Five CWA Dagger Award winners announced at Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival

The Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate, England had a particularly busy day on Friday, July 23, 2010.  In addition to the festival's selection of R.J. Ellory's A Simple Act Of Violence as the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, Britain's Crime Writers Association (CWA) also used the event to announce the winners of five of its prestigious Dagger Awards.

Swedish writer Johan Theorin at Helsinki Book Fair 2009. He brought
his newly won CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger 2009 award
with him. Creative Commons Share-Alike licensed photo by Annelis
(Anneli Salo).

The CWA's International Dagger recognizes works that have been translated into English from their original language. Swedish writer Johan Theorin's The Darkest Room (Oland series, book 2) won this award. Theorin was also the 2009 winner of the CWA's John Creasey New Blood Dagger.

The CWA's Dagger in the Library award reflects the quality of a writer's entire body of work rather than that of a single title. Historical thriller author Ariana Franklin (Mistress of the Art of Death series) received the 2010 Dagger in the Library.

The CWA awards its Non-Fiction Dagger to the writer of a superior work dealing with a real-life crime theme.  Ruth Dudley Edwards won this Dagger for her book, Aftermath: The Omagh Bombing & the Families’ Pursuit of Justice, which focuses on the August 15, 1998 IRA bombing in Northern Ireland.

The CWA's Short Story Dagger acknowledges quality crime short stories first published in the U.K.  Robert Ferrigno won this 2010 award for "Can You Help Me Out There."

The CWA's Debut Dagger goes to an author who has not yet had a novel published by the commercial press.  Patrick Eden won the Debut Dagger for the opening chapter of A Place of Dying.

The CWA also released its shortlists of nominees for the John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger, the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger and the Gold Dagger at the Harrogate festival. Winners of these Daggers will be announced on October 12, 2010 during the Fall 2010 broadcast of ITV3's "Specsavers Crime Thriller Awards."

A press release from the ITV network, issued on July 23, 2010, includes the shortlist nominees for the CWA Gold Dagger for the Best Crime Novel of the Year; the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for the Best Thriller of the Year; and the CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger for the Best New Crime Writer of the Year.

2010 CWA Gold Dagger Shortlist

Blacklands by Belinda Bauer
Blood Harvest by S J Bolton
Conman by Richard Asplin
Rain Gods by James Lee Burke
Shadowplay by Karen Campbell
The Strange Case of the Composer and his Judge by Patricia Duncker
Still Midnight by Denise Mina
The Way Home by George Pelecanos

2010 CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Shortlist

61 Hours by Lee Child
A Loyal Spy by Simon Conway
Gone by Mo Hayder
Slow Horses by Mick Herron
The Dying Light by Henry Porter
Innocent by Scott Turow
The Gentlemen’s Hour by Don Winslow

2010 CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger Shortlist

Acts of Violence by Ryan David Jahn
Cut Short by Leigh Russell
Martyr by Rory Clements
Random by Craig Robertson
Stop Me by Richard Jay Parker
Rupture by Simon Lelic
The Holy Thief by William Ryan
The Pull of the Moon by Diane Janes

Quoted on the Crime Writers Association's website, CWA Chair Tom Harper remarked, “The CWA Dagger Awards have always enjoyed huge prestige among crime fiction fans and authors. The shortlists this year are incredibly strong, from exciting new talents to established masters, all working at the top of their game."

Harper also praised the work of Cactus TV productions and the ITV network in publicizing the awards. "We’re thrilled with the way Cactus TV and ITV3 have embraced the Daggers to bring them to the widest possible audience," he said. "Together with the retail promotion, more people than ever are now getting the chance to discover the best crime writing in the UK.”