Crime Fiction Awards News for May 2023

2023 THEAKSTON OLD PECULIER CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR

The longlist for the 2023 Theakston old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year has been announced.

The prize was created to celebrate “excellence, originality, and the very best in crime fiction from UK and Irish authors” whose novels were published in paperback during the eligibility period.

 The winner receives £3,000 and a handmade, engraved beer barrel provided by Theakston Old Peculier. 

The public are now invited to vote for a shortlist of six titles here; voting for that closes May 18. Then the shortlist will be posted and winner voting will open June 15. The prize winner will be revealed July 20.

The Longlist in full:

  • The Murder Book by Mark Billingham (Little, Brown Book Group; Little Brown)
  • The Botanist by M.W. Craven (Little, Brown Book Group; Constable)
  • Into The Dark by Fiona Cummins (Pan Macmillan; Macmillan/Pan)
  • The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley (HarperCollins; HarperFiction)
  • The Locked Room by Elly Griffiths (Quercus)
  • The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett (Profile Books; Viper)
  • Bad Actors by Mick Herron (John Murray Press; Baskerville)
  • The Family Remains by Lisa Jewell (Cornerstone; Century Fiction)
  • Black Hearts by Doug Johnstone (Orenda Books)
  • The Lost Man of Bombay by Vaseem Khan (Hodder & Stoughton)
  • The Last Party by Clare Mackintosh (Little, Brown Book Group; Sphere)
  • All I Said Was True by Imran Mahmood (Bloomsbury Publishing; Raven Books)
  • Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister (Penguin Random House; Michael Joseph)
  • 1989 by Val McDermid (Little, Brown Book Group; Little Brown)
  • The Heretic by Liam McIlvanney (HarperCollins; HarperFiction)
  • Blue Water by Leonora Nattrass (Profile Books; Viper)
  • May God Forgive by Alan Parks (Canongate Books)
  • Truly Darkly Deeply by Victoria Selman (Quercus)
  • Reputation by Sarah Vaughan (Simon & Schuster)
  • The It Girl by Ruth Ware (Simon & Schuster)

2023 CWA DAGGER AWARDS

The Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) of the United Kingdom announced the longlist for the 2023 CWA Dagger Awards on April 22.

GOLD DAGGER

This award is for the best crime novel by an author of any nationality.

  • Oxblood by Tom Benn
  • Shoot the Moonlight Out by William Boyle
  • The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith
  • The Kingdoms of the Savannah by George Dawes Green
  • The Lost Man of Bombay by Vaseem Khan
  • The Bookseller of Inverness by SG Maclean
  • A Killing in November by Simon Mason
  • The Clockwork Girl by Anna Mazzola 
  • The Winter Guest by William Ryan 
  • A Killing Rain by Faye Snowdon
  • The Bone Road by NE Solomons 
  • The Silent Brother by Simon Van der Velde


IAN FLEMING STEEL DAGGER

Eligible books in this category are thrillers set in any period and include, but are not limited to, spy fiction, psychological thrillers and action/adventure stories.

  • Opera by Julie Anderson
  • A Kiss After Dying by Ashok Banker
  • Take Your Breath Away by Linwood Barclay
  • Seventeen by John Brownlow
  • The Match by Harlan Coben
  • The Botanist by MW Craven
  • Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney
  • The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith
  • Alias Emma by Ava Glass
  • A Loyal Traitor by Tim Glister
  • Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka
  • May God Forgive by Alan Parks

JOHN CREASEY (NEW BLOOD) DAGGER

This award is for the best crime novel by a first-time author of any nationality.

  • A Good Day to Die by Amen Alonge
  • Better the Blood by Michael Bennett
  • Breaking by Amanda Cassidy 
  • Don’t Know Tough by Eli Cranor
  • The Local by Joey Hartstone
  • The Truth Will Out by Rosemary Hennigan 
  • London in Black by Jack Lutz 
  • Dirt Town by Hayley Scrivenor
  • No Country for Girls by Emma Styles
  • Nobody But Us by Laure Van Rensburg
  • Outback by Patricia Wolf
  • The Partisan by Patrick Worrall

HISTORICAL DAGGER

This award is for the best historical crime novel, set in any period up to 50 years prior to the year in which the award will be made.

  • The Darkest Sin by DV Bishop
  • Blackstone Fell by Martin Edwards
  • Two Storm Wood by Philip Gray
  • The Lost Diary of Samuel Pepys by Jack Jewers
  • The Bookseller of Inverness by SG MacLean
  • The Clockwork Girl by Anna Mazzola
  • Death at the Dolphin by Gretta Mulrooney
  • The Homes by JB Mylet
  • The Bangalore Detectives Club by Harini Nagendra
  • Blue Water by Leonora Nattrass
  • Hear No Evil by Sarah Smith
  • The Mushroom Tree Mystery by Ovidia Yu


ALCS GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION

This award is for any non-fiction work on a crime-related theme by an author of any nationality.

  • The Poisonous Solicitor by Stephen Bates
  • Dead in the Water by Matthew Campbell & Kit Chellel
  • What We Fear Most by Ben Cave
  • Scandal at Dolphin Square by Simon Danczuk & Daniel Smith
  • The Life of Crime by Martin Edwards
  • Unlawful Killings by Wendy Joseph
  • Tremors In The Blood by Amit Katwala
  • To Hunt a Killer by Julie Mackay & Robert Murphy
  • The Real Special Relationship by Michael Smith
  • The Life Inside by Andy West
  • About A Son by David Whitehouse
  • Stitched Up by Shahed Yousaf

CRIME FICTION IN TRANSLATION DAGGER

This award is for a crime novel not originally written in English and which has been translated into English for UK publication.

  • Good Reasons to Die, by Morgan Audic (tr Sam Taylor)
  • The Red Notebook, by Michel Bussi (tr Vineet Lal)
  • Even the Darkest Night by Javier Cercas (tr Anne Mclean)
  • Bad Kids by Zijin Chen, (tr Michelle Deeter)
  • Impossible, by Erri De Luca (tr NS Thompson) 
  • Femicide by Pascal Engman (tr Michael Gallagher)
  • The Bleeding by Johana Gustawsson (tr David Warriner) 
  • The Corpse Flower by Anne Mette Hancock (tr Tara Chace) 
  • The Anomaly by Hervé Le Tellier (tr Adriana Hunter) 
  • The Dark Flood by Deon Meyer (tr KL Seggers) 
  • The Tattoo Murder by Akimitsu Takagi (tr Deborah Boehm)
  • Lady Joker by Kaoru Takamura (tr Allison Markin Powell & Marie Iida)

SHORT STORY DAGGER

This award is for any crime short story first published in the UK in English in a publication that pays for contributions, or broadcast in the UK in return for payment.

  • The Disappearance by Leigh Bardugo – In ‘Marple’ 
  • The Tears of Venus by Victoria and Delilah Dowd – In ‘Unlocked’ 
  • Strawberry Moon by John Grisham – In ‘Sparring Partners
  • Clout Chaser by Rachel Howzell Hall
  • The Beautiful Game by Sanjida Kay 
  • Paradise Lost by Abir Mukherjee
  • Death In Darjeeling by Vaseem Khan – In ‘The Perfect Crime’ 
  • Just One More by Laura Lippman – In ‘Seasonal Work & Other Killer Stories
  • Auld Bride by Judith O’Reilly – In ‘Gone’ 
  • The Lake House by Ferdinand von Schirach – In ‘Punishment’ (tr: Katharina Hall) 
  • Runaway Blues by C J Tudor – In ‘A Sliver of Darkness’ 
  • Cast A Long Shadow by Hazell Ward – In ‘Cast A Long Shadow

PUBLISHERS’ DAGGER

This prestigious Dagger is awarded annually to the Best Crime and Mystery Publisher of the Year.

  • Bitter Lemon Press 
  • Bookouture 
  • Canelo 
  • Harper Fiction 
  • Hodder & Stoughton 
  • Mantle 
  • Michael Joseph 
  • Raven 
  • Pushkin Vertigo 
  • Quercus 
  • Simon & Schuster 
  • Viper

DAGGER IN THE LIBRARY

The Dagger in the Library is a prize for a body of work by an established crime writer who has long been popular with borrowers from libraries, and who has supported libraries and their users.

  • Ben Aaronovitch    
  • Sophie Hannah 
  • Mick Herron  
  • Erin Kelly  
  • Angela Marsons  
  • Brian McGilloway 
  • Tim Weaver

DIAMOND DAGGER

Awarded every year to an author whose crime-writing career has been marked by sustained excellence, and who has made a significant contribution to the genre. Votes from CWA members go forward to be deliberated on by an independent panel. This year’s recipient is:

  • Walter Mosley

2023 MARGERY ALLINGHAM SHORT MYSTERY COMPETITION

The Crime Writers Association also has announced the longlist for the 2023 Margery Allingham Short Mystery Competition.

The international competition is open to short stories of up to 3,500 words that have not been previously published anywhere, or shortlisted for this competition.

  • Off the Rails – Cailey Barker
  • The Mitcham Manor Inquiry – Antony M Brown
  • The Note – Tim Butterworth
  • Confession – Ajay Chowdhury
  • Unlucky for Some – Charlie Cochrane
  • The Key – Christine Curran
  • The Midwinter Murders – Robert Grossmith
  • How to Catch a Bullet in a Plate – Judith O’Reilly
  • Huitzilopochtli – Eugene O’Toole
  • Carême and the Crime of the Century – Emma Seaman
  • The Fifth Element – Mark Thielman
  • The Breast Band Murder – Norman Thomas

2022 ELLERY QUEEN MYSTERY MAGAZINE READER AWARDS

The winners of the 2022 Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine Reader Awards have been posted.

  • W. Edward Blain — “The Secret Sharer” (July/August 2022) 
  • Doug Allyn — “Blind Baseball” (May/June 2022)
  • Anna Scotti — “Schrödinger, Cat” (March/April 2022)

[Thanks to Cora Buhlert for these stories.]

Crime Fiction Awards Shortlists and Winners

BLOODY SCOTLAND. The shortlist for the Scottish Crime Debut of the Year 2021 has been announced, which is the other award handed out by the Bloody Scotland festival in addition to the McIlvanney Prize: 

  • The Silent Daughter by Emma Christie (Wellbeck)
  • No Harm Done by Alistair Liddle (Self Published)
  • Edge of the Grave by Robbie Morrison (Macmillan)
  • Waking the Tiger by Mark Wightman (Hobeck Books)

MARGERY ALLINGHAM COMPETITION. The winner of the CWA’s 2021 Margery Allingham Short Mystery Competition has been announced as well.

  • Heartbridge Homicides by Camilla Macpherson 

The international competition is open to short stories of up to 3,500 words that have not been previously published anywhere, or shortlisted for this competition.

FALCON AWARD. C. J. Box has won the 2021 Falcon Award for his novel Breaking Point. 

The award is given by the Maltese Falcon Society of Japan for the best hardboiled/private eye novel published in Japan in the previous year.

The winning author receives a certificate of merit and a falcon sculpture crafted in wood.

The Maltese Falcon Society was founded in San Francisco in 1981, and later added chapters in New York and Japan. The Japanese chapter is the last one still active, and holds meetings in Tokyo and Osaka.

[Thanks to Cora Buhlert for the story.]

More 2020 Crime Fiction
Awards Finalists

The longlists or shortlists for the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction, Glass Key Award and Margery Allingham Short Story Competition have been announced.

 HARPER LEE PRIZE. The finalists for the 2020 Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction have been announced by the University of Alabama School of Law. The three books chosen to compete for the prize are:

  • The Satapur Moonstone by Sujata Massey
  • The Hallows by Victor Methos
  • An Equal Justice by Chad Zunker.

The prize, previously authorized by Lee, is given annually to a book-length work of fiction that best illuminates the role of lawyers in society and their power to effect change.

GLASS KEY. The shortlist for the Glass Key 2020 for best Nordic crime novel have been announced.

  • Dødfunden (Found Dead)by Gretelise Holm (Denmark)
  • Den åttonde tärnan (The Eight Bridesmaid) by Eva Frantz (Finland)
  • Svik (Betrayal) by Lilja sigurðardóttir (Iceland)
  • Kniv (Knife) by Jo Nesbø (Norway)
  • Skuggjägaren (Shadow Hunter) by Camilla Grebe (Sweden)

MARGERY ALLINGHAM. Finally, the longlist for the 2020 Margery Allingham Short Story Competition has been announced by the Crime Writers Association of the UK.

  • The Boy from Galway Bay by Sally Bothroyd
  • The Last Letter by Antony M Brown
  • The Nantes Affair by Briony Cameron
  • Prey by Amelia Coulon
  • Voices by Lauren Everdell
  • The Jewish Laundry by Michael Hare
  • One Bright Blue Day in Amsterdam by Jennifer Harvey
  • A Time to Confess by Della Millward
  • Sting in the Tail by Laila Murphy
  • A Death in the Library by Emily Organ
  • F8 by Alexandra Pendjiky
  • Morning Murder by Wendy Swarbrick

[Thanks to Cora Buhlert for the story.]