And the Prize Goes to … Anonymous

Britain’s Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) won’t announce the winners of its 2007 Dagger Awards until July 5 of this year, and a roster of nominees in all of the categories isn’t set for publication until early next month. However, the shortlist of nominees for the Debut Dagger--given to first-time novelists--has already been released. Sort of. The names of the shortlisted books are out, but not yet the authors of those works (although the writers’ home countries are listed). Explains the CWA Web site: “To keep the judging process completely anonymous, the names of the shortlist will not be released until the beginning of June, when they will be included in a general press release for the CWA Dagger Awards.”

In other words, only the fortunate people who submitted these shortlisted tales (and maybe their familes) know who they are:

Cry Baby (UK)
Maletski’s Motive (UK)
Natural Causes (UK)
Pariah (UK)
Rome Was Never Like This (USA)
Solitaire (UK)
Towers of London (UK)
The Shadow of the Dead (USA)
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (Canada)
White Lion (UK)
The Witch of Babylon (Canada)
With a View to Death (UK)