CWA announces five 2011 Dagger Award winners

Over the weekend, Britain’s Crime Writers Association announced the winners of five of this year’s Dagger Awards and released the longlists of finalists in four other categories.

“Three Seconds” by Anders Roslund and Borge Hellstrom won the CWA International Dagger Award.

“The Killer of Little Shepherds” by Douglas Starr won the Gold Dagger for Non-fiction.

“Homework” by Phil Lovesey won the Short Story Dagger Award.

“What Hidden Lies” by Michele Rowe won the CWA Debut Dagger Award.

Mo Hayder won the Dagger in the Library Award for “best body of work.”

Also, over the weekend, the CWA announced the longlist of finalists in four other categories – CWA Gold Dagger Award, the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger, the CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger Award and ITV3 People’s Bestseller Dagger Award.

The longlist for the CWA Gold Dagger Award include:
- “Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter” by Tom Franklin
- “Hanging Hill” by Mo Hayder
- “Snowdrops” by A.D. Miller
- “The Cypress House” by Michael Koryta
- “The End of the Wasp Season” by Denise Mina
- “The Lock Artist” by Steve Hamilton
- “The Villa Triste” by Lucretia Grindle
- “White Heat” by M.J. McGrath

The longlist for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award include:
- “An Agent of Deceit” by Chris Morgan Jones
- “Before I Go To Sleep” by S.J. Watson
- “Cold Rain” by Craig Smith
- “Savages” by Don Winslow
- “The Cobra” by Frederick Forsyth
- “The Good Son” by Michael Gruber
- “The Lock Artist” by Steve Hamilton
- “The Trinity Six” by Charles Cumming

The longlist for the CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger Award include:
- “Before I Go To Sleep” by S.J. Watson
- “Into The Darkest Corner” by Elizabeth Haynes
- “Kiss Me Quick” by Danny Miller
- “Or The Bull Kills You” by Jason Webster
- “Sister” by Rosamund Lupton
- “The Dead Woman of Juárez” by Sam Hawken
- “The Dogs of Rome” by Conor Fitzgerald
- “The Poison Tree” by Erin Kelly

The longlist for the ITV3 People's Bestseller Dagger Award include:
- “The Sixth Man” by David Baldacci
- “Worth Dying For” by Lee Child
- “Good As Dead” by Mark Billingham
- “Dead Man's Grip” by Peter James
- “Before the Poison” by Peter Robinson

The shortlists in the categories above will be announced on Aug. 22, and the winners will be announced on Oct. 7.

In the end, how many of the books mentioned above have you had a chance to read? Which did you like or dislike? Which would you recommend and why? Let us know in the comments section below.