The Crime Writers’ Association

ILP John Creasey First Novel Dagger

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.


ILP John Creasey First Novel Dagger 2025 Winner


Katy Massey

All Us Sinners

Little, Brown – Sphere

Judges notes:

Vivid and brutally honest, an important and bold take on the Yorkshire Ripper murders told with passion and respect from the point of view of the women who were never heard.


2025 shortlist


2025 longlist

 

Author Title Publisher
Jack Anderson The Grief Doctor Raven Books
Eleanor Barker-White My Name Was Eden HarperNorth
Jessica Bull Miss Austen Investigates Michael Joseph
Justine Champine Knife River Manilla Press
Anders Lustgarten Three Burials Hamish Hamilton
Gay Marris A Curtain Twitcher’s Book of Murder Bedford Square Publishers
Katy Massey All Us Sinners Sphere
Alice McIlroy The Glass Woman Datura Books
Dwyer Murphy An Honest Living No Exit Press
Marie Tierney Deadly Animals Zaffre
Claire Wilson Five by Five Michael Joseph

 


John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger 2024 Winner


Jo Callaghan

In The Blink of An Eye

Simon & Schuster UK

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


The 2026 Judges

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.

Calum MacLeod

A former newspaper journalist from the Highlands of Scotland, Calum Macleod is currently a communications officer for a major Third Sector organisation. A long-time contributor to Shotsmag, dating back to when the crime and thriller ezine was a print publication, he has also reviewed crime fiction for Ink magazine, wrote a regular column on contemporary crime fiction for Sherlock Magazine, and has been a contributor to on-line fiction sites Gingernuts of Horror and The Rap Sheet.

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.

Sarah Ward

Sarah Ward is the author of four DC Childs novels set in the Derbyshire Peak District where she lives. She also writes Gothic historical thrillers under the name Rhiannon Ward. Her first, The Quickening, was a 2020 Radio Times book of the year and her second historical novel The Shadowing was a Daily Express critic’s favourite. She has also written Doctor Who audio dramas. She was an inaugural judge of the Petrona Award for translated Scandinavian crime fiction.


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.

internationalliteraryproperties.com

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