Uncloaking Daggers

Earlier today, we announced the shortlist of nominees for this year’s International Dagger Award, to be presented by the British Crime Writers’ Association (CWA). Subsequently, we received news about nominees in four other Dagger categories. They are:

CWA Gold Dagger for Non-fiction:
• Major Farran’s Hat, by David Cesarani (Heinemann)
• Killing Time, by David R. Dow (Heinemann)
• Aftermath: The Omagh Bombing and the Families’ Pursuit of Justice, by Ruth Dudley Edwards (Harvill Secker)
• Go Down Together: The True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde, by Jeff Guinn (Simon & Schuster)
• Defending the Guilty, by Alex McBride (Penguin/Viking)
• The Monster of Florence, by Douglas Preston, with Mario Spezi (Virgin/Random House)

CWA Dagger in the Library (“awarded to an author for a body of work, not one single title”):
• Simon Beckett (Bantam)
• R.J. Ellory (Orion)
• Ariana Franklin (Random House)
• Mo Hayder (Bantam)
• Denise Mina (Transworld)
• Chris Simms (Orion)

CWA Short Story Dagger:
• “A Calculated Risk,” by Sean Chercover (from Thriller 2, edited by Clive Cussler; Mira)
• “The Weapon,” by Jeffery Deaver (from Thriller 2)
• “Can You Help Me Out There,” by Robert Ferrigno (from Thriller 2)
• “Boldt’s Broken Angel,” by Ridley Pearson (from Thriller 2)
• “Like a Virgin,” by Peter Robinson (from The Price of Love; Hodder & Stoughton)
• “Killing Time,” by Jon Land (from Thriller 2)
• “Protecting the Innocent,” by Simon Wood (from Thriller 2)

CWA Debut Dagger (“a new-writing competition open to anyone writing in the English language who has not yet had a novel published commercially”):
• All the Precious Things, by Jan Napiorkowski (UK)
• A Murder in Mumbles, by Rick DeMille (USA)
• A Place of Dying, by Patrick Eden (UK)
• Case No. 1, by Sandra Graham (Australia)
• Chinese Whispers, by Alan Carter (Australia)
• In the Lion’s Throat, by Bob Marriott (New Zealand)
• Legacy, by Rebecca Brodie (UK)
• Lockdown, by Danielle Ramsay (UK)
• Pretty Preeti, by Stephanie Light (India)
• Safe Harbour, by Rosemary McCracken (Canada)
• The Beggar’s Opera, by Peggy Blair (Canada)
• The Chameleon Factor, by Kathleen Stewart (Australia)

Winners in all of these categories will be announced during a special event, to be held on Friday, July 23, during the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate, England.