Gold Dagger

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.

Gold Dagger
Awarded forBest crime novel of the year
CountryUnited Kingdom
Presented byCrime Writers' Association (CWA)
First awarded1955
Most recent winnerGeorge Dawes Green
The Kingdoms of Savannah (2023)
Most awardsRuth Rendell (4)
Most nominationsRuth Rendell, James Lee Burke, and Mick Herron (5)
Websitethecwa.co.uk

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 After the sponsorship was withdrawn, this award was not reinstated.

Since its inception, the award has been given to 57 writers. Ruth Rendell has won the award a record four times, including two awards for the novels A Fatal Inversion and King Solomon's Carpet, published under the pseudonym Barbara Vine; this makes her the only writer who has won the award under different names. Rendell, James Lee Burke, and Mick Herron were nominated a record five times. Abir Mukherjee is the most nominated author in this category without a single win (4 nominations).

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:

1950s

Year Author Work
Crossed Red Herring Award
1955 Winston Graham The Little Walls
Lee Howard Blind Date
Ngaio Marsh Scales of Justice
Margot Bennett The Man Who Didn't Fly
1956 Edward Grierson The Second Man
Sarah Gainham Time Right Deadly
Arthur Upfield Man of Two Tribes
J. J. Marric Gideon's Week
1957 Julian Symons The Colour of Murder
Ngaio Marsh Off with His Head
George Milner Your Money or Your Life
Douglas Rutherford The Long Echo
1958 Margot Bennett Someone from the Past
Margery Allingham Hide My Eyes
James Byrom Or Be He Dead
John Sherwood Undiplomatic Exit
1959 Eric Ambler Passage of Arms
James Mitchell A Way Back
Menna Gallie Strike for a Kingdom

1960s

Year Author Work
Gold Dagger
1960 Lionel Davidson The Night of Wenceslas
Mary Stewart My Brother Michael
Julian Symons The Progress of a Crime
1961 Mary Kelly The Spoilt Kill
John le Carré Call for the Dead
Allan Prior One Way
1962 Joan Fleming When I Grow Rich
Eric Ambler The Light of Day
Colin Watson Hopjoy Was Here
1963 John le Carré The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
Nicolas Freeling Gun Before Butter
William Haggard The High Wire
1964 H. R. F. Keating The Perfect Murder
Gavin Lyall The Most Dangerous Game
Ross Macdonald The Chill
Patricia Highsmith[1] The Two Faces of January
1965 Ross Macdonald The Far Side of the Dollar
Dick Francis For Kicks
Emma Lathen Accounting for Murder
Gavin Lyall[2] Midnight Plus One
1966 Lionel Davidson A Long Way to Shiloh
John Bingham The Double Agent
John Ball[3] In the Heat of the Night
1967 Emma Lathen Murder Against the Grain
Colin Watson Lonely Heart 4122
Eric Ambler[4] Dirty Story
1968 Peter Dickinson Skin Deep
Nicholas Blake The Private Wound
Sébastien Japrisot[5] The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun
1969 Peter Dickinson A Pride of Heroes
Francis Clifford[6] Another Way of Dying
Rex Stout[7] The Father Hunt

1970s

Year Author Work
1970 Joan Fleming Young Man I Think You're Dying
Anthony Price The Labyrinth Makers
1971 James H. McClure The Steam Pig
P. D. James Shroud for a Nightingale
1972 Eric Ambler The Levanter
Victor Canning The Rainbird Pattern
1973 Robert Littell The Defection of A.J. Lewinter
Gwendoline Butler A Coffin for Pandora
1974 Anthony Price Other Paths to Glory
Francis Clifford The Grosvenor Square Goodbye
1975 Nicholas Meyer The Seven-Per-Cent Solution
P. D. James The Black Tower
1976 Ruth Rendell A Demon in My View
James H. McClure Rogue Eagle
1977 John le Carré The Honourable Schoolboy
William McIlvanney Laidlaw
1978 Lionel Davidson The Chelsea Murders
Peter Lovesey Waxwork
1979 Dick Francis Whip Hand
Colin Dexter Service of All the Dead

1980s

Year Author Work
1980 H. R. F. Keating The Murder of the Maharaja
Ellis Peters Monk's Hood
1981 Martin Cruz Smith Gorky Park
Colin Dexter The Dead of Jericho
1982 Peter Lovesey The False Inspector Dew
S. T. Haymon Ritual Murder
1983 John Hutton Accidental Crimes
William McIlvanney The Papers of Tony Vietch
1984 B. M. Gill The Twelfth Juror
Ruth Rendell The Tree of Hands
1985 Paula Gosling Monkey Puzzle
Dorothy Simpson Last Seen Alive
Andrew Taylor Our Father's Lies
Jill Paton Walsh A Piece of Justice
1986 Ruth Rendell Live Flesh
P. D. James A Taste for Death
1987 Barbara Vine A Fatal Inversion
Scott Turow Presumed Innocent
Liza Cody Under Contract
1988 Michael Dibdin Ratking
Sara Paretsky Toxic Shock
1989 Colin Dexter The Wench is Dead
Desmond Lowden The Shadow Run

1990s

Year Author Work
1990 Reginald Hill Bones and Silence
Mike Phillips The Late Candidate
John Harvey Rough Treatment
1991 Barbara Vine King Solomon's Carpet
Frances Fyfield Deep Sleep
Janet Neel Death of a Partner
Michael Dibdin Dirty Tricks
1992 Colin Dexter The Way Through the Woods
Liza Cody Bucket Nut
1993 Patricia Cornwell Cruel and Unusual
Sarah Dunant Deep Sleep
Robert Richardson The Hand of Strange Children
Janet Neel Death Among the Dons
1994 Minette Walters The Scold's Bridle
Peter Høeg Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow
Val McDermid Crack Down
Sara Paretsky Tunnel Vision
1995 Val McDermid The Mermaids Singing
Peter Lovesey The Summons
Elizabeth Ironside Death in the Garden
Minette Walters The Dark Room
1996 Ben Elton Popcorn
Peter Lovesey Bloodhounds
Jessica Mann A Private Enquiry
1997 Ian Rankin Black and Blue
Janet Evanovich Three to Get Deadly
Frank Lean The Reluctant Investigator
1998 James Lee Burke Sunset Limited
Nicholas Blincoe Manchester Slingback
Michael Dibdin A Long Finish
Geoffrey Archer Fire Hawk
Reginald Hill On Beulah Height
George Pelecanos King Suckerman
1999 Robert Wilson A Small Death in Lisbon
Adrian Mathews Vienna Blood
Val McDermid A Place of Execution
Ian Rankin Dead Souls
Michael Connelly Angels Flight
Denise Danks Phreak
Frances Fyfield Staring at the Light

2000s

Year Author Work
2000 Jonathan Lethem Motherless Brooklyn
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
2001 Henning Mankell Sidetracked
Giles Blunt Forty Words for Sorrow
Stephen Booth Dancing with the Virgins
Denise Danks Baby Love
George Pelecanos Right as Rain
Scott Phillips The Ice Harvest
2002 José Carlos Somoza The Athenian Murders
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
2003 Minette Walters Fox Evil
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
2004 Sara Paretsky Blacklist
John Harvey Flesh and Blood
Mo Hayder Tokyo
Val McDermid The Torment of Others
James W. Nichol Midnight Cab
Laura Wilson The Lover
2005 Arnaldur Indriðason Silence of the Grave
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
Duncan Lawrie Dagger
2006 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
2007 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
2008 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
Gold Dagger
2009 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

2010s

Year Author Work
2010 Belinda Bauer Blacklands
S. J. Bolton Blood Harvest
George Pelecanos The Way Home
Karen Campbell Shadowplay
2011 Tom Franklin Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter
Steve Hamilton The Lock Artist
A. D. Miller Snowdrops
Denise Mina The End of the Wasp Season
2012 Gene Kerrigan The Rage
N. J. Cooper Vengeance in Mind
M. R. Hall The Flight
Chris Womersley Bereft
2013 Mick Herron Dead Lions
Belinda Bauer Rubbernecker
Lauren Beukes The Shining Girls
Becky Masterman Rage Against the Dying
2014 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
2015 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
2016 Bill Beverly Dodgers
Chris Brookmyre Black Widow
Denise Mina Blood Salt Water
Mick Herron Real Tigers
2017 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
2018 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
2019 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

2020s

Year Author Work
2020 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
2021 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
2022 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
2023[8] George Dawes Green The Kingdoms of Savannah
Vaseem Khan The Lost Man of Bombay
Simon Mason A Killing in November
Anna Mazzola The Clockwork Girl
WC Ryan The Winter Guest
Simon Van der Velde The Silent Brother


Multiple awards and nominations

Gold Dagger

Silver Dagger

Gold and Silver Daggers wins

The following individuals received both Gold and Silver Dagger awards:

Records

  • Ngaio Marsh was the first writer to receive more than one nomination.
  • Ross Macdonald was the first writer to receive two consecutive nominations
  • Peter Dickinson is the first writer to receive two Gold Daggers. He and Ruth Rendell are the only ones to win in this category two years in a row.
  • Joan Fleming is the first female to win two awards.
  • Anthony Price is the first writer to win both the Gold and Silver Daggers.
  • P.D. James and Peter Lovesey win a record three Silver Daggers. James also won the most Silver Daggers as the author who never won a Gold Dagger.
  • Colin Dexter is the only writer to win both two Silver and two Gold Daggers.
  • Ruth Rendell has won the Gold Dagger a record four times. She is also the only one to win the award under different names.
  • Ruth Rendell, James Lee Burke and Mick Herron have the most nominations (5).
  • Mick Herron has the most consecutive nominations (3).
  • Abir Mukherjee has the most nominations without a win (4).

References

  1. Best Foreign
  2. Best British
  3. Best Foreign
  4. Best British
  5. Best Foreign
  6. Silver Dagger
  7. Best Foreign
  8. "2023 Dagger Award Winners Announced". The Crime Writers’ Association. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  9. including two awards for Barbara Vine novels
  10. including two nominations for Barbara Vine novels
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