Crime Fiction Awards 2024 Kickoff

CWA DIAMOND DAGGER

The Crime Writers’ Association has announced the 2024 Diamond Dagger Joint Winners, Lynda La Plante and James Lee Burke.

The Diamond Dagger recognizes authors whose crime writing careers have been marked by sustained excellence, and who have made a significant contribution to the genre, and is regarded as one of the foremost awards hosted in Britain for crime writing.

Lynda La Plante CBE began her career as an actor in TV and theatre. She graduated from RADA, where her fellow students included Anthony Hopkins and John Hurt. 

La Plante wrote her first treatment for TV, Widows, which went on to become one of the highest rating series in the 1980s. She became a sought-after crime writer, with her debut novel, The Legacy, published in 1987. 

In 1990, La Plante began work on Prime Suspect, which was released in 1991, starring Helen Mirren as DCI Jane Tennison. In 1993, she received the Dennis Potter Award from BAFTA and was made a fellow of the British Film Institute. The success led to her forming her own television production company, La Plante Productions. 

She also wrote and produced multiple shows in the US, with actors including Vanessa Redgrave, Sam Neill, and Rob Lowe. In 2014, she formed a new global rights and production company – La Plante Global. Her current book series features Detective Jack Warr. She received a CBE for services to Literature, Drama and Charity in 2008. 

James Lee Burke’s first novel was compared to the work of Faulkner and Sartre by the New York Times. Despite this, he was out of hardback print for 13 years until his third novel, The Lost Get-Back Boogie was published and submitted for a Pulitzer Prize, after being rejected over 111 times. Over the years, he’s taught at universities, worked as a case worker with former felons, as a pipeliner for an oil company, a long-distance truck driver, and a newspaper reporter.

James Lee Burke has two Edgar Awards, a Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America, and has been a Guggenheim Fellow.  

2023 JOFFE BOOKS PRIZE FOR CRIME WRITERS OF COLOUR

The winner of the Joffe Books Prize for Crime Writers of Colour 2023 was announced on December 6, 2023.

The winner is Renita D’Silva, for her compelling psychological thriller, The Neighbour. She receives a two-book publishing deal with Joffe Books, a £1,000 cash prize, and a £25,000 audiobook deal from Audible for the first book. This is one of Britain’s biggest crime prizes.

The Joffe Books Prize for Crime Writers of Colour was established in direct response to the paucity of diverse voices being published in crime fiction. Its explicit aim is to actively seek out writers from communities that are underrepresented in our genre and support them in building sustainable careers, while simultaneously discovering brilliant new talent to join our bestselling list.

Renita D’Silva

Crime Fiction Awards News Roundup

CWA DIAMOND DAGGER

Walter Mosley is the 2023 winner of The Crime Writers’ Association Diamond Dagger Award.

The Diamond Dagger recognizes authors whose crime writing careers have been marked by sustained excellence, and who have made a significant contribution to the genre, and is regarded as one of the foremost awards hosted in Britain for crime writing.

Walter Mosley said: “At the beginning of my writing career I was fortunate enough to be awarded the CWA’s New Blood Dagger, otherwise called the John Creasey Award. That was the highest point of my experience as a first book author.  Since then, I have picked up other honours along the way but the only award that comes near the Diamond Dagger is the MWA’s Grand Master nod.  These two together make the apex of a career that I never expected.”

2022 SALTIRE SOCIETY LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Mystery writer Alexander McCall Smith was given the 2022 Saltire Society Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to Scottish literature..

2022 JOFFE BOOKS PRIZE FOR CRIME WRITERS OF COLOUR

The shortlist for the 2022 Joffe Books Prize for Crime Writers of Colour has been announced.

  • The Labelled Bones by FQ Yeoh
  • Everyone Is Going To Know by Kingsley Pearson
  • The Smiling Mandarin by Mai Le Dinh
  • Red Obsession by Rose Lorimer
  • Savage Territory by Sam Genever

2023 BARRY AWARDS

The Barry Awards Nominations 2023 have been released by Deadly Pleasures magazine.

Best Mystery or Crime Novel

  • The Accomplice, Steve Cavanagh (Orion)
  • Desert Star, Michael Connelly (Little,Brown)
  • The Dark Flood, Deon Meyer (Atlantic Monthly)
  • Shifty’s Boys, Chris Offutt (Grove Press)
  • Secret Identity, Alex Segura (Flatiron Books)
  • City On Fire, Don Winslow (William Morrow)

Best First Mystery or Crime Novel

  • Before You Knew My Name, Jacqueline Bublitz (Atria/EmilyBestler)
  • Don’t Know Tough, Eli Cranor (Soho Crime)
  • Shutter, Ramona Emerson (Soho Crime)
  • The Maid, Nita Prose (Ballantine)
  • Blood Sugar, Sascha Rothchild (Putnam)
  • Dirt Creek, Hayley Scrivenor (Flatiron)

Best Thriller

  • In The Blood, Jack Carr (Atria/Emily Bester)
  • Winter Work, Dan Fesperman (Knopf)
  • Sierra Six, Mark Greaney (Berkley)
  • Bad Actors, Mick Herron (Soho Crime)
  • Killers Of A Certain Age, Deanna Raybourn (Berkley)
  • Goering’s Gold, Richard O’Rawe (Melville House)

DEUTSCHER KRIMIPREIS

The winners of the Deutscher Krimipreis 2022 have been announced. (Translations by Cora Buhlert.) 

GERMAN LANGUAGE CRIME FICTION

First place: Die Stunde der Hyänen (The Hour of the Hyaenas) by Johannes Groschupf.

Second Place: Einmal noch sterben (Die once more) by Oliver Bottini

Third place: Davenport 160×90 by Sybille Ruge

CRIME FICTION IN TRANSLATION

First place: Die Aosawa Morde (The Aosawa Murders) by Riku Onda, translated by Nora Bartels

Second place: Die Knochenleser (The Bone Readers) by Jacob Ross, translated by Karin Diemerling

Third place: Wie die einarmige Schwester das Haus fegt (How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House) by Cherie Jones, translated by Karen Gerwig

[Thanks to Cora Buhlert for these stories.]

Bonus Crime Fiction Awards News

It’s a quiet day – let’s catch up with the year-end crime fiction awards announcements.

CRIME FICTION LOVER AWARDS 2021

The inaugural Crime Fiction Lover Awards winners have been announced. The shortlists were selected by Crime Fiction Lover readers. One set of winners were chosen by public vote. There is also a set of Editor’s Choice.

Best Crime Novel

  • The Night Hawks by Elly Griffiths

Best Novel Editor’s Choice

  • Razorblade Tears by SA Cosby

Best Debut Crime Novel of 2021

  • The Source by Sarah Sultoon

Best Debut Editor’s Choice

  • Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden

Best Crime Novel in Translation of 2021

  • The Girl Who Died by Ragnar Jonasson, translated by Victoria Cribb

Best Crime Novel in Translation Editor’s Choice

  • Riccardino by Andrea Camilleri, translated by Stephen Sartarelli

Best Indie Crime Novel of 2021

  • Strangers of Braamfontein by Onyeka Nwelue

Best Indie Novel Editor’s Choice

  • The Quiet People by Paul Cleave

Best Crime Show of 2021

  • Line of Duty

Best Crime Show Editor’s Choice

  • Mare of Easttown

Best Author

  • Elly Griffiths

Best Author Editor’s Choice

  • Ian Rankin

CRIME TIME FM NOVEL OF THE YEAR AWARD

Crime Time FM, a crime fiction podcast, has announced the winners of the Crime Time FM Novel of the Year Award.

WINNER

  • Razorblade Tears SA Cosby (Headline)

RUNNER-UP

  • Vine Street Dominic Nolan (Headline)

OTHER SHORTLISTED BOOKS

  • The Village of Eight Graves by Seichi Yokomizo trans. Bryan Karetnyk (Pushkin Press)
  • The Turnout Megan Abbott (Faber & Faber)
  • The First Day of Spring by Nancy Tucker (Hutchinson)
  • Future Perfect by Felicia Yap (Wildfire)

 HARVILL SECKER BLOODY SCOTLAND CRIME WRITING AWARD

The winner of the 2021 Harvill Secker Bloody Scotland Crime Writing Award was announced December 2. The prize aims to discover exciting new crime fiction by writers of color.

  • The Light and Shade of Ellen Swithin by Dettie Gould

As the winner, Gould’s book will be published under the Harvill Secker imprint, in a publishing deal with an advance of £5,000.

JOFFE BOOKS PRIZE FOR CRIME FICTION WRITERS OF COLOR

The 2021 winner of the Joffe Books Prize for Crime Fiction Writers of Color is:

  • Christie J. Newport

The winner is offered a two-book publishing contract with Joffe Books, on its standard author agreement terms.

SCARLET STILETTO AWARDS

Sisters in Crime Australia have announced the winners of the 2021 Scarlet Stiletto Awards. This year, 241 short stories – equal to last year’s record – competed for a record $11,910 in prize money and benefits. 

Swinburne University of Technology First Prize ($1500) and ScriptWorks’s Great Film Idea Award ($500)

  • Hayley Young for “Monster Hunters”

Simon & Schuster Second Prize ($1000) 

  • Jaclyn Riley-Smith (Margate) for “On the inside”

The Sun Bookshop & Wild Dingo Press Third Prize ($600) 

  • Ellen Coates for “The Gospel of Cecily” 

Clan Destine Press Cross-Genre Award ($750) 

  • Ellen Coates

Affirm Press Young Writer’s Award ($500) for under 19s

  • Caitlyn Whitbread for “The Braxton Mystery”

The Melbourne Athenaeum Body-in-the-Library Library Award ($1250) 

  • Clare Fletcher for “Death’s Waiting Room”

The Melbourne Athenaeum Body-in-the-Library Library Runner-Up Award ($750)

  • Susan Green for “Creativity Now!”

Kerry Greenwood’s Malice Domestic Award ($750)

  • Jane Lee for “What I Did in Lokdown by Chloe Martin age 9 1/2”

The Every Cloud Production’s History with Mystery Award ($750)

  • Natalie Conyer for “The Séance”

Viliama Grakalic Best Art and Crime Story Award ($750)

  • Caroline de Costa for “The Fragrance of the Corpse Flower”

Booktopia Publisher Services Best Environmental Mystery Award ($750)

  • Stephanie Holm for “Mystery Off the Jillawong Road”

Writers Victoria’s Crime and Punishment Award for Most Satisfying Retribution 

  • Janet Moore for “Cash Sale”

The HQ Fiction Award for Best Thriller ($500)

  • Janice Shaw for “Put the Kettle On”

Queensland Chapter of Sisters in Crime’s Liz Navratil Award for the story with the Best Disabled Protagonist ($400)

  • Christine Fontana for “Waiting”

COMEDY WOMEN IN PRINT PRIZE

The winner of the 2021 Comedy Women in Print Prize is a cozy mystery by a Chinese-Indonesian writer. The value of the prize is £3,000.

  • Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Sutanto