Tom Franklin, Steve Hamilton and SJ Watson accepted three of the Crime Writers Association’s (CWA) top Dagger Awards at a ceremony held at London's Grosvenor House Hotel on Oct. 8, 2011. British television viewers can watch the presentation of these awards on ITV3 next Tuesday, Oct. 11. at 9:00 p.m.
Tom Franklin’s Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter received the CWA Gold Dagger Award. Set in a small Mississippi town, Franklin’s novel chronicles the reunion of two men who are forced to revisit the crime which, in their teens, caused their separation. In a press release, Franklin said of his other Gold Dagger contenders, "What an amazing long list! What an amazing short list! I'm truly happy just for the company, and everything else is gravy."
Steve Hamilton’s Barry Award winner, The Lock Artist, took the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for best thriller. This standalone work by the writer of the Alex McKnight series features a protagonist skilled in picking locks who has been unable to speak since surviving a traumatic event in his childhood. "Ian Fleming's work represents everything I've always loved about storytelling, whether it be books or movies," Hamilton stated. "I can't even express how honoured I am to receive an award with his name on it."
SJ Watson’s debut novel, Before I Go To Sleep, won the CWA John Creasey New Blood Dagger. In this work, Watson’s central character, a woman who loses her memory again each time she falls asleep, begins to wonder if she can trust her husband. Watson said he was "stunned and delighted" by the award, adding, "It was such an honour to have been shortlisted for the John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger, but to have actually won, especially when up against such fine books, is incredible!"
A fourth award, the ITV3 People's Bestseller Dagger, went to Peter James for Dead Man’s Grip. This seventh book in James’s Detective Superintendent Roy Grace series spotlights a young woman who becomes a killer’s target after she is involved in a fatal automobile accident. James described his award as one "that strikes at the very heart of what good books are all about: Enthralling readers with gripping, page-turning fiction."
The Rap Sheet provides a listing of all the books that were in contention for the CWA Gold, Silver and New Blood Daggers as well as for the ITV3 Peoples Bestseller Dagger. Additional Daggers awarded this year include Lindsey Davis’s Cartier Diamond Dagger, Anders Roslund and Börge Hellström’s International Dagger, Douglas Starr’s Non-Fiction Dagger, Mo Hayder’s Dagger in the Library, Phil Lovesey’s Short Story Dagger and Michele Rowe’s Debut Dagger.
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