It's ironic that John Creasey (1908-73) - in his day a celebrated crime writer
- is largely unread today. While publishers have dusted off many back
catalogues, no one seems in any hurry to repackage Creasey's prodigious
output (and if the truth be told, much of his work is no more than
craftsmanlike). But Creasey left another legacy - one that is in far ruder
health than his literary reputation. This year is the 57th year of the Crime
Writers' Association, the most prestigious organisation of its kind in the
world.
Creasey forged the association to promote and support professional writers and
the crime genre, and those who have taken up the reins since Creasey - and,
over the years, Dick Francis, Lady Antonia Fraser and Ian Rankin have all
chaired the organisation - have not only sustained his legacy but also
burnished it to a new brightness.
Of course, though the CWA also exists for authors to schmooze and complain
about their publishers, the jewels in the crown of the organisation are the
annual Dagger Awards, acknowledging the best in crime writing (including
fiction, nonfiction, thrillers, psychological and historical mysteries,
first novels, short stories and authors whose work has won the approval of
libraries and readers' groups).
Although the Edgars (the American equivalent) possess clout, the real cachet
for a crime writer is to bag a Dagger - unarguably the Booker Prize for
practitioners of murder on the page.
Publishers adore the awards: even a nomination (as much as a win) ensures
speedily inserted flashes on paperback covers - and the Dagger imprimatur
undoubtedly shifts books from shelves.
Inevitably (as with all awards), controversy is never far away; often a clear
winner has fallen at the post in favour of eccentric choices. In fact, the
list of past winners reveals many a forgotten novelist alongside the
Rendells and Rankins.
And there was blood on the CWA walls over a recent decision to exclude crime
in translation from the big bauble, the Gold Dagger; some felt that the
CWA's decision was parochial, while others argued that hiving off the
translation prize into a separate category was a sensible solution. But as
an index of excellence in the field a Dagger Award remains a copper-bottomed
recommendation - one that is recognised by the professional and the average
reader alike as a guide to the most exemplary writing in the crime fiction
genre. Here, exclusively in The Times, the first of the 2009 Dagger
shortlists are announced.
CWA Dagger Shortlists 2009:
CWA DAGGER IN THE LIBRARY
This award, sponsored by Random House, is nominated by library users, judged
by librarians and awarded to an author for a body of work rather than a
single title.
Simon Beckett (Bantam) Strong, pungent writing is Beckett's forte;
lethal mind games that are not for the squeamish.
Colin Cotterill (Quercus) Laos in the 1970s - in all its beauty and
corruption - with a quirky, elderly pathologist hero.
R. J. Ellory (Orion) Huge and ambitious US panoplies from an
authoritative English writer.
Ariana Franklin (HarperCollins) The award-winning Franklin specialises
in vivid historical backgrounds married to immense storytelling panache.
Peter James (Pan Macmillan) Utterly authentic police procedurals
powered by the strongly characterised copper Roy Grace.
Michael Robotham (Sphere) Strong and acerbic thrillers shot through
with a vein of dark psychology.
CWA INTERNATIONAL DAGGER
For crime, thriller, suspense or spy fiction novels that have been translated
into English from their original language for British publication.
Shadow by Karin Alvtegen, translated from the Swedish by McKinley
Burnett (Canongate)
Mordant, complex psychological crime that pulls few punches in describing
destructive generational legacies.
Arctic Chill by Arnaldur Indridason, translated from the Icelandic by
Bernard Scudder and Victoria Cribb (Harvill Secker) Scandinavian mean
streets evoked by a master in pared-to-the-bone, wiry prose.
The Girl who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson, translated from the
Swedish by Reg Keeland (Maclehose Press/ Quercus)
Book two in the late Swedish writer's prodigiously successful Millennium trio
featuring the vulnerable computer hacker Lisbeth Salander.
The Redeemer by Jo Nesbø, translated from the Norwegian by Don Bartlett
(Harvill Secker)
Nesbø delivers a heady cocktail of urban decay, religion and gruesome
violence.
Echoes from the Dead by Johan Theorin, translated from the Swedish by
Marlaine Delargy (Doubleday) Theorin brilliantly infuses his secluded locale
with menace - and acute social commentary.
The Chalk Circle Man by Fred Vargas, translated from the French by Siân
Reynolds (Harvill Secker)
Eccentric as ever, Vargas's novel has a very individual tone of voice -
Gallic, but universal in its cutting insight.
CWA SHORT STORY DAGGER
Any crime short story first published or broadcast in the UK in English.
One Serving of Bad Luck by Sean Chercover from Killer Year, edited by
Lee Child (Mira)
Neat, tight and economical, this is a new take on the private eye genre.
Cougar by Laura Lippman from Two of the Deadliest, ed. Elizabeth George
(Hodder & Stoughton)
A serrated knife in the gut of gender politics by an expert practitioner of
the genre.
Served Cold by Zoë Sharp from The Mammoth Book of Best British Crime,
ed. Maxim Jakubowski (Constable & Robinson) An unsparing tale of lost
love and its tragic consequences.
The Price of Love by Peter Robinson from The Blue Religion, edited by
Michael Connelly (Back Bay Books)
A boy finally understands the brutal criminal implications of an incident in
his childhood.
Speaking of Lust by Lawrence Block from Crime Express series (Five
Leaves Publications)
Four tales of lasciviousness and its fatal aftermath by a godfather of the
crime field.
Mother's Milk by Chris Simms from The Mammoth Book of Best British
Crime edited by Maxim Jakubowski (Constable & Robinson)
A deceptively low-key story from a young British author of a conman who has
the tables painfully turned on him.
CWA DEBUT DAGGER
The Debut Dagger (sponsored by Orion) is a new writing competition open to
anyone writing in the English language who has not yet had a novel published
commercially.
A View from the Clock Tower by Frank Burkett (Australia)
An intriguing first-person narrative of an Australian murder mystery.
My First Big Book of Murder by Aoife Clifford (Australia)
Sardonically written caper novel with a witty individual voice.
Backdrop by CJ Harper (USA)
Winning PI protagonist in an attractive 1950s Hollywood setting.
Callway: The Land of Sun and Fun by Madeleine Harris (Canada)
A visceral and disturbing novel with a powerful evocation of locale.
Sex, Death and Chocolate by Renata Hill (Canada)
Effortlessly entertaining jeu d'esprit notable for its sharp-edged dialogue.
The Sirius Patrol by Mick Laing (UK)
Sharply observed tale of conflict in a cloistered Greenland community.
The Pathologist by Catherine O'Keefe (Canada)
Disturbing and intelligent fare from a promising talent.
Forgotten Treasures by Susan Lindgren (USA)
Distinctive heroine in an atmospheric and unsettling narrative.
Paterfamilias by Danielle Ramsay (UK)
Dexterous sleight-of-hand and authorial double-bluff.
A Vine Time for Trouble by Germain Stafford (Italy)
Intriguing variant on the cosy-style murder mystery in a sultry Italian
setting.
Idiot Wind by Martin Ungless (UK)
A trenchant novel unafraid to take on contentious issues.
Murder at the Séance by Alan Wright (UK)
Persuasive whodunit in a credible setting, delivered with a robust sense of
authenticity.
Barry Forshaw is the vice-chairman of the Crime Writers' Association and
the editor of British Crime Writing: An Encyclopedia.
All titles are available from The Times BooksFirst on 0845 2712134 or
timesonline.co.uk/booksfirst
For the CWA Debut Dagger shortlist, visit timesonline.co.uk/books or
www.thecwa.co.uk/daggers
