2004 daggers
Diamond
Gold and Silver
Non-Fiction
Fleming Steel
John Creasey
Historical
People's Choice
Library
Short Story
Debut
Diamond
Gold and Silver
Non-Fiction
Fleming Steel
John Creasey
Historical
People's Choice
Library
Short Story
Debut
The Crime Writers' Association and www.MysteryThriller.co.uk are delighted to announce the announce the results of this year's Daggers - the prestigious awards that celebrate the very best in crime and thriller writing in 2004.
The winners were announced at a luncheon in the King George III Room, The Brewery, Chiswell Street, London EC1Y 4SD on Tuesday, November 9th. Former Director General of the BBC, Greg Dyke was the guest speaker. This was the first Dagger Awards Luncheon to be sponsored by the BCA and they announced the winner of their own Mystery Thriller People's Choice award.
The CWA has also formed a partnership with the National Library for the Blind to promote their activities and help to raise funds. One result is that the Foyle Foundation is providing finance which have enabled all the winning books in the Dagger Awards to be converted into Braille. Jeffery Deaver is pictured right with the Braille copies of his winning books. It is believed that this is the first time that a series of major awards has been made available in this format. Crime writing being one of the most popular genres, the CWA is particularly pleased to bring it to a wider audience in this manner. Peter White - BBC disability correspondent and long-term supporter of the NLB - also spoke at the luncheon.
More details about each of the awards can be found by following the links on the names of each of the daggers.
The Gold Dagger for the top crime novel of the year went to Sara Paretsky for Blacklist from Hamish Hamilton, with Silver to John Harvey for Flesh and Blood from Heinemann. As well as the daggers, Ms Paretsky and Mr Harvey win £3000 and £2000 prize money respectively. These daggers are sponsored by www.MysteryThriller.co.uk and were presented by Christian Friege, Chief Executive of BCA.
The Mystery Thriller Book Club People's Choice is Reginald Hill for Good Morning, Midnight from HarperCollins. This prize, of an engraved glass bowl and a Dagger, was voted for by members of www.MysteryThriller.co.uk and sponsored by the BCA. It was presented by Christian Friege, Chief Executive of BCA.
The Ian Fleming Steel Dagger, for the best adventure/thriller novel in the vein of James Bond, and £2,000 prize money, went to Jeffery Deaver for Garden of Beasts from Hodder & Stoughton. This Dagger is sponsored by Ian Fleming Publications Ltd. the cheque and Dagger were presented by Zoë Watkins of Ian Fleming Publications Ltd.
The John Creasey Memorial Dagger was won by Mark Mills for Amagansett from Fourth Estate. This dagger, for first books by unpublished writers also carries £1,000 prize money and is sponsored by BBC Audiobooks. The cheque and Dagger were presented by Jan Paterson of BBC Audiobooks.
The winner of the Ellis Peters Historical Dagger was Barbara Cleverly for The Damascened Blade, published by Constable & Robinson, as announced at a reception at The House of St Barnabas-in-Soho, Greek Street, London W1, on Tuesday, October 19th. Ms Cleverly was presented with her Dagger by Marion Donaldson of Headline, at the lunch. The Dagger, and the £3,000 prize money, is sponsored by the Estate of Ellis Peters and her publishers, Headline, and the Time Warner Book Group.
Jeffrey Deaver took his second prize when he won the Short Story Dagger and the £1,500 prize money for 'The Weekender' from Twisted, published by Hodder & Stoughton. This Dagger is sponsored by www.MysteryThriller.co.uk. The cheque and Dagger were presented by Peter White, disability correspondent for the BBC.
The Debut Dagger, for unpublished authors of fiction, was won by Ellen Grubb for The Doll Makers. The Dagger and £250 prize money were presented by Malcom Edwards, Managing Director of the sponsors, Orion. The Canadian writer Louise Penny was very highly commended for her entry Still Life, which missed taking the Debut Dagger by only a whisker.
The Dagger in the Library was won by Alexander McCall Smith. This prize, nominated and judged by librarians, is awarded for a body of work, not just a single title. The dagger and a cheque for the £1,500 prize money were presented by Susan Sandon, Publisher with the CHA Division of the sponsors, Random House.
Joan Lock was awarded the Leo Harris Award for the best contribution to the CWA monthly bulletin, Red Herrings over a twelve-month period, chosen by the current editor, David Stuart Davies and presented by Leo Harris's daughter, Rosalind Dick.
Back in May, the Crime Writers' Association has awarded its Cartier Diamond Dagger for 2004 to the American writer, Lawrence Block. The Diamond Dagger, sponsored by Cartier, has been awarded annually for nineteen years to mark a lifetime's achievement in crime writing. The award was presented on 19 May at a ceremony at the Savoy Hotel in London.