CWA Dagger Shortlists Announced

The 2022 shortlists for the prestigious Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) Dagger awards, which honor the very best in the crime-writing genre, have been announced at a reception hosted at CrimeFest today. Created in 1955, the world-famous CWA Daggers are the oldest awards in the genre and have been synonymous with quality crime writing for over half a century. The Dagger awards ceremony will be held at the Leonardo City hotel in London on 29 June, coinciding with National Crime Reading Month, which takes place throughout June.

GOLD DAGGER

• Before You Knew My Name, Jacqueline Bublitz (Little, Brown; Sphere)
• Sunset Swing, Ray Celestin (Pan Macmillan; Mantle)
• Razorblade Tears, SA Cosby (Headline Publishing Group; Headline)
• The Unwilling, John Hart (Bonnier Books UK Ltd; Zaffre)
• The Shadows of Men, Abir Mukherjee (Penguin Random House; Harvill Secker)
• The Trawlerman, William Shaw (Quercus; riverrun)

IAN FLEMING STEEL DAGGER

• Find You First, Linwood Barclay (HarperCollins; HQ)
• The Pact, Sharon Bolton (Orion)
• The Devil’s Advocate, Steve Cavanagh (Orion)
• Razorblade Tears, SA Cosby (Headline Publishing Group)
• Dead Ground, MW Craven (Little, Brown; Constable)
• Dream Girl, Laura Lippman (Faber)

JOHN CREASEY (NEW BLOOD) DAGGER

• Welcome to Cooper, Tariq Ashkanani (Thomas & Mercer)
• Repentance, Eloísa Díaz (Orion Publishing Group; Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
• The Mash House, Alan Gillespie (Unbound; Unbound Digital)
• The Appeal, Janice Hallett (Profile Books; Viper Books)
• Where Ravens Roost, Karin Nordin (HarperCollins; HQ)
• How to Kidnap the Rich, Rahul Raina (Little, Brown)
• Waking the Tiger, Mark Wightman (Hobeck Books)

HISTORICAL DAGGER

• April in Spain, John Banville (Faber)
• Sunset Swing, Ray Celestin (Pan Macmillan; Mantle)
• Crow Court, Andy Charman (Unbound)
• Not One of Us, Alis Hawkins (Canelo)
• Edge of the Grave, Robbie Morrison (Pan Macmillan; Macmillan)
• A Corruption of Blood, Ambrose Parry (Canongate Books)

CRIME FICTION IN TRANSLATION DAGGER

• Hotel Cartagena, Simone Buchholz translated by Rachel Ward (Orenda Books)
• Bullet Train, Kōtarō Isaka translated by Sam Malissa (Penguin Random House; Harvill Secker)
• Oxygen, Sacha Naspini translated by Clarissa Botsford (Europa Editions UK Ltd; Europa Editions)
• People Like Them, Samira Sedira translated by Lara Vergnaud (Bloomsbury Publishing; Raven Books)
• The Rabbit Factor, Antti Tuomainen translated by David Hackston (Orenda Books)

SHORT STORY DAGGER

• ‘Blindsided’ by Caroline England in Criminal Pursuits: Crime Through Time edited by Samantha Lee Howe (Telos Publishing)
• ‘London’ in The Jealousy Man and other stories by Jo Nesbⱷ edited by Robert Ferguson (Penguin Random House; Harvill Secker)
• ‘With the Others’ by TM Logan in Afraid of the Shadows edited by Miranda Jewess (Criminal Minds)
• ‘Flesh of a Fancy Woman’ by Paul Magrs in Criminal Pursuits: Crime Through Time edited by Samantha Lee Howe (Telos Publishing)
• ‘Changeling’ by Bryony Pearce in Criminal Pursuits: Crime Through Time edited by Samantha Lee Howe (Telos Publishing)
• ‘When I Grow Up’ by Robert Scragg in Afraid of the Shadows edited by Miranda Jewess (Criminal Minds)

ALCS GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION

• The Devil You Know: Stories of Human Cruelty and Compassion, Dr Gwen Adshead & Eileen Horne (Faber)
• The Dublin Railway Murder, Thomas Morris (Penguin Random House; Harvill Secker)
• The Unusual Suspect, Ben Machell (Canongate Books)
• The Disappearance of Lydia Harvey: A true story of sex, crime and the meaning of justice, Julia Laite (Profile Books)
• Empire of Pain, Patrick Radden Keefe (Pan Macmillan; Picador)
• The Irish Assassins: Conspiracy, Revenge and the Murders that Stunned an Empire, Julie Kavanagh (Atlantic Books; Grove Press UK)

DAGGER IN THE LIBRARY

• Cath Staincliffe
• Edward Marston
• Lin Anderson
• Mark Billingham
• Susan Hill

PUBLISHERS’ DAGGER

• Faber & Faber
• HarperCollins; Harper Fiction
• Penguin Random House; Michael Joseph
• Pushkin Press; Pushkin Vertigo
• Titan Books
• Profile Books; Viper

DEBUT DAGGER Sponsored by ProWritingAid

• Henry’s Bomb, Kevin Bartlett
• Holloway Castle, Laura Ashton Hill
• The 10:12, Anna Maloney
• The Dead of Egypt, David Smith
• The Dieppe Letters, Liz Rachel Walker