The CWA The Macallan Gold and Silver Daggers for Fiction

Jose Carlos Samoza wins Gold

and James Crumley wins Silver

The 2002 winners of The Macallan Daggers, the leading awards for literary crime fiction in the UK, were announced on 7 November 2002.

The Gold Dagger and £3000 goes to Jose Carlos Samoza for The Athenian Murders (Abacus)
The judges commented: "Complex, intellectually intriguing Ancient Greek crime. Plays tricks with the rules of detection, time itself, and the reader's expectations. A virtuoso performance."

The runner-up, winning the Silver Dagger and £2000, is James Crumley for The Final Country (HarperCollins)
The judges commented: "A wild, free-wheeling cocaine and bourbon fuelled ride through Texas and America's mid west. Labyrinthine plot never fails to grip."

The other shortlisted titles were:

Mark Billingham - Scaredy Cat (Little Brown)
Very impressive second novel which puts an original twist on the serial killer thriller. Strong and convincing London settings. Genuinely frightening.

James Lee Burke - Jolie Blon's Bounce (Orion)
The past returns to haunt the present in a richly described American deep south. Superbly atmospheric and a powerfully evoked sense of evil.

Michael Connolly - City of Bones (Orion)
Classic police procedural cutting to the heart of a small isolated crime. Places you right at the dirty end of an LA murder investigation.

Minette Walters Acid Row (Macmillan)
Tense and well orchestrated account of an inner city riot. A penetrating study of topical issues and mob hysteria. Thought provoking and ferociously fast-moving.

Overall, the judges' comments were: "The standard as in previous years was extremely high, entries were up on last year, and the judges regretted that they could not have a longer short list. Once again the truly international nature of crime writing is reflected."