I first entered CWA’s Debut Dagger, as it was then called, in 2019. I had almost completed a draft of a crime novel when I discovered the competition and it gave me the impetus to sort out a synopsis and the opening chapters. Some weeks later my husband heard a screech from the kitchen and thought I’d had an accident – but I’d just read that I’d been longlisted. The book didn’t make the shortlist, but being longlisted gave me a sense of validation, that perhaps I had the potential to write something people might want to read.

A few years passed where paid employment had to come first, and then I had a dream about a train hijack. Somehow it was the kick in the pants I needed, so the decision was made to use savings, pack in the day job and write the book I wanted to write. The CWA website revealed there were two weeks before the 2022 Dagger competition closed, which was enough time to knock out the first 5,000 words and come up with a synopsis of The 10:12. (Unfortunately the dream hadn’t included an ending, or a middle, or even much of a beginning.)

When I was asked for more, I had to quickly write it; then The 10:12 made the shortlist. I’d heard if you made the shortlist agents would be interested and to my surprise, it was selected – and agents emailed me, which felt like I’d stepped into another universe. Then to win was simply wonderful and I got on with completing a first draft.

Choosing an agent – a phrase I never expected to use – was difficult but I found an excellent one in Stephanie Glencross, whose understanding of the genre far exceeds mine. I completed a second draft and she found me the perfect publisher, Therese Keating at Raven, the crime and thriller imprint at Bloomsbury. A redraft or two later, and The 10:12 is being published in January 2026 in the UK and in autumn in the US by Harper.

The CWA Daggers receive a well-deserved thank you in the book. What they offer aspiring crime and thriller writers is a combination of opportunities: the chance to work to a deadline, the chance to learn and the chance to be noticed. The 10:12 works better than my first entry in 2019. Perhaps more importantly, without the Debut Dagger (now Emerging Author Dagger) I’m not sure agents would have taken any interest in my efforts. So I suppose what they really do, is offer hope!

The 10:12 by Anna Maloney is published by Raven, 29 January 2026.