Some two hundred agents, publishers and authors were present at the glamourous awards dinner at Kings Place, 90 York Way, London, to find out the winners of the 2014 CWA Daggers.

Alison Joseph, Chair of the CWA said:

“Our Daggers Awards dinner is always one of my favourite events in our CWA Calendar. Once again we will be celebrating the best of our genre, at a time when crime fiction is more popular than ever, and when writers are creating works that test the very definition of what counts as a crime or thriller novel in exciting and adventurous ways. The Crime Writers’ Association Daggers Awards were created sixty years ago, and their significance as a mark of excellence in the genre of crime and thriller writing is as strong as ever. Our judges have been working hard for months reading the hundreds of submitted novels, and the dinner at Kings Place is our opportunity to celebrate the shortlisted authors and reward the winners.”

The Winners

CWA INTERNATIONAL DAGGER

The Siege
Arturo Perez-Reverte (translated by Frank Wynne)
Weidenfeld

CWA NON-FICTION DAGGER

The Siege
Adrian Levy and Cathy Scott-Clark
Viking

CWA SHORT STORY DAGGER

Fedora in Deadly Pleasures
John Harvey
Severn House

CWA ENDEAVOUR HISTORICAL DAGGER

Antonia Hodgson
The Devil in the Marshalsea
Hodder & Stoughton

CWA DEBUT DAGGER

Jody Sabral The Movement

Commended

Tim Baker The Long Oblivion

Peter Hayes The Dog of Erbill

CWA DIAMOND DAGGER

The final dagger of the evening was the CWA Diamond Dagger – which is voted for by members of the CWA and celebrates an author with an outstanding body of work in crime fiction. This was presented to Simon Brett by Alison Joseph, Chair of the CWA. Past winners include Val McDermid, Ian Rankin, Frederick Forsyth and Lee Child.

Chair of the CWA, Alison Joseph said:
“I am delighted that the CWA Diamond Dagger for 2014 was awarded to Simon Brett. He is a writer of great wit and integrity, and his success over the years has been very well deserved. The Diamond Dagger is awarded not only for a writer’s work but also for their contribution to the genre, and Simon has always been a stalwart supporter of his fellow writers. I am sure I am not alone in feeling that it is entirely appropriate and merited that Simon should receive this award.”

The Dagger Awards Dinner was hosted by Lucy Worsley, who recently explored the phenomenon of our fascination with murder in the BBC television series ‘A very British Murder.’