Bolton wins CWA Dagger in the Library prize

Transworld author Sharon Bolton has won the CWA’s Dagger in the Library Award.

Bolton was announced as the winner of the prize, which honours an author’s body of work to date rather than a single title, at an event at Waterstones Piccadilly last night (4th December).

The award was sponsored by Dead Good Books, Penguin Random House’s crime community.

This year, for the first time, readers compiled the 10-strong longlist,  voting online for their favourite authors, before the judging panel selected a shortlist of five.

Sarah Adams, publishing director at Transworld, said: “We are thrilled to see Sharon's novels receive this public recognition. The unique, addictive and consistent quality of her writing never ceases to amaze us, and she richly deserves to celebrate and be celebrated. Our thanks go to all of Sharon's supporters and to the judges.”

Alison Joseph, chair of the Crime Writers' Association, said: “The Dagger in the Library celebrates what we crime writers do best: great story-telling. It is judged by readers, for readers. It is also a reminder of the central importance of libraries to the world of books and to the lives of readers and writers. Our thanks are due to all the judges, and to our sponsors, Dead Good, and our congratulations to Sharon too for this well-deserved win.”

The judges this year included previous winner Steve Mosby, CWA Director Lucy Santos and a group of UK librarians.

The event at Waterstones Piccadilly also included a crime quiz, won by a team of four from Quercus. Other teams taking part came from Transworld, Michael Joseph, Headline, Harper Collins and Amazon.