The Crime Writers’ Association is pleased to announce the winners of these CWA Daggers:
William Brodrick wins the CWA Gold Dagger for A Whispered Name
John Hart wins the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for The Last Child
Johan Theorin wins the CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger for Echoes from The Dead
Philip Kerr wins the CWA Ellis Peters Historical Award for If The Dead Rise Not.
The first three announcements were one of the highlights of the first Specsavers Crime Thriller Awards 2009.
The CWA Dagger Awards are the longest established literary awards in the UK and are internationally recognised as a mark of excellence and achievement. In winning the Gold Dagger and the £2500 prize, William Brodrick joins a long and illustrious line stretching back to 1955 and The Little Walls by Winston Graham, now best known as the author of the Poldark novels.
The judges described A Whispered Name as ‘A moving novel that stretches the parameters of the crime genre, intertwining past and present and throwing light on a neglected aspect of World War One.’
The evening, at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London, boasted an array of famous faces from the worlds of screen and books, and was hosted by comedian Alan Davies. The culmination of a six-week season of ITV3 crime and drama programming, the Specsavers Crime Thriller Awards 2009 will be televised on ITV3 on Tuesday, 27th October at 9pm.
John Hart, the winner of the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger and a £2000 cheque, is the Edgar-Award winning author of two international bestsellers, The King of Lies and Down River.
Ian Fleming said there was one essential criterion for a good thriller - that ‘one simply has to turn the page’; this is one of the main characteristics that the judges were looking for. They said that The Last Child, his third book, was Accomplished and ambitious piece of southern gothic. It is beautifully rendered, with a cast of memorable characters - full of pathos, atmosphere and mystery. A cracking and original story.
Photo © Lotte Fernvall
Johan Theorin, the winner of the CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger and a £1000 cheque, said “Britain is home to most of the greatest mystery writers in the world, from Conan Doyle, Christie and Creasey and up to all the fine writers who are still alive and active today - and as a Swede I couldn’t dream of competing with them. But to my big surprise and honour, I guess I have.” His prizewinning book, Echoes from The Dead, had already been shortlisted for the CWA International Dagger. The judges described it as a finely written intrigue ... in which the island where the action takes place is as much a player in the drama as the people are.
Philip Kerr, the author of the CWA Ellis Peters Historical Award winning If The Dead Rise Not, learned of his success at a presentation ceremony held at Six Fitzroy Square, London on 29 October 2009. He was born in Edinburgh but now lives in London and in Cornwall. He is the author of five other acclaimed Bernie Gunther novels and is acknowledged as one of today’s finest thriller writers. If the Dead Rise Not recently won the €125,000 RBA international prize for crime writing.
The judging panel said of his book, which is published by Quercus:: ‘Bernard Gunther, ex-Berlin cop, now house detective in the first-class Hotel Adlon as Nazi power becomes unstoppable, grapples with murder, corruption and the politics involved with Berlin’s 1936 hosting of the Olympic Games. Nearly twenty years later Bernie faces echoes of that time in pre-Castro Cuba, where he once more becomes involved with murder, corruption and politics. A tightly controlled plot twists and turns in a wryly witty narrative and the historical settings breathe reality.’
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® are registered Trade Marks of the Crime Writers’ Association.
The Specsavers Crime Thriller Awards is an exciting new partnership between the CWA, Cactus TV and ITV3. The initiative has the support of leading publishers and high street retailers and with posters and stickered books in shops and supermarkets and coverage in the press, reinforcing its status as a major industry event.
Crime Writers’ Association Chair Margaret Murphy commented: “The Crime Writers’ Association Daggers have been synonymous with quality crime writing for over fifty years. This exciting partnership with will enable us to create a mass media platform for the Crime Writers’ Association’s proud heritage in recognising great crime writing talent. We are delighted that the CWA Gold Dagger, Ian Fleming Steel Dagger, and John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger will benefit from this increased exposure and we look forward to reaching a new audience for what is already publishing’s most popular genre.”
The culmination of a six-week season of ITV3 crime and drama programming, the Specsavers Crime Thriller Awards (“Daggers”) was a glittering occasion at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel. The awards ceremony celebrated the crème de la crème of Crime and Thriller fiction with awards focusing on the best of British and International crime thriller novels. Literary Awards presented included the three CWA Daggers, and the Hall Of Fame Dagger, which honours the achievements of the genre’s greatest exponents, past and present. In addition, the evening introduced a brand new award – the The ITV3 Bestseller Dagger, sponsored by Specsavers – voted for by ITV3 viewers. The Specsavers Crime Thriller Awards also celebrated crime fiction off the page with awards focusing on the greatest crime and thriller films and TV dramas of the year – along with the actors who brought the characters to life.
Left-to-right: Colin Cotterill, Catherine O’Keefe, Margaret Murphy and Sean Chercover. Photo: Fiona Davies
Earlier in the summer, the Crime Writers’ Association announced the winners of the Dagger in the Library, International, Short Story and Debut Daggers at a drinks reception held at the Tiger Tiger nightspot in London, on the evening of July 15. CWA Chair Margaret Murphy said: “Yet again, the Daggers have shown the depth of talent that exists within the world of crime writing. All our winning and shortlisted authors have exhibited a terrific talent which augurs well for the continued success of the genre.”
Colin Cotterill has won this year’s CWA Dagger in the Library, which carries a prize of £1500 to the author, plus £300 to a participating library’s readers’ group.
This annual award is given to "the author of crime fiction whose work is currently giving the greatest enjoyment to library users"; authors are nominated by UK libraries and Readers’ Groups and judged by a panel of librarians. In making the award to Colin, the judges said An unusual hero in an unusual setting. Quirky, funny and very appealing. His books are a truly beautiful read.
Previous winners have included Stuart McBride, Craig Russell and Alexander McCall Smith. The £1500 prize is sponsored by the publishers Random House.
More information, including details of the other five shortlisted authors, on the Dagger in the Library page
For the third time in four years, writer Fred Vargas and translator Sîan Reynolds have triumphed in the Crime Writers’ Association International Dagger, this time with the first in the series of Adamsberg novels, The Chalk Circle Man.
This Dagger is awarded for crime, thriller, suspense novels or spy fiction which have been translated into English from their original language, for UK publication. The Dagger and cheque for £1000 prize money for the author and £500 for the translator was presented at a drinks reception held at the Tiger Tiger nightspot in London on the evening of July 15. The judges commented ‘This first Adamsberg novel is already a remarkable demonstration of Vargas’s ability to open with an odd event and follow it into an unhappy past.’
More information, including details of the other five shortlisted authors, on the International Dagger page.
Photo: Brett Carlson
The Crime Writers’ Association is delighted to announce that Sean Chercover has won this year’s CWA Short Story Dagger with his story One Serving of Bad Luck, taken from from Killer Year, edited by Lee Child and published by Mira.
He was presented with his dagger and a cheque for £1500 at a drinks reception held at the Tiger Tiger nightspot in London on the evening of July 15. The judges commented that his story was Neat, tight and economical, this is a new take on the private eye; the auguries are good for a major crime writing career for this writer.
More information, including details of the other five shortlisted authors, on the Short Story Dagger page.
The 2009 Debut Dagger competition has been won by Catherine O’Keefe with The Pathologist. The judges described it as An uncomfortable, sophisticated, read that also manages to be suspenseful.
Catherine was awarded with her dagger at the Dagger Awards presentations, during a drinks reception held at the Tiger Tiger nightspot in London on the evening of July 15.
CJ Harper was highly commended for Backdrop, which the judges said had A likeable PI protagonist and a solid time slip plot… the 1950 Hollywood setting is sexy…
The Debut Dagger is a new-writing competition open to anyone writing in the English language who has not yet had a novel published commercially. First prize is £500 plus two free tickets to the prestigious CWA Dagger Awards and night’s stay for two in a top London hotel.
More information, including details of the other ten shortlisted authors, on the 2009 Debut Dagger page.
The 2010 Debut Dagger Competition opened on 31 October 2009, and more details may be found on the main Debut Dagger page.
The Ellis Peters Historical Award is made in the autumn for books published between September 16 2008 and September 15 2009. The closing date was August 1 2009.
The non-fiction dagger is now awarded every other year and will next be in contention in 2010. To qualify for entry books must have been published between 1 June 2008 and 31 May 2010.