2026 CWA DAGGER AWARD LONGLISTS
The Crime Writers' Association of Britain (CWA) has announced the longlists for the 2026 Dagger Awards as follows:
GOLD DAGGER:(13)
Carnival of Lies, by D.V. Bishop (Pan Macmillan/Macmillan)
Don't Forget Me, Little Bessie, by James Lee Burke (Orion Fiction/Orion Fiction)
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)
Quantum of Menace, by Vaseem Khan (Bonnier Books UK/Zaffre)
The Frozen River, by Ariel Lawhon (River Swift Press)
The Rush, by Beth Lewis (Profile Books/Viper)
A Voice in the Night, by Simon Mason (Quercus/Riverrun)
The Good Father, by Liam McIlvanney (Bonnier Books UK/Zaffre)
Hotel Ukraine, by Martin Cruz Smith (Simon & Schuster UK)
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)
IAN FLEMING STEEL DAGGER:(12)
The Midnight King, by Tariq Ashkanani (Profile Books/Viper)
The Ghostwriter, by Julie Clark (Bonnier Books UK/Zaffre)
King of Ashes, by S.A. Cosby (Headline)
The Big Empty, by Robert Crais (Simon & Schuster UK)
The Death of Us, by Abigail Dean (HarperCollins/Hemlock Press)
The Chemist, by A.A. Dhand (HarperCollins/HQ Fiction)
A Dead Draw, by Robert Dugoni (Amazon Publishing/Thomas & Mercer)
A Sting in Her Tale, by Mark Ezra (Bedford Square Publishers/No Exit Press)
Burying Jericho, by William Hussey (Bonnier Books UK/Zaffre)
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: (12)
The Devil Takes Bitcoin, by Jake Adelstein (Scribe)
Shadow of the Bridge: The Delphi Murders and the Dark Side of the American Heartland, by Aine Cain and Kevin Greenlee (Pegasus Crime)
Saffie, by David Collins (Silvertail Books)
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)
The CIA Book Club: The Best-Kept Secret of the Cold War, by Charlie English (HarperCollins/William Collins)
Murderland, by Caroline Fraser (Little, Brown Book Group/Fleet)
The Einstein Vendetta: Hitler, Mussolini, and a True Story of Murder, by Thomas Harding (Penguin/Michael Joseph)
A Spy in the Family, by Paul Henderson and David Gardner (Mirror Books)
The Cleveland Street Scandal, by Neil Root (The History Press)
That Dark Spring, by Susannah Stapleton (Pan Macmillan/Picador)
The Illegals, by Shaun Walker (Profile Books)
HISTORICAL DAGGER:(12)
A Granite Silence, by Nina Allan (Quercus/Riverrun)
Spoiler's Prey, by Robin Blake (Severn House)
Benecula, by Graeme Macrae Burnet (Birlinn Ltd/Polygon)
The Mourning Necklace, by Kate Foster (Pan Macmillan/Mantle)
The Frozen River, by Ariel Lawhon (Swift Press)
The Rush, by Beth Lewis (Profile Books/Viper)
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)
Cairo Gambit, by S.W. Perry (Atlantic Books/Corvus)
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: (10)
Home Before Dark, by Eva Bjorg AEgisdotir, translated by Victoria Cribb (Orenda Books)
Murder Mindfully, by Karsten Dusse, translated by Florian Duijsens (Faber & Faber)
Scars of Silence, by Johana Gustawsson, translated by David Warriner (Orenda Books)
The Lake, by Jorn Lier Horst, translated by Anne Bruce (Penguin Random House)
Seesaw Monster, by Kotaro Isaka, translated by Sam Malissa (Penguin Random House)
Red Water, by Jurica Pavicic, translated by Matt Robinson (Bitter Lemon Press)
The Grave in the Ice, by Satu Ramo translated by Kristian London (Bonnier)
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: (12)
The Christmas Cracker Killer, by Alexandra Benedict (Simon & Schuster UK)
The Queen Who Came in from the Cold, by S.J. Bennett (Bonnier Books UK/Zaffre)
Etiquette for Lovers and Killers, by Anna Fitzgerald Healy (Little, Brown Book Group/Fleet)
Little Secrets, by Victoria Goldman (Three Crowns Publishing UK)
A Queer Case, by Robert Holtom (Titan)
The Margaret Code, by Richard Hooton (Little, Brown Book Group/Sphere)
A Cinnamon Falls Mystery, by R.L. Killmore (Simon & Schuster UK)
Other People's Houses, by Clare Mackintosh (Little, Brown Book Group/Sphere)
Not Another Bloody Christmas, by Jo Middleton (HarperCollins/Avon)
A Trial in Three Acts, by Guy Morpuss (Profile Books/Viper)
A Murder for Miss Hortense, by Mel Pennant (John Murray Press/Baskerville)
Bad Influence, by C.J. Wray (Orion Fiction)
TWISTED DAGGER: (12)
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)
The House of Water, by Fflur Dafydd (Hodder & Stoughton)
The Death of Us, by Abigail Dean (HarperCollins/Hemlock Press)
Beautiful Ugly, by Alice Feeney (Pan Macmillan/Macmillan)
Scenes from a Tragedy, by Carole Hailey (Atlantic Books/Corvus)
Donft Let Him In, by Lisa Jewell (Penguin Random House/Century)
The Bodies, by Sam Lloyd (Transworld/Bantam)
The Good Father, by Liam McIlvanney (Bonnier Books UK/Zaffre)
We Live Here Now, by Sarah Pinborough (Orion Fiction)
59 Minutes, by Holly Seddon (Orion Fiction)
JOHN CREASEY FIRST NOVEL DAGGER (formerly NEW BLOOD DAGGER): (10)
The Malt Whiskey Murders, by Natalie Jayne Clark (Birlinn Ltd/Polygon)
Etiquette for Lovers and Killers, by Anna Fitzgerald Healy (Little, Brown Book GroupFleet)
The Peak, by Sam Guthrie (HarperCollins)
The Retirement Plan, by Sue Hincenberg (Little, Brown Book Group/Sphere)
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)
A Beautiful Family, by Jennifer Trevelyan (Pan Macmillan/Mantle)
Holy City, by Henry Wise (Bedford Square Publishers/No Exit Press)
SHORT STORY DAGGER: (9)
"Arlene," by William Boyle (from Birds, Strangers and Psychos: New Stories Inspired by Alfred Hitchcock, edited by Maxim Jakubowski; No Exit Press: New Stories Inspired by Alfred Hitchcock, edited by Maxim Jakubowski; No Exit Press)
"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)
"Chest," by Ragnar Jonasson (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)
"Once Upon a Time in New Jersey," by Zo Sharp and John Lawton (from CrimeFest: Leaving the Scene Celebrating 16 Years, edited by Adrian Muller; No Exit Press)
"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:(11)
Ben Aaronovitch
Damien Boyd
Reverend Richard Coles
Rhys Dylan
Paula Hawkins
J.D. Kirk
Clare Mackintosh
Freida McFadden (aka Sara Cohen)
Abir Mukherjee
Tim Sullivan
Robert Thorogood
PUBLISHERS' DAGGER: (12)
Allison & Busby
Baskerville (John Murray/Hachette)
Bitter Lemon Press
Constable (Little, Brown)
Faber & Faber
Harvill Vintage (Penguin Random House)
Muswell Press
No Exit Press (Bedford Square)
Pan Macmillan
Polygon (Birlinn)
Simon & Schuster
Viper (Profile Books)
EMERGING AUTHOR DAGGER (formerly DEBUT DAGGER): (12)
Murder on the Moon, by Nida Broughton
Murder on the IPS Cariad, by Emma Byrne
Ill Met by Murder, by Rod Cookson
The Man Who Fit the Case, by Sophia Georghiou
The Desolate City, by Chris Gill
Just a Simple Wedding, by Kate Koester
Cordelia's Chocolate Fix, by Joyanna Lovelock
The Fixer, by Lorna Mathew
The Madam of Morningside, by Rebecca McFarland
Blind Side of the Sun, by Michael Nikitin
Dead in the Water, by Jude Simms
The Pattern of Absence, by Melissa Smith
DIAMOND DAGGER Resipient:
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. (April 18, 2026
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