The Word from London

Correspondent Ali Karim just phoned in from London to announce the winners of this year’s Dagger Awards, given out by the British Crime Writers’ Association (CWA). Among tonight’s lucky few are Sean Chercover, who triumphed in the Short Story Dagger category. The full list of recipients looks like this:

The CWA International Dagger: The Chalk Circle Man, by Fred Vargas; translated by Siân Reynolds (Harvill Secker). Highly recommended: Echoes from the Dead, by Johan Theorin; translated by Marlaine Delargy (Doubleday)

Also nominated: Shadow, by Karin Alvtegen; translated by McKinley Burnett (Canongate); The Arctic Chill, by Arnaldur Indriðason; translated by Bernard Scudder and Victoria Cribb (Harvill Secker); The Girl Who Played with Fire, by Stieg Larsson; translated by Reg Keeland (MacLehose/Quercus); and The Redeemer, by Jo Nesbø; translated by Don Bartlett (Harvill Secker)

The CWA Short Story Dagger: “One Serving of Bad Luck,” by Sean Chercover (from Killer Year, edited by Lee Child; Mira)

Also nominated: “Speaking of Lust,” by Lawrence Block (from Speaking of Lust; Five Leaves Publications); “Cougar,” by Laura Lippman (from Two of the Deadliest, edited by Elizabeth George; Hodder & Stoughton); “The Price of Love,” by Peter Robinson (from The Blue Religion, edited by Michael Connelly; Back Bay Books); “Served Cold,” by Zoë Sharp (from The Mammoth Book of Best British Crime, edited by Maxim Jakubowski; Constable & Robinson); and “Mother’s Milk,” by Chris Simms (from The Mammoth Book of Best British Crime)

The CWA Dagger in the Library (awarded for an author’s full body of work, not an individual book): Colin Cotterill

Also nominated: Simon Beckett, R.J. Ellory, Ariana Franklin, Peter James, Michael Robotham

The CWA Debut Dagger: The Pathologist, by Catherine O’Keefe (Canada). Highly recommended: Backdrop, by C.J. Harper (USA)

Also nominated: A View from the Clock Tower, by Frank Burkett (Australia); My First Big Book of Murder, by Aoife Clifford (Australia); The Land of Sun and Fun, by Madeleine Harris-Callway (Canada); Sex, Death, and Chocolate, by Renata Hill (Canada); The Sirius Patrol, by Mick Laing (UK); Forgotten Treasures, by Susan Lindgren (USA); Paterfamilias, by Danielle Ramsay (UK); A Vine Time for Trouble, by Germaine Stafford (Italy); Idiot Wind, by Martin Ungless (UK); and Murder at the Séance, by Alan Wright (UK)

The shortlists of nominees for this year’s Gold, John Creasey (New Blood), and Ian Fleming Steel Daggers were expected to be announced during tonight’s celebration at the Tiger Tiger nightspot in London. However, that has now been delayed until the fall.

READ MORE: “International Dagger a Sham,” by Reg Keeland (Stieg Larrson’s English Translator); “Vargas Wins International Dagger 2009,” by Maxine Clarke (Petrona); “Dagger Awards 2009--the Results,” by Meg Gardiner (Lying for a Living).