The ILP John Creasey First Novel Dagger (formerly the ILP John Creasey New Blood Dagger) is for the best crime novel by a first-time author of any nationality with their first novel of any kind published in the UK in English during the judging period.
‘Best crime novel by a first-time author’ means that the author must not have had a novel of any sort published anywhere before under any name whatsoever. In the case of novels with more than one author, all the authors must meet this requirement.
It is up to the submitting publisher or author to ensure that novels submitted for this award qualify.
This Dagger is sponsored by ILP (International Literary Properties) who manage the literary estate of the CWA’s founder, John Creasey.
Judges’ Comments
DCS Kat Frank leads a pilot cold case programme investigating missing persons that has her paired with AIDE (Artificially Intelligent Detective Entity) Lock. When the case gets personal Lock’s logic is the only … More
Jo Callaghan
John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger
2024 | Winner
Simon & Schuster UK
Amy Chua
John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger
2024 | Shortlisted
Corvus (Atlantic Books)
Kate Foster
John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger
2024 | Shortlisted
Mantle (Pan Macmillan)
Dan McDorman
John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger
2024 | Shortlisted
Raven Books
Bridget Walsh
John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger
2024 | Shortlisted
Gallic Books
Michelle Teahan
John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger
2024 | Shortlisted
Headline Publishing Group
| Author | Title | Publisher |
|---|---|---|
| Kathryn Black | A Most Unusual Demise | Bloodhound Books |
| Jo Callaghan | In The Blink of An Eye | Simon & Schuster UK |
| Amy Chua | The Golden Gate | Corvus (Atlantic Books) |
| Margot Douaihy | Scorched Grace | Pushkin Vertigo |
| Helen Erichsen | Murder By Natural Causes | Muswell Press |
| Kate Foster | The Maiden | Mantle (Pan Macmillan) |
| Jessa Maxwell | The Golden Spoon | Penguin |
| Dann McDorman | West Heart Kill | Raven Books |
| Liza North | Obsessed | Constable |
| Michelle Teahan | Go Seek | Headline Publishing Group |
| Charlotte Vassell | The Other Half | Faber & Faber |
| Bridget Walsh | The Tumbling Girl | Gallic Books |
Sponsored by International Literary Properties.
The small Australian township background leads to an utterly convincing sense of place, well-paced plotting and the unravelling of long-concealed guilt and shame create a haunting mystery in the most ordinary seeming setting.
Sam Blake (Chair)
Sam Blake is an international bestseller and has been writing fiction since her husband set sail across the Atlantic for eight weeks and she had an idea for a book. Her debut Little Bones (Bonnier 2016) was a runaway bestseller, shortlisted for Irish Crime Novel of the Year. After a police procedural trilogy, she now writes bestselling psychological thrillers.
Find her on social @samblakebooks
Victoria Dowd
Ex-criminal defence barrister Victoria Dowd is the award-winning author of the bestselling Smart Woman’s mystery series. She has been shortlisted for the CWA Dagger. Her debut novel, The Smart Woman’s Guide to Murder, won the People’s Book Prize for fiction, and was In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel’s Book of the Year for 2020. Her fifth book, Murder Most Cold, won the Grand Puzzly award of 2023 and was a finalist in the Feathered Quill Book Awards. Victoria was awarded the Gothic Fiction prize for her short fiction, which has been published widely in literary journals and anthologies. She also writes the Adapting Agatha series, and has appeared at many literary festivals. Victoria is on the board of the Crime Writers’ Association and head of the London Crime Writers’ Association.
David Robinson
“I love books. Everyone at university predicted I’d end up working in a bookshop, except they thought it would be a secondhand bookshop with a rocking chair and a few cats.” David is the manager of Waterstones, Bury-St-Edmunds
Karen Robinson
Karen Robinson was a senior editor at The Sunday Times. She devised the paper’s Crime Club newsletter and ran it for five years. She now reads crime fiction purely for fun.
Simon Trewin
After thirty years working in some of the biggest agencies in the world, Simon launched his boutique agency in 2019 to represent authors, brands and entrepreneurs in the areas of art, culture, digital, literature, and live events. “I am partnering with the best agencies worldwide on a case-by-case basis to bring foreign, US and film/tv rights to the very forefront of the narrative.”
International Literary Properties – Sponsors of the John Creasey Dagger
International Literary Properties works with authors, playwrights, managers of literary estates, and individual heirs to help realize the value from book and play-based intellectual property.
Become part of a thriving community of successful crime writers with invaluable support, expertise and marketing opportunities for all our members.
