by Brian Freeman (Headline); and Ice Trap, by Kitty Sewell (Honno Welsh Women’s Press)

The CWA Dagger in the Library
(“[A]warded to ‘the author of crime fiction whose work is currently giving the greatest enjoyment to readers.’” Sponsored by Random House.)

Winner: Jim Kelly, author of The Moon Tunnel and The Fire Baby

Also nominated: Anthony Horowitz, Lesley Horton, Margaret Murphy, Danuta Reah (aka Carla Banks), C.J. Sansom, and Cath Staincliffe

The CWA Debut Dagger
(“[O]pen to anyone who has not yet had a novel published commercially.” Sponsored by Orion.)

Winner: D.V. Wesselmann (aka Otis Twelve) (USA), Imp

Also nominated: Celina Alcock (UK), The House on Fever Street; Paul Curd (UK), The Belfast Boy; Diane Janes (UK), Moonshadow; Sarah Kotler (USA), Special Delivery; Iain Rowan (UK), One of Us; Elizabeth Saccente (UK), Ikumo; Michael Sears (South Africa) and Stanley Trollip (USA), A Carrion Death; Richard A. Thompson (USA), Fiddle Game; and Megan Toogood (UK), A Random Act of Generosity

Still to come are the shortlists for this year’s Ellis Peters Award and Short Story Award. Both of those commendations will be presented to winners later in the year.

READ MORE: “And on the Subject of Awards,” by Sarah Weinman (Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind).