Watch Out for Flying Daggers

During a special ceremony in London, Britain’s Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) today announced the winners of half a dozen of its annual Dagger Awards. They are:

CWA International Dagger: The Potter’s Field, by Andrea Camilleri, translated by Stephen Sartarelli (Mantle)

Also nominated: I Will Have Vengeance, by Maurizio de Giovanni, translated by Anne Milano Appel (Hersilia Press); Until Thy Wrath Be Past, by Åsa Larsson, translated by Laurie Thompson (Quercus/MacLehose); Trackers, by Deon Meyer, translated by T.K.L Seegers (Hodder & Stoughton); Phantom, by Jo Nesbø, translated by Don Bartlett (Harvill Secker); and The Dark Valley, by Valerio Varesi, translated by Joseph Farrell (Quercus/MacLehose)

CWA Non-fiction Dagger: The Eleventh Day, by Anthony Summers and Robbyn Swan (Transworld/Doubleday)

Also nominated: To Live Outside the Law, by Leaf Fielding (Serpent’s Tail); Dark Market, by Misha Glenny (Vintage); Hood Rat, by Gavin Knight (Pan Macmillan); The Negotiator, by Ben Lopez (Little, Brown); and Witness, by David Smith with Carol Ann Lee (Mainstream)

CWA Short Story Dagger: Tie — “The Message,” by Margaret Murphy (from Murder Squad: Best Eaten Cold and Other Stories, edited by Martin Edwards; The Mystery Press) and “Laptop,” by Cath Staincliffe (from Murder Squad: Best Eaten Cold and Other Stories)

Also nominated: “The Golden Hour,” by Bernie Crossthwaite (from Guilty Consciences, edited by Martin Edwards; Severn House; “Hixton,” by William Kent Krueger (from Crimes by Moonlight, edited by Charlaine Harris; Gollancz); “He Did Not Always See Her,” by Claire Seeber (from Guilty Consciences); and “A Long Time Dead,” by Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins (from The Best American Mystery Stories 2011, edited by Harlan Coben and Otto Penzler; Corvus)

CWA Ellis Peters Historical Dagger: Icelight, by Aly Monroe
(John Murray)

Also nominated: The Crown, by Nancy Bilyeau (Orion); I Will Have Vengeance, by Maurizio de Giovanni (Hersilia Press); Bitter Water, by Gordon Ferris (Corvus); Prague Fatale, by Philip Kerr (Quercus); Sacrilege, by S.J. Parris (HarperCollins); and A Willing Victim, by Laura Wilson (Quercus)

CWA Dagger in the Library: Steve Mosby

Also nominated: Belinda Bauer, S.J. Bolton, Susan Hill, Peter May, and Imogen Robertson

CWA Debut Dagger: Beached, by Sandy Gingras

Also nominated: Death by Glasgow, by Jon Breakfield; Easy to Die, by Sean Carpenter; The Watchers, by Karen Catalona; One Man Army, by Bram E. Gieben; Trick, by Sean Hancock; Broken-Winged Bird, by Renata Hill; Death Knell, by Rob Lowe; Chasing Shadows, by Lesley McLaren; The Wrong Domino, by Simon Miller; Message from Panama, by Britt Vasarhelyi; and Port of Spain, by Elizabeth Wells

Tonight’s London event also included the presentation of the CWA’s 2012 Diamond Dagger Award to Frederick Forsyth, author of The Day of the Jackal (1971), The Dogs of War (1974), and numerous other best-selling works.

On top of the six prizes handed ’round today, the CWA released the longlists of nominees for three other Dagger Awards as follows:

The John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger:
• The Doll Princess, by Tom Benn (Jonathan Cape)
• Heart-Shaped Bruise, by Tanya Byrne (Headline)
• A Land More Kind than Home, by Wiley Cash (Bantam)
• So Much Pretty, by Cara Hoffman (Century)
• Good People, by Ewart Hutton (HarperCollins)
• Turn of Mind, by Alice LaPlante (Harvill Secker)
• The Expats, by Chris Pavone (Faber and Faber)
• What Dies in Summer, by Tom Wright (Canongate)

The Ian Fleming Steel Dagger:
• Dare Me, by Megan Abbott (Picador)
• The Shadow Patrol, by Alex Berenson (Headline)
• A Foreign Country, by Charles Cumming (HarperCollins)
• The Fear Index, by Robert Harris (Hutchinson)
• The Dispatcher, by Ryan David Jahn (Macmillan)
• Uncommon Enemy, by Alan Judd (Simon & Schuster)
• The Child Who, by Simon Lelic (Mantle)
• Reamde, by Neal Stephenson (Atlantic)

The Gold Dagger:
• A Land More Kind than Home, by Wiley Cash (Bantam)
• Vengeance in Mind, by N.J. Cooper (Simon & Schuster)
• Grandad, There’s a Head on the Beach, by Colin Cotterill (Quercus)
• The Flight, by M.R. Hall (Mantle)
• The Rage, by Gene Kerrigan (Vintage)
• Turn of Mind, by Alice LaPlante (Harvill Secker)
• The Child Who, by Simon Lelic (Mantle)
• Bereft, by Chris Womersley (Quercus)

Winners in these last three categories will be declared later in the year.

READ MORE: “CWA Dagger Awards 2012--the Night’s Event,” by Rhian Davies (It’s a Crime! [Or a Mystery ...]).