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This year's Crime Writers' Association (CWA) Daggers awards longlists have been announced, with Abir Mukherjee and Andrew Taylor appearing in two categories.
Both Mukherjee's Death in the East (Harvill Secker) and Taylor's The King's Evil (HarperCollins) are on the Sapere Books Historical Dagger longlist, with Mukherjee also listed for the Gold Dagger, and Taylor appearing on the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger list.
The longlist for the CWA Gold Dagger, recognised as the award for best crime novel, sees last year’s winner, M W Craven, return with the second book in his Poe series, Black Summer (Constable). The full list comprises Elly Griffiths for The Lantern Men (Quercus Fiction), Claire Askew's What You Pay For (Hodder & Stoughton) Gary Bell's Beyond Reasonable Doubt (Raven Books), Lou Berney's November Road (Harper Fiction), John Fairfax's Forced Confessions (Little, Brown), Lucy Foley's The Guest List (Harper Fiction), Chris Hammer's Silver (Wildfire), Mick Herron's Joe Country (John Murray), S G MacLean's The Bear Pit (Quercus Fiction), Patrick McGuinness' Throw Me to the Wolves (Jonathan Cape), Alex North's The Whisper Man (Michael Joseph), Scott Phillips' That Left Turn at Albuquerque (Soho Crime), Michael Robotham's Good Girl, Bad Girl (Sphere) and Tim Weaver's No One Home (Michael Joseph), alongside Mukherjee's novel.
This year's Ian Fleming Steel Dagger award longlist sees Berney and North listed again for their Gold Dagger titles.The full list features Tom Chatfield's This is Gomorrah (Hodder & Stoughton), Karen Cleveland's Keep You Close (Bantam Press), A A Dhand's One Way Out (Bantam Press), Eva Dolan's Between Two Evils (Raven Books), Helen Fields' Perfect Kill (Avon), Oliver Harris' A Shadow Intelligence (Little, Brown), Peter Heller's The River (Weidenfeld & Nicolson), Greg Iles' Cemetery Road (Harper Fiction), David Koepp's Cold Storage (HQ), and Adrian McKinty's The Chain (Orion Fiction), in addition to Taylor's title. Previous winners of the award, which is known for blockbuster thrillers, include Gillian Flynn and Robert Harris.
Linda Stratmann, chair of the CWA, said: “The CWA Dagger longlists showcase crime authors - established and new - at the top of their game. They reveal the wide and diverse nature of the genre and why it is so hugely relevant. Crime novels, stories and non-fiction can be social commentary, entertainment and escapism, an exploration of human nature and reflections of a nation’s psyche. The talent in these longlists demonstrate why crime is the UK’s most popular and enduring genre. The CWA Dagger awards are unparalleled for their reputation and longevity. We are proud to provide a platform for debut, emerging and established authors, and to honour the very best in crime writing."
This year's new John Creasey Dagger, highlights the best debut novels. Longlisted this year is Steph Cha's Your House Will Pay (Faber & Faber) Sherryl Clark's Trust Me, I'm Dead (Verve Books), Samantha Downing's My Lovely Wife (Michael Joseph), Philippa East's Little White Lies (HQ), Andrew James Greig's Whirligig (Fledgling Press), A S Hatch'sThis Dark Little Place (Serpent's Tail), James Von Leyden's A Death in the Medina (Constable), Deborah Masson's Hold Your Tongue (Corgi), Owen Matthews' Black Sun (Bantam Press), Felicity McLean's The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone (Point Blank), Robin Morgan-Bentley's The Wreckage (Trapeze) and Trevor Wood's The Man on the Street (Quercus Fiction).
Alongside Mukherjee and Taylor, the longlist for best historical crime novel also features S G Maclean who won the Dagger last year for Destroying Angel, returning with The Bear Pit (Quercus Fiction). The full list also includes Alis Hawkins' In Two Minds (The Dome Press), Philip Kerr's Metropolis (Quercus Fiction), S W Perry's The Serpent’s Mark (Corvus), Alex Reeve's The Anarchists’ Club (Raven Books), Gareth Rubin's Liberation Square (Michael Joseph) S D Sykes' The Bone Fire (Hodder & Stoughton), Lynne Truss' The Man That Got Away (Raven Books), Nicola Upson's Sorry for the Dead (Faber & Faber) and Ovidia Yu's The Paper Bark Tree Mystery (Constable).
The Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger comprises Edoardo Albinati's The Catholic School, translated by Anthony Shugaar (Picador), Marion Brunet's Summer of Reckoning, translated by Katherine Gregor (Bitter Lemon Press), Hannelore Cayre's The Godmother, translated by Stephanie Smee (Old Street Publishing), K Ferrari's Like Flies from Afar, translated by Adrian Nathan West (Canongate Books), Jorge Galán's November, translated by Jason Wilson (Constable), Johana Gustawsson's Blood Song, translated by David Warriner (Orenda Books), J√∏rn Lier Horst's The Cabin, translated by Anne Bruce (Michael Joseph), Sergio Olguin's The Fragility of Bodies, translated by Miranda France (Bitter Lemon Press), Leonardo Padura's Grab a Snake by the Tail, translated by Peter Bush (Bitter Lemon Press) and Antti Tuomainen's Little Siberia, translated by David Hackston (Orenda Books).
The short story Dagger list is dominated by Titan Books, which has published eight of the 10 nominees. The comprises Fiona Cummins' Dead Weight in Exit Wounds, edited by Paul B Kane and Marie O’Regan, Jeffery Deaver's Connecting the Dots in Invisible Blood, edited by Maxim Jakubowski, Jeffery Deaver's The Bully in Exit Wounds, edited by Paul B Kane and Marie O’Regan, Paul Finch's The New Lad in Exit Wounds, edited by Paul B Kane and Marie O’Regan, Christopher Fowler's The Washing in Invisible Blood, edited by Maxim Jakubowski, and Fowler's Bryant and May and The Devil's Triangle in Bryant and May: England's Finest (Doubleday), Lauren Henderson's #Me Too in Invisible Blood, edited by Maxim Jakubowski, Louise Jensen's The Recipe in Exit Wounds, edited by Paul B Kane and Marie O’Regan, Dean Koontz's Kittens in Exit Wounds, edited by Paul B Kane and Marie O’Regan and Syd Moore's Easily Made in 12 Strange Days of Christmas (Point Blank Press).
Listed for the ALCS Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction are Casey Cep for Furious Hours (William Heinemann), Julia Ebner for Going Dark: The Secret Social Lives of Extremists (Bloomsbury Publishing) Peter Everett for Corrupt Bodies (Icon Books), Caroline Goode for Honour: Achieving Justice for Banaz Mahmod (Oneworld Publications), Joanna Jolly for Red River Girl (Virago), Jodi Kantor & Megan Twohey for She Said (Bloomsbury Circus), Sean O’Connor for The Fatal Passion of Alma Rattenbury (Simon & Schuster) Adam Sisman for The Professor and the Parson: A Story of Desire, Deceit and Defrocking (Profile Books), Susannah Stapleton for The Adventures of Maud West, Lady Detective (Picador) and Fred Vermorel for Dead Fashion Girl: A Situationist Detective Story (Strange Attractor Press).
The Dagger in the Library is voted on exclusively by librarians, chosen for the author’s body of work and support of libraries. This year sees Benjamin Black, Christopher Brookmyre, Jane Casey, Paul Finch, Alex Gray, Mick Herron, Quintin Jardine, Lisa Jewell, Erin Kelly, Adrian McKinty, Denise Mina and James Oswald longlisted.
Listed for the Debut Dagger are Barbara Austin for Lowlands, Anna Caig for The Spae-Wife, Loraine Fowlow for Undercut, Leanne Fry for Whipstick, Kim Hays for Pesticide, Jack Kapica for Blogger’s End, Nicholas Morrish for Emergency Drill, Josephine Moulds for Revolution Never Lies, Michael Munro for Bitter Lake, Karen Taylor for Grim Fairy Tale, Jane Wing for Dark Pastimes and Sarah Yarwood-Lovett for A Generation of Viper.
Presses nominated for the Publisher's Daggers are Allison & Busby, Bitter Lemon, Harvill Secker, Head of Zeus, HQ, Michael Joseph, Orenda, Orion, Pushkin Vertigo, Raven, Severn House and Sphere. The award celebrates presses which "demonstrate excellence and diversity in crime writing".
The CWA Dagger shortlist will be announced later in the year before the awards ceremony due to take place on 22nd October with TV presenter turned novelist Richard Osman.
The 2020 Diamond Dagger for lifetime achievement, the highest honour in British crime writing, will be awarded to Martin Edwards on the night.
The CWA has also announced that Della Millward has won the 2020 CWA Margery Allingham Short Mystery Prize for A Time to Confess. She will receive £500, a selection of Allingham books and two passes to the international crime writing convention CrimeFest in 2021. Highly commended were Lauren Everdell for Voices and Laila Murphy with Sting in the Tail.
The Margery Allingham Society works with the CWA to operate and fund the writing competition.