The CWA Debut Dagger 2002

Ilona van Mil wins with SUGARMILK FALLS

The winner of the 2002 Debut Dagger competition was Ilona van Mil for 'Sugarmilk Falls', The Debut Dagger, and a cheque for £250, were presented to Ilona (left) at Dead on Deansgate, the yearly festival of crime writing organized by Waterstones booksellers.

Here is the opening of Sugarmilk Falls which so impressed the judges.

Carol Baier (right) was Highly Commended for her entry, 'Heaven's Door'.

The Debut Dagger 2002 contest attracted 350 entries from fifteen countries including the UK. The exceptionally high standard of entries this year produced a long-shortlist of twenty to go into the final judging round. Our regret is that there can be only one winner. The other people on the shortlist were:

Carol Baier for 'Heaven's Door' - USA
Leigh Boyer for 'Murders & Acquisitions' - New Zealand
Wayne Caldwell for 'An Unhealthy Heritage' - Australia
Gill Chilton for 'Stealing Babies' - UK
J. Huw Evans for 'Unlucky With Women' - UK
Kirsty Evans for 'The Fortress in the Sea' - UK
Alan Frost for 'Dying Angels' - UK
Almuth Heuner for 'Talking Back to the Night' - Germany
Heidi Holzer for 'The Strength of Silk' - USA
Joshua Kuritzky for 'Good Times and Hate Crimes' - USA
Sue Lord for 'Backrun' - UK
Karen Lucas for 'Past Sins' - UK
Jane McCoy for 'Fact or Fiction' - UK
Marsali McDonald for 'The Celtic Connection' - UK
Lilias Odell for 'Beware the Anger' - UK
Patricia Rainsford for 'Fattening Frogs for Snakes' - Ireland
Shirley Rhodes for 'The King's Desire' - UK
Marion Roberts for 'Rough House' - UK
Paul Southern for 'The Craze' - UK

The CWA would like to thank all the entrants who took part in this year's competiton, and to thank Orion for their sponsorship which made the whole event possible. They continue to sponsor the Debut Dagger contest.

The Debut Dagger is awarded to the winner of the Crime Writers' Association's annual new writing competition, open to anyone whose work has not been published before. Now in its fifth year, the Debut Dagger is sponsored by the publisher Orion, and by The Times. Previous winners include Joolz Denby (HarperCollins) and Caroline Carver (Orion).

Contestants had until Saturday 10 August 2002 to produce the opening pages (up to 3,000 words) of their crime novel together with a 500 word outline of its progression. Crime includes anything from historical mysteries and period whodunits to thrillers. Professional readers then assessed the entries to produce the short list. Final decisions were then taken by the judges.

The Debut Dagger 2002

sponsored by

Orion