Night of the Daggers

The British crime-fiction community was out in force (not to mention in both tuxes and evening gowns) for tonight’s presentation, in London, of the 2018 Dagger Awards. This ceremony was organized, as always, by the Crime Writers’ Association (CWA), with the ever-versatile Barry Forshaw taking on master of ceremonies duty.

Thanks to Rap Sheet correspondent Ali Karim (actually, thanks to his Facebook page), we can now bring you all of the winners.

CWA Gold Dagger:
The Liar, by Steve Cavanagh (Orion)

Also nominated: London Rules, by Mick Herron (John Murray); Since We Fell, by Dennis Lehane (Little, Brown); Bluebird, Bluebird, by Attica Locke (Serpent’s Tail); A Necessary Evil, by Abir Mukherjee (Harvill Secker); and Resurrection Bay, by Emma Viskic (Pushkin Vertigo)

CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger:
Bluebird, Bluebird, by Attica Locke (Serpent’s Tail)

Also nominated: London Rules, by Mick Herron (John Murray); If I Die Before I Wake, by Emily Koch (Harvill Secker); An Act of Silence, by Colette McBeth (Wildfire); The Chalk Man, by C.J. Tudor (Michael Joseph); and The Force, by Don Winslow (HarperFiction)

CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger:
Lola, by Melissa Scrivner Love (Point Blank)

Also nominated: Gravesend, by William Boyle (No Exit Press); IQ, by Joe Ide (Weidenfeld & Nicolson); Girl in Snow, by Danya Kukafka (Picador); East of Hounslow, by Khurrum Rahman (HQ); and Resurrection Bay, by Emma Viskic (Pushkin Vertigo)


Diamond Dagger Award recipient Michael Connelly, with Shots editor Mike Stotter. (Photo © Ali Karim 2018.)

CWA International Dagger: After the Fire, by Henning Mankell, translated by Marlaine Delargy (Harvill Secker)

Also nominated: Zen and the Art of Murder, by Oliver Bottini, translated by Jamie Bulloch (MacLehose Press); Three Days and a Life, by Pierre Lemaitre, translated by Frank Wynne (MacLehose Press); The Frozen Woman, by Jon Michelet, translated by Don Bartlett (No Exit Press); Offering to the Storm, by Dolores Redondo, translated by Nick Caistor and Lorenza Garzía (HarperCollins); and The Accordionist, by Fred Vargas, translated by Sian Reynolds (Harvill Secker)

CWA Historical Dagger:
Nucleus, by Rory Clements (Zaffre)

Also nominated: A Necessary Evil, by Abir Mukherjee (Harvill Secker); Fire, by L.C. Tyler (Constable); Lightning Men, by Thomas Mullen (Little, Brown); Money in the Morgue, by Ngaio Marsh and Stella Duffy (HarperCollins); and Nine Lessons, by Nicola Upson (Faber and Faber)

CWA Short Story Dagger:
“Nemo Me Impune Lacessit,” by Denise Mina (from Bloody Scotland; Historic Environment Scotland)

Also nominated: “The Last Siege of Bothwell Castle,” by Chris Brookmyre (from Bloody Scotland); “Second Son,” by Lee Child (from No Middle Name: The Complete Collected Jack Reacher Stories, by Lee Child; Bantam Press); “Smoking Kills,” by Erin Kelly (from Killer Women: Crime Club Anthology #2: The Body, edited by Susan Opie; Killer Women); and “Accounting for Murder,” by Christine Poulson (from Mystery Tour: CWA Anthology of Short Stories, edited by Martin Edwards; Orenda)

CWA Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction:
Blood on the Page, by Thomas Harding (Heinemann)

Also nominated: Black Dahlia, Red Rose, by Piu Eatwell (Coronet); Killers of the Flower Moon, by David Grann (Simon & Schuster); The Fact of a Body, by Alexandria Mariano-Lesnevich (Macmillan); A False Report, by T. Christian Miller and Ken Armstrong (Hutchinson); and Rex v. Edith Thompson, by Laura Thompson (Head of Zeus)

CWA Dagger in the Library: Martin Edwards
(Selected by nominations from libraries)

Also nominated: Nicci French; Simon Kernick; Edward Marston; Peter May; and Rebecca Tope

CWA Debut Dagger (for unpublished writers):
The Eternal Life of Ezra Ben Simeon, by Bill Crotty

Also nominated: The Last Googling of Beth Bailly, by Luke Melia; Riverine Blood, by Joseph James; Original Sins, by Linda McLaughlin; and Trust Me, I’m Dead, by Sherryl Clark

In addition, American author Michael Connelly was presented with the CWA’s 2018 Diamond Dagger Award for “sustained excellence” in the crime fiction-writing field. And Red Herring Awards (“for outstanding work in support of the CWA”) were given to Ali Karim, Ayo Onatade, David Stuart Davies, and Mike Stotter.

Congratulations to the winners of this year’s prizes, as well as to all of the other honored nominees.