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Crime Writers' Association · award year

CWA Daggers 2023

The 2023 CWA Daggers went to Unlawful Killings: Life, Love and Murder: Trials at the Old Bailey by Wendy Joseph (ALCS Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction), Even the Darkest Night by Javier Cercas, translated by Anne McLean (Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger) and The Kingdoms of Savannah by George Dawes Green (Gold Dagger), with winners in 3 more categories. 36 books made the shortlist across 6 categories.

Winners

ALCS Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction

  1. Unlawful Killings: Life, Love and Murder: Trials at the Old Bailey by Wendy Josephsource (opens in a new tab)

Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger

  1. Even the Darkest Night by Javier Cercas, translated by Anne McLeansource (opens in a new tab)

Gold Dagger

  1. The Kingdoms of Savannah by George Dawes Greensource (opens in a new tab)

Historical Dagger

  1. The Darkest Sin by DV Bishopsource (opens in a new tab)

Ian Fleming Steel Dagger

  1. Agent Seventeen by John Brownlowsource (opens in a new tab)

John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger

  1. Dirt Town by Hayley Scrivenorsource (opens in a new tab)

Shortlist

ALCS Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction

  1. About A Son by David Whitehousesource (opens in a new tab)
  2. The Life of Crime by Martin Edwardssource (opens in a new tab)
  3. The Poisonous Solicitor by Stephen Batessource (opens in a new tab)
  4. To Hunt a Killer by Julie Mackay and Robert Murphysource (opens in a new tab)
  5. Tremors In The Blood: Murder, Obsession and the Birth of the Lie Detector by Amit Katwalasource (opens in a new tab)

Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger

  1. Bad Kids by Zijin Chen, translated by Michelle Deetersource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Good Reasons to Die by Morgan Audic, translated by Sam Taylorsource (opens in a new tab)
  3. The Anomaly by Hervé Le Tellier, translated by Adriana Huntersource (opens in a new tab)
  4. The Bleeding by Johana Gustawsson, translated by David Warrinersource (opens in a new tab)
  5. The Red Notebook by Michel Bussi, translated by Vineet Lalsource (opens in a new tab)

Gold Dagger

  1. A Killing in November by Simon Masonsource (opens in a new tab)
  2. The Clockwork Girl by Anna Mazzolasource (opens in a new tab)
  3. The Lost Man of Bombay by Vaseem Khansource (opens in a new tab)
  4. The Silent Brother by Simon Van der Veldesource (opens in a new tab)
  5. The Winter Guest by WC Ryansource (opens in a new tab)

Historical Dagger

  1. Blue Water by Leonora Nattrasssource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Hear No Evil by Sarah Smithsource (opens in a new tab)
  3. The Bangalore Detectives Club by Harini Nagendrasource (opens in a new tab)
  4. The Clockwork Girl by Anna Mazzolasource (opens in a new tab)
  5. The Homes by JB Myletsource (opens in a new tab)

Ian Fleming Steel Dagger

  1. May God Forgive by Alan Parkssource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Take Your Breath Away by Linwood Barclaysource (opens in a new tab)
  3. The Botanist by MW Cravensource (opens in a new tab)
  4. The Chase by Ava Glasssource (opens in a new tab)
  5. The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraithsource (opens in a new tab)

John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger

  1. Breaking by Amanda Cassidysource (opens in a new tab)
  2. London in Black by Jack Lutzsource (opens in a new tab)
  3. No Country for Girls by Emma Stylessource (opens in a new tab)
  4. Outback by Patricia Wolfsource (opens in a new tab)
  5. The Local by Joey Hartstonesource (opens in a new tab)

About the CWA Daggers

Book daggers only, from the CWA past-winners database (thecwa.co.uk/past-winners), queried per dagger and year. Includes every tier the database records: winners, highly commended (as Honor), shortlists, and the 2010-2015 longlists (longlist rows list only books that missed the shortlist). The 2006-2007 John Creasey (New Blood) shortlists are filed in the database as "New Blood Fiction". The Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction was biennial 2006-2010, so 2007 and 2009 are zero. The Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger was the (Duncan Lawrie) International Dagger before 2016; the database uses the current name. The ILP John Creasey First Novel Dagger, Twisted Dagger, and Whodunnit Dagger start in 2025. Skipped: Diamond Dagger, Dagger in the Library, Short Story, Debut/Emerging Author (unpublished), and Publishers' daggers. Author names the database truncates at non-ASCII characters are restored.

Organization: Crime Writers' Association. Years are award years, which can differ from publication years. Official site (opens in a new tab)

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