It’s one of the biggest crime events of the year. And 2017 has been a particularly golden year for the CWA Daggers, with a number of awards going to outstanding and pleasingly varied works.
No less than three CWA winners – set in Australia, India and Sweden – have been championed on Mrs. Peabody Investigates:
- Jane Harper’s The Dry, Winner of the CWA Gold Dagger. See full review here: ‘Murder in the Outback. Jane Harper’s The Dry‘.
- Abir Mukherjee’s A Rising Man, Winner of the CWA Endeavour Historical Dagger. See an illuminating interview with Abir here.
- Leif G.W. Persson, translated by Neil Smith, The Dying Detective, winner of the CWA International Dagger. See full review here and an extract here, with some delightful photos of Günter’s Stockholm hotdog kiosk. The Dying Detective was also shortlisted for this year’s Petrona Award.
Huge congratulations also to Ann Cleeves and Mari Hannah on their richly deserved awards!
If you’re looking for new crime reads or present ideas, then I would thoroughly recommend having a browse on the individual Dagger webpages, each of which lists the winning, shortlisted and longlisted titles. Here’s a link to the Historical Dagger page so you can see – it’s quite a treasure trove. Links to the other Daggers are on the left-hand side.
Mrs. Peabody Investigates 
I was rather pleased with the list – quite a few of my personal favourites there!
Me too! Are there any other winners you’d particularly recommend? I like the look of the Castro prison one (as it were). Great title.
I haven’t read the non-fiction – but I really loved Tall Oaks, if you haven’t read it! Rare that a book can make me laugh and cry in virtually the same paragraph.
Thanks! Sounds good – will have a peak.
A banner year, indeed, Mrs. P.! We’ve really been spoilt for choice with several of this year’s various awards.
We have! It’s been a very strong year.
Morning Mrs P. Well there’s an interesting list to choose from. I’ve read The Dry already. An excellent book. You really get the feeling of the outback that’s had no rain for a couple of years, plus of course a great plot. Recommended it to the BFF who is off to Aus for a month over xmas. The others I will have a look at too.
Morning, Kathy! Hope the BFF enjoys! The Dry is one of my standout reads of this year – though I actually listened to the audiobook version, which was great. Yes, lots of great picks in that list – and don’t forget the shortlists…. 😉
Yes, a great choice. Well done to Anne Cleeves, I love the Vera novels. I too enjoyed The Dry ( after reading about it here first) and LURVED The Dying Detective – another of your tips! All that remains for now is for me to to read Abir Mukherjee’s A Rising Man 😉 PS: Mrs P, did you recommend The Crack in the Wall by Claudia Pineiro? That is such a good read! ( I liked Betty Boo but The Crack is even better, I think).
I love the Vera novels too. She’s such a great character. And, it pleases me greatly to hear that you LURVED The Dying Detective. Persson isn’t to everyone’s taste, but I think he’s one of the best crime writers around.
In answer to your question, I did feature Pieneiro’s Crack in the Wall (link below). I loved both The Crack and Betty Boo (very different in style, showcasing Pineiro’s literary versatility).
https://mrspeabodyinvestigates.wordpress.com/2016/08/17/women-in-translation-month-claudia-pineiros-a-crack-in-the-wall-argentina/
It was a splendid occasion and the winners richly deserved their success. Might we see you there another year, Mrs P?
I do hope so, Christine. It looks like a fabulous event!
I also liked The Dry. Jane Harper’s second book “Force of Nature” is out, at least in Oz. It’s reviewed at Reactions to Reading.
I must read The Dying Detective and some books by Mari Hannah.