Gold Dagger Award

The Gold Dagger is an award given annually by the Crime Writers' Association of the United Kingdom since 1960 for the best crime novel of the year.

From 1955 to 1959, the organization named their top honor as the Crossed Red Herring Award. From 1995 to 2002 the award acquired sponsorship from Macallan and was known as the Macallan Gold Dagger.

In 2006, because of new sponsorship from the Duncan Lawrie Bank, the award was officially renamed as the Duncan Lawrie Dagger, and gained a prize fund of £20,000. It was the biggest crime-fiction award in the world in monetary terms. In 2008, Duncan Lawrie Bank withdrew its sponsorship of the awards. As a result, the top prize is again called the Gold Dagger without a monetary award.

From 1969 to 2005, a Silver Dagger was awarded to the runner-up. When Duncan Lawrie acquired sponsorship, this award was dropped. After the sponsorship was withdrawn, this award was not reinstated.

The Crime Writers' Association also awards the CWA Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction and several other "Dagger" awards.

Winners

Winners and, where known, shortlisted titles for each year:

2020s

2022

Gold Dagger: Ray Celestin, ''Sunset Swing''
* Jacqueline Bublitz, ''Before You Knew My Name''
* S. A. Cosby, ''Razorblade Tears''
* John Hart, ''The Unwilling''
* Abir Mukherjee, ''The Shadows of Men''
* William Shaw, ''The Trawlerman''
;2021
Gold Dagger: Chris Whitaker, ''We Begin at the End''
* S. A. Cosby, ''Blacktop Wasteland''
* Ben Creed, ''City of Ghosts''
* Nicci French, ''House of Correction''
* Robert Galbraith, ''Troubled Blood''
* Elly Griffiths, ''The Postscript Murders''
* Thomas Mullen, ''Midnight Atlanta''

;2020
Gold Dagger: Michael Robotham, ''Good Girl Bad Girl''

* Claire Askew, ''What You Pay For''
* Lou Berney, ''November Road''
* John Fairfax, ''Forced Confessions''
* Mick Herron, ''Joe Country''
* Abir Mukherjee, ''Death in the East''
*

2010s

;2019
* Gold Dagger: M. W. Craven, ''The Puppet Show''
**Claire Askew, ''All the Hidden Truths''
**Christobel Kent, ''What We Did''
**Donna Leon, ''Unto Us a Son is Given''
**Derek B. Miller, ''American by Day''
**Benjamin Wood, ''A Station on the Path to Somewhere Better''

;2018
* Gold Dagger: Steve Cavanagh, ''The Liar''
**Mick Herron, ''London Rules''
**Dennis Lehane, ''Since We Fell''
**Attica Locke, ''Bluebird, Bluebird''
** Abir Mukherjee, ''A Necessary Evil''
** Emma Viskic, ''Resurrection Bay''

;2017
* Gold Dagger: Jane Harper, '' The Dry''
** Belinda Bauer, ''The Beautiful Dead''
** Ray Celestin, ''Dead Man's Blues''
** Mick Herron, ''Spook Street''
** Derek B. Miller, ''The Girl In Green''
** Abir Mukherjee, ''A Rising Man''

; 2016
* Gold Dagger: Bill Beverly, ''Dodgers''
** Chris Brookmyre, ''Black Widow''
** Denise Mina, ''Blood Salt Water''
** Mick Herron, ''Real Tigers''

; 2015
* Gold Dagger: Michael Robotham, '' Life or Death''
** Belinda Bauer, ''The Shut Eye''
** James Carlos Blake, ''The Rules of Wolfe''
** Robert Galbraith, ''The Silkworm''
** Sam Hawken, ''Missing''
** Stephen King, ''Mr. Mercedes''
** Attica Locke, ''Pleasantville''

; 2014
* Gold Dagger: Wiley Cash, ''This Dark Road to Mercy''
** Paula Daly, ''Keep Your Friends Close''
** Paul Mendelson, ''The First Rule of Survival''
** Louise Penny, ''How the Light Gets In''

; 2013
* Gold Dagger: Mick Herron, ''Dead Lions''
** Belinda Bauer, ''Rubbernecker''
** Lauren Beukes, ''The Shining Girls''
** Becky Masterman, ''Rage Against the Dying''

;2012
* Gold Dagger: Gene Kerrigan, ''The Rage''
** N. J. Cooper, ''Vengeance in Mind''
** M. R. Hall, ''The Flight''
** Chris Womersley, ''Bereft''

;2011
* Gold Dagger: Tom Franklin, ''Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter''
** Steve Hamilton, ''The Lock Artist''
** A. D. Miller, ''Snowdrops''
** Denise Mina, ''The End of the Wasp Season''

;2010
* Gold Dagger: Belinda Bauer, ''Blacklands''
** S. J. Bolton, ''Blood Harvest''
** George Pelecanos, ''The Way Home ''
** Karen Campbell, ''Shadowplay''

2000s

; 2009
* Gold Dagger: William Brodrick, ''A Whispered Name''
** Kate Atkinson, '' When Will There Be Good News?''
** Mark Billingham, ''In the Dark''
** Lawrence Block, ''Hit and Run''
** M. R. Hall, ''The Coroner''
** Gene Kerrigan, ''Dark Times in the City''

; 2008
* Duncan Lawrie Dagger: Frances Fyfield, ''Blood From Stone''
** James Lee Burke, ''The Tin Roof Blowdown''
** Colin Cotterill, '' The Coroner's Lunch''
** Steve Hamilton, ''Night Work''
** Laura Lippman, ''What the Dead Know''
** R. N. Morris, ''A Vengeful Longing''

; 2007
* Duncan Lawrie Dagger: Peter Temple, ''The Broken Shore''
** Giles Blunt, ''The Fields of Grief''
** James Lee Burke, ''Pegasus Descending''
** Gillian Flynn, '' Sharp Objects''
** Craig Russell, ''Brother Grimm''
** C. J. Sansom, ''Sovereign''

; 2006 (award renamed)
* Duncan Lawrie Dagger: Ann Cleeves, ''Raven Black''
** Simon Beckett, ''The Chemistry of Death''
** Thomas H. Cook, ''Red Leaves''
** Frances Fyfield, ''Safer Than Houses''
** Bill James, ''Wolves of Memory''
** Laura Wilson, '' A Thousand Lies''

; 2005
* Gold Dagger: Arnaldur Indriðason, ''Silence of the Grave''
* Silver Dagger: Barbara Nadel, ''Deadly Web''
** Karin Fossum, '' Calling Out for You''
** Friedrich Glauser, ''In Matto's Realm''
** Carl Hiaasen, ''Skinny Dip''
** Fred Vargas, '' Seeking Whom He May Devour''

; 2004
* Gold Dagger: Sara Paretsky, ''Blacklist''
* Silver Dagger: John Harvey, ''Flesh and Blood''
** Mo Hayder, ''Tokyo''
** Val McDermid, '' The Torment of Others''
** James W. Nichol, ''Midnight Cab''
** Laura Wilson, '' The Lover''

; 2003
* Gold Dagger: Minette Walters, ''Fox Evil''
* Silver Dagger: Morag Joss, ''Half-Broken Things''
** Boris Akunin, '' The Winter Queen''
** Robert Littell, '' The Company''
** Carlo Lucarelli, ''Almost Blue''
** Robert Wilson, '' The Blind Man of Seville''

; 2002
* Gold Dagger: José Carlos Somoza, '' The Athenian Murders''
* Silver Dagger: James Crumley, ''The Final Country''
** Mark Billingham, ''Scaredy Cat''
** James Lee Burke, ''Jolie Blon's Bounce''
** Michael Connelly, '' City of Bones''
** Minette Walters, ''Acid Row''

; 2001
* Gold Dagger: Henning Mankell, ''Sidetracked (novel), Sidetracked''
* Silver Dagger: Giles Blunt, ''Forty Words for Sorrow''
** Stephen Booth (writer), Stephen Booth, ''Dancing with the Virgins''
** Denise Danks, ''Baby Love''
** George Pelecanos, ''Right as Rain''
** Scott Phillips (writer), Scott Phillips, ''The Ice Harvest (novel), The Ice Harvest''

; 2000
* Gold Dagger: Jonathan Lethem, ''Motherless Brooklyn''
* Silver Dagger: Donna Leon, ''Friends In High Places''
** James Lee Burke, ''Purple Cane Road''
** Eliot Pattison, ''The Skull Mantra''
** Lucy Wadham, ''Lost''
** Martin Cruz Smith, ''Havana Bay (novel), Havana Bay''

1990s

;1999
* Gold Dagger: Robert Wilson, ''A Small Death in Lisbon''
* Silver Dagger: Adrian Mathews, ''Vienna Blood''
** Val McDermid, ''A Place of Execution''
** Ian Rankin, ''Dead Souls (1999 novel), Dead Souls''
** Michael Connelly, ''Angels Flight (novel), Angels Flight''
** Denise Danks, ''Phreak''
** Frances Fyfield, ''Staring at the Light''

;1998
* Gold Dagger: James Lee Burke, ''Sunset Limited''
* Silver Dagger: Nicholas Blincoe, ''Manchester Slingback''
** Michael Dibdin, ''A Long Finish''
** Geoffrey Archer (writer), Geoffrey Archer, ''Fire Hawk''
** Reginald Hill, ''On Beulah Height''
** George Pelecanos, ''King Suckerman''

; 1997
* Gold Dagger: Ian Rankin, ''Black and Blue (Rankin novel), Black and Blue''
* Silver Dagger: Janet Evanovich, ''Three to Get Deadly (novel), Three to Get Deadly''
** Frank Lean, ''The Reluctant Investigator''

; 1996
* Gold Dagger: Ben Elton, ''Popcorn (novel), Popcorn''
* Silver Dagger: Peter Lovesey, ''Bloodhounds''
** Jessica Mann, ''A Private Enquiry''

; 1995
* Gold Dagger: Val McDermid, ''The Mermaids Singing''
* Silver Dagger: Peter Lovesey, ''The Summons''
** Elizabeth Ironside, "Death in the Garden"
** Minette Walters, ''The Dark Room (Minette Walters novel), The Dark Room''

; 1994
* Gold Dagger: Minette Walters, ''The Scold's Bridle''
* Silver Dagger: Peter Høeg, ''Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow''
** Val McDermid, ''Crack Down''
** Sara Paretsky, ''Tunnel Vision (novel), Tunnel Vision''

; 1993
* Gold Dagger: Patricia Cornwell, ''Cruel and Unusual (novel), Cruel and Unusual''
* Silver Dagger: Sarah Dunant, ''Fatlands''
** Robert Richardson, ''The Hand of Strange Children''
** Janet Neel Cohen, Janet Neel, ''Death Among the Dons''

; 1992
* Gold Dagger: Colin Dexter, ''The Way Through the Woods''
* Silver Dagger: Liza Cody, ''Bucket Nut''

; 1991
* Gold Dagger: Ruth Rendell, Barbara Vine, ''King Solomon's Carpet''
* Silver Dagger: Frances Fyfield, ''Deep Sleep''
** Janet Neel Cohen, Janet Neel, ''Death of a Partner''
** Michael Dibdin, ''Dirty Tricks''

; 1990
* Gold Dagger: Reginald Hill, ''Bones and Silence''
* Silver Dagger: Mike Phillips (writer), Mike Phillips, ''The Late Candidate''
** John Harvey, ''Rough Treatment''

1980s

;1989
* Gold Dagger: Colin Dexter, ''The Wench is Dead''
* Silver Dagger: Desmond Lowden, ''The Shadow Run''

; 1988
* Gold Dagger: Michael Dibdin, ''Ratking (novel), Ratking''
* Silver Dagger: Sara Paretsky, ''Toxic Shock (novel), Toxic Shock''

; 1987
* Gold Dagger: Ruth Rendell, Barbara Vine, ''A Fatal Inversion''
* Silver Dagger: Scott Turow, ''Presumed Innocent (novel), Presumed Innocent''
** Liza Cody, ''Under Contract''

; 1986
* Gold Dagger: Ruth Rendell, ''Live Flesh''
* Silver Dagger: P. D. James, ''A Taste for Death (P. D. James novel), A Taste for Death''

; 1985
* Gold Dagger: Paula Gosling, ''Monkey Puzzle''
* Silver Dagger: Dorothy Simpson, ''Last Seen Alive''
** Andrew Taylor (author), Andrew Taylor, ''Our Father's Lies''
** Jill Paton Walsh, ''A Piece of Justice''

; 1984
* Gold Dagger: Barbara Margaret Trimble, B. M. Gill, ''The Twelfth Juror''
* Silver Dagger: Ruth Rendell, ''The Tree of Hands''

; 1983
* Gold Dagger: John Hutton (author), John Hutton, ''Accidental Crimes''
* Silver Dagger: William McIlvanney, ''The Papers of Tony Vietch''

; 1982
* Gold Dagger: Peter Lovesey, ''The False Inspector Dew''
* Silver Dagger: Sylvia Haymon, S. T. Haymon, ''Ritual Murder''

; 1981
* Gold Dagger: Martin Cruz Smith, ''Gorky Park (novel), Gorky Park''
* Silver Dagger: Colin Dexter, ''The Dead of Jericho''

; 1980
* Gold Dagger: H. R. F. Keating, ''The Murder of the Maharaja''
* Silver Dagger: Edith Pargeter, Ellis Peters, ''Monk's Hood''

1970s

;1979
*Gold Dagger: Dick Francis, ''Whip Hand''
*Silver Dagger: Colin Dexter, ''Service of All the Dead''

;1978
*Gold Dagger: Lionel Davidson, ''The Chelsea Murders''
*Silver Dagger: Peter Lovesey, ''Waxwork''

;1977
*Gold Dagger: John le Carré, ''The Honourable Schoolboy''
*Silver Dagger: William McIlvanney, ''Laidlaw (novel), Laidlaw''

;1976
*Gold Dagger: Ruth Rendell, ''A Demon in My View''
*Silver Dagger: James H. McClure, ''Rogue Eagle''

; 1975
* Gold Dagger: Nicholas Meyer, ''The Seven-Per-Cent Solution''
* Silver Dagger: P. D. James, ''The Black Tower''

; 1974
* Gold Dagger: Anthony Price, ''Other Paths to Glory''
* Silver Dagger: Francis Clifford (author), Francis Clifford, ''The Grosvenor Square Goodbye''

; 1973
* Gold Dagger: Robert Littell, ''The Defection of A.J. Lewinter''
* Silver Dagger: Gwendoline Butler, ''A Coffin for Pandora''

; 1972
* Gold Dagger: Eric Ambler, ''The Levanter''
* Silver Dagger: Victor Canning, ''The Rainbird Pattern''

; 1971
* Gold Dagger: James H. McClure, ''The Steam Pig''
* Silver Dagger: P. D. James, ''Shroud for a Nightingale''

; 1970
* Gold Dagger: Joan Fleming, ''Young Man I Think You're Dying''
* Silver Dagger: Anthony Price, ''The Labyrinth Makers''

1960s

; 1969
* Gold Dagger: Peter Dickinson, ''A Pride of Heroes''
* Silver Dagger: Francis Clifford (author), Francis Clifford, ''Another Way of Dying''
** Best Foreign: Rex Stout, ''The Father Hunt''

; 1968
* Gold Dagger: Peter Dickinson, ''Skin Deep''
**Cecil Day-Lewis, Nicholas Blake, ''The Private Wound''
** Best Foreign: Sébastien Japrisot, ''The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun (novel), The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun''

; 1967
* Gold Dagger: Emma Lathen, ''Murder Against the Grain''
** Colin Watson (writer), Colin Watson, ''Lonely Heart 4122''
** Best British: Eric Ambler, ''Dirty Story (Ambler), Dirty Story''

; 1966
* Gold Dagger: Lionel Davidson, ''A Long Way to Shiloh''
** John Bingham, 7th Baron Clanmorris, John Bingham, ''The Double Agent''
** Best Foreign: John Ball (American author), John Ball, ''In the Heat of the Night''

; 1965
* Gold Dagger: Ross Macdonald, ''The Far Side of the Dollar''
** Dick Francis, ''For Kicks''
** Emma Lathen, ''Accounting for Murder''
** Best British: Gavin Lyall, ''Midnight Plus One''

; 1964
* Gold Dagger: H. R. F. Keating, ''The Perfect Murder (novel), The Perfect Murder''
** Gavin Lyall, ''The Most Dangerous Game (Gavin Lyall novel), The Most Dangerous Game''
** Ross Macdonald, ''The Chill''
** Best Foreign: Patricia Highsmith, ''The Two Faces of January''

; 1963
* Gold Dagger: John le Carré, ''The Spy Who Came in from the Cold''
** Nicolas Freeling, ''Gun Before Butter''
** William Haggard, ''The High Wire''

; 1962
* Gold Dagger: Joan Fleming, ''When I Grow Rich''
** Eric Ambler, ''The Light of Day (Eric Ambler novel), The Light of Day''
** Colin Watson (writer), Colin Watson, ''Hopjoy Was Here''

; 1961
* Gold Dagger: Mary Kelly (writer), Mary Kelly, ''The Spoilt Kill''
** John le Carré, ''Call for the Dead''
** Allan Prior, ''One Way''

; 1960 (award renamed)
* Gold Dagger: Lionel Davidson, ''The Night of Wenceslas''
** Mary Stewart (novelist), Mary Stewart, ''My Brother Michael''
** Julian Symons, ''The Progress of a Crime''

1950s

; 1959
* Crossed Red Herring Award: Eric Ambler, ''Passage of Arms''
** James Mitchell (writer), James Mitchell, ''A Way Back''
** Menna Gallie, ''Strike for a Kingdom''

; 1958
* Crossed Red Herring Award: Margot Bennett (writer), Margot Bennett, ''Someone from the Past''
** Margery Allingham, ''Hide My Eyes''
** James Byrom, ''Or Be He Dead''
** John Sherwood (author), John Sherwood, ''Undiplomatic Exit''

; 1957
* Crossed Red Herring Award: Julian Symons, ''The Colour of Murder''
** Ngaio Marsh, ''Off with His Head''
** George Milner, ''Your Money or Your Life''
** Douglas Rutherford, ''The Long Echo''

; 1956
* Crossed Red Herring Award: Edward Grierson, ''The Second Man''
** Sarah Gainham, ''Time Right Deadly''
** Arthur Upfield, ''Man of Two Tribes''
** John Creasey, J. J. Marric, ''Gideon's Week''

; 1955
* Crossed Red Herring Award: Winston Graham, ''The Little Walls''
** Lee Howard (journalist), Leigh Howard, ''Blind Date''
** Ngaio Marsh, ''Scales of Justice (novel), Scales of Justice''
** Margot Bennett (writer), Margot Bennett, ''The Man Who Didn't Fly''

References

External links

The Gold Dagger at Crime Writers' Association official webpage

{{Gold Dagger Award

Crime Writers' Association awards
1955 establishments in the United Kingdom
Awards established in 1955
Mystery and detective fiction awards