2026 CWA DAGGER AWARD SHORTLISTS
The Crime Writers' Association of Britain (CWA) has announced the shortlists for the 2026 Dagger Awards as follows:
GOLD DAGGER:(6)
King of Ashes, by S.A. Cosby (Headline)
The Death of Us, by Abigail Dean (HarperCollins/Hemlock Press)
Not Quite Dead Yet, by Holly Jackson (Penguin Random House/Michael Joseph)
The Girl in Cell A, by Vaseem Khan (Bonnier Books UK/Zaffre)
The Frozen River, by Ariel Lawson (River Swift Press)
The Art of a Lie, by Laura Shepherd-Robinson (Pan Macmillan/Mantle)
IAN FLEMING STEEL DAGGER:(7)
The Midnight King, by Tariq Ashkanani (Profile Books/Viper)
King of Ashes, by S.A. Cosby (Headline)
The Big Empty, by Robert Crais (Simon & Schuster UK)
A Sting in Her Tale, by Mark Ezra (Bedford Square Publishers/No Exit Press)
Such Quiet Girls, by Noelle Ihli (Pan Macmillan/Pan)
The Good Father, by Liam McIlvanney (Bonnier Books UK/Zaffre)
We Are All Guilty Here, by Karin Slaughter (HarperCollins)
GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION: (6)
Shadow of the Bridge: The Delphi Murders and the Dark Side of the American Heartland, by Aine Cain and Kevin Greenlee (Pegasus Crime)
The Spy in the Archive: How One Man Tried to Kill the KGB, by Gordon Corera (HarperCollins/ William Collins)
The Murder Game, by John Curran (HarperCollins/Collins Crime Club)
Murderland, by Caroline Fraser (Little, Brown Book Group/Fleet)
That Dark Spring, by Susannah Stapleton (Pan Macmillan/Picador)
The Illegals, by Shaun Walker (Profile Books)
HISTORICAL DAGGER:(6)
A Granite Silence, by Nina Allan (Quercus/Riverrun)
Barvick Falls, by Rob McInroy (Tippermuir Books)
The Devil's Draper, by Donna Moor (Fly on the Wall Press)
Gunner, by Alan Parks (John Murray Press/Baskerville)
The Art of a Lie, by Laura Shepherd-Robinson (Pan Macmillan/Mantle)
A Case of Life and Limb, by Sally Smith (Bloomsbury Publishing/Raven Books)
CRIME FICTION IN TRANSLATION DAGGER: (6)
Murder Mindfully, by Karsten Dusse, translated by Florian Duijsens (Faber & Faber)
The Lake, by Jorn Lier Horst, translated by Anne Bruce (Penguin Random House)
Red Water, by Jurica Pavicic, translated by Matt Robinson (Bitter Lemon Press)
Big Bad Wool, by Leonie Swann, translated by Amy Bojang (Allison & Busby)
The Winter Job, by Antti Tuomainen, translated by David Hackston (Orenda Books)
Strange Pictures, by Uketsu, translated by Jim Rion (Pushkin Press)
WHODUNNIT DAGGER: (6)
The Christmas Cracker Killer, by Alexandra Benedict (Simon & Schuster UK)
Little Secrets, by Victoria Goldman (Three Crowns Publishing UK)
Etiquette for Lovers and Killers, by Anna Fitzgerald Healy (Little, Brown Book Group/Fleet)
A Queer Case, by Robert Holtom (Titan)
A Murder for Miss Hortense, by Mel Pennant (John Murray Press/Baskerville)
Bad Influence, by C.J. Wray (Orion Fiction)
TWISTED DAGGER: (6)
What Happens in the Dark, by Kia Abdullah (HarperCollins/HQ Fiction)
Her Many Faces, by Nicci Cloke (Penguin Random House UK/Harvill Secker)
Some of Us Are Liars, by Fiona Cummins (Pan Macmillan/Macmillan)
Scenes from a Tragedy, by Carole Hailey (Atlantic Books/Corvus)
The Bodies, by Sam Lloyd (Transworld/Bantam)
We Live Here Now, by Sarah Pinborough (Orion Fiction)
JOHN CREASEY FIRST NOVEL DAGGER (formerly NEW BLOOD DAGGER): (6)
The Peak, by Sam Guthrie (HarperCollins)
The Lost Detective, by Elspeth Latimer (Story Machine)
The Wolf Tree, by Laura McCluskey (Hemlock Press)
The Vanishing Place, by Zoe Rankin (rofile Books/Viper)
Coram House, by Bailey Seybolt (Bloomsbury Publishing/Raven)
Holy City, by Henry Wise (Bedford Square Publishers/No Exit Press)
SHORT STORY DAGGER: (6)
"Split Your Silver Tongue," by S.A. Cosby (from Birds, Strangers and Psychos: New Stories Inspired by Alfred Hitchcock, edited by Maxim Jakubowski; No Exit Press)
"The Karpman Drama Triangle," by Denise Mina (from Birds, Strangers and Psychos: New Stories Inspired by Alfred Hitchcock, edited by Maxim Jakubowski; No Exit Press)
"Full Circle," by Abir Mukherjee (from Playing Dead: Short Stories in Honour of Simon Brett by Members of the Detection Club, edited by Martin Edwards; Severn House)
"The Apple Falls Not Far," by Ambrose Perry (Canongate)
"Strangers on a School Bus," by Peter Swanson (from Birds, Strangers and Psychos: New Stories Inspired by Alfred Hitchcock, edited by Maxim Jakubowski; No Exit Press)
"Waiting," by Michael Wood (from Criminal Pursuits: This Is Me, edited by Samantha Lee Howe; Telos Publishing)
DAGGER IN THE LIBRARY:(6)
Paula Hawkins
J.D. Kirk
Clare Mackintosh
Freida McFadden (aka Sara Cohen)
Abir Mukherjee
Tim Sullivan
PUBLISHERS' DAGGER: (6)
Bitter Lemon Press
Faber & Faber
>
No Exit Press (Bedford Square)
Pan Macmillan
Simon & Schuster
Viper (Profile Books)
EMERGING AUTHOR DAGGER (formerly DEBUT DAGGER): (7)
Ill Met by Murder, by Rod Cookson
The Man Who Fit the Case, by Sophia Georghiou
Just a Simple Wedding, by Kate Koester
The Fixer, by Lorna Mathew
The Madam of Morningside, by Rebecca McFarland
Blind Side of the Sun, by Michael Nikitin
The Pattern of Absence, by Tonkin
DIAMOND DAGGER Recipient:
Mark Billingham
The shortlists will be announced on Thursday, May 28, and the winners will be announced at the Dagger Awards Dinner, on Thursday, July 02 in London. (May 29, 2026)
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