The CWA Debut Dagger Competition

Ellen Grubb wins in 2004

This award, for the opening 3,000 words of a proposed crime novel, is sponsored by Orion and administered by the CWA. The winner in 2004 is the British writer Ellen Grubb (left) for her novel The Doll Makers. She was presented with the Dagger and a cheque for £250 by Malcom Edwards, Managing Director of sponsors Orion Books. Follow this link to read her winning entry.

The Canadian Louise Penny (right) was Very Highly Commended for her entry Still Life, which missed taking the Debut Dagger by only a whisker.

The aim of this competition is to discover the crime writers of tomorrow, today. In the six years of its existence all the winners have gained publishing contracts with major Houses, and we hope that Ellen Grubb and Louise Penny will continue the trend this year. For full information on entry requirements and the prize package, please look at the Rules and the frequently asked questions.

The standard of entries in this year's competiton has again been extremely high, and we commend all our competitors for their hard work and originality. We offer them our thanks and gratitude for sharing their talent with us, and for helping to make the Debut Dagger the great success it continues to be. The remaining entrants shortlisted for the 2004 Debut Dagger were:

Paula Bouwer for George Trenque and the Old School Tie - Eire
Kenneth Carlisle for The Gardener - UK
Fay Cunningham for Sleeping Dogs - UK
Jim Doherty for An Obscure Grave - USA
Tom Flynn for Cheap Day Return - Australia
Jude Larkin for Dead Meat - Australia
Andrew Murphy for Red Man's Revenge - N.Ireland
Phyllis Smallman for Margarita Nights - Canada
Germaine Stafford for Fallen Women - Italy
Otis Twelve for Sometimes a Prozac Notion - USA
Eugene Wang for Murder in Crowded Hours - Hawaii
Geoffrey West for Deadly Contact - UK

The CWA would once again like to thank Orion for their continued sponsorship which made the whole event possible.

The Debut Dagger 2004

sponsored by

Orion