Mosley Takes the Diamond Dagger

The British Crime Writers’ Association has announced that American author Walter Mosley will receive its 2023 Diamond Dagger award. That annual commendation “recognises authors whose crime-writing careers have been marked by sustained excellence, and who have made a significant contribution to the genre.” Mosley’s first detective novel, Devil in a Blue Dress, introducing Ezekiel “Easy” Rawlins, was published in 1990. He has since penned more than 60 other books.

A press release goes on to say:

A multi-award-winning author, Mosley was inducted into the New York State Writers Hall of Fame in 2013. His numerous awards include The Mystery Writers of America’s Grand Master Award, a Grammy, and a PEN America’s Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2020, he was named the recipient of the Robert Kirsch Award for lifetime achievement from Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, and the National Book Foundation presented him with the Lifetime Achievement Award for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.

“I am truly delighted my friend Walter has been deemed worthy of the Diamond Dagger by my colleagues and members of the CWA,” says CWA chair Maxim Jakubowski. “His voice has dominated the fiction scene for decades and I can think of no more deserving and ground-breaking an author to be given this ultimate accolade, for the so many things he has contributed to our genre but also to modern society.”

Mosley’s latest novel, Every Man a King, his second to feature New York City private eye Joe King Oliver, was published just this month by Mulholland Books. The author joins a stellar lineup of previous Diamond Dagger recipients, including Ruth Rendell, Ian Rankin, P.D. James, Peter Lovesey, John Le Carré, Michael Connelly, Elmore Leonard, Sara Paretsky, and last year’s winner, C.J. Sansom. He will be given his prestigious prize during a ceremony to take place in London on July 6.