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

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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

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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.]