Sansom wins CWA Diamond Dagger

C J Sansom has been awarded the Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) Diamond Dagger. 

The Diamond Dagger winner is selected from nominations provided by CWA members, recognising authors whose crime writing careers have been marked by sustained excellence and who have made a significant contribution to the genre. 

Sansom joins icons of the genre who have been recognised with the accolade, including Ruth Rendell, Lee Child, Ann Cleeves, Ian Rankin, P D James, Colin Dexter, John le Carré and Martina Cole among others. 

Sansom said: “I feel so honoured to be awarded this year’s Diamond Dagger, and my heartfelt thanks to the CWA members and committee. Wonderful to think I now join such a distinguished group of authors. To think it all started with the idea that a novel set around Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries might make a good story. Thank you.” 

Maxim Jakubowski, chair of the CWA, said: “C J Sansom has proven himself to be the modern master of the historical thriller, regardless of periods. Equally at ease evoking 16th-Century England, Spain in the aftermath of its Civil War or even an alternate post-Second World War Britain, he weaves a web of compelling reality around his characters and brings the past to life like no other, making him a splendid and deserved addition to the prestigious ranks of Diamond Dagger winners.” 

The author was born Christopher John Sansom in 1952 in Edinburgh and was educated at Birmingham University with a BA and then a PhD in history. After working in a variety of jobs, he retrained as a solicitor and worked in Sussex until becoming a full-time writer. He combined both history and law in his debut novel Dissolution (Pan Macmillan), the first of the Matthew Shardlake novels, which focused on monastic murder and politics. Then followed the bestselling Shardlake series, set in the reign of Henry VIII and following the 16th-Century lawyer-detective Matthew Shardlake and his assistant Jack Barak. 

After Dissolution came Dark Fire (Pan Macmillan), which won the 2005 Crime Writers’ Association Historical Dagger. Sansom has also written a thriller, Winter in Madrid (Pan Macmillan), set in Spain in 1940 in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War. 

The Diamond Dagger is announced before the annual CWA Dagger Awards which will be awarded in June.