The Crime Writers’ Association

CWA Debut Dagger Writing Competition 2021 Now Open for Entries

Aspiring authors are invited to submit the opening of their novel to the coveted Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) Debut Dagger competition 2021. The international writing competition opened for entries on October 1. Entrants must send in their firs...


Ann Cleeves and Cath Staincliffe

A special pre-Festival event with two award-winning, bestselling crime writers. Cath Staincliffe is a novelist, radio playwright and the creator of ITV’s hit series, Blue Murder, and the Scott & Bailey novels, based on the popular TV series, a...



Pauline Rowson at Totton Library

Adventure, mystery, heroes and the sea have always held a fascination for Pauline Rowson so it wasn’t surprising that she turned to crime – writing that is – and created an exciting series of marine based crime novels set against the atmospher...


12 Criminally Good Hints for Crime Writing by Laraine Stephens

by Laraine Stephens   Start with reading in the crime genre. You'll pick up how different authors approach their craft. You’ll learn to recognise good writing and bad writing. Also, there’s great advice in books and blogs about how to ...


Alibis in the Archives

Back by popular demand, Alibis in the Archive (in association with the Crime Writers’ Association and The Detection Club) returns for a third year to bring some of the UK’s best-loved crime writers to Hawarden. Over a weekend of talk sessions and...


CWA Margery Allingham Short Mystery Competition

The Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) is on the hunt to find the best unpublished short mystery story. Entries are being invited for the 2021 CWA Margery Allingham Short Story competition, with just weeks before deadline closes on 26 February for th...


Debut Dagger Checklist

Have you followed the rules? This is the easy bit, so don’t risk disqualification by exceeding the word limit (don’t do this, not by even a few words) or forget to take your name off the manuscript. Word count for the entry form is that o...


Private: Winning the Debut Dagger by C J Carver

I entered the Debut Dagger on a complete whim. Despite feeling buoyant having finished my novel Blood Junction, I was hesitating over the entry fee, convinced I’d never win, let alone get shortlisted. It was only because a friend of mine said the...


Crime Writers in Residence – at home with Jem Tugwell

The CRA: Please tell us a little about yourself and the books you write. I’m a crime fiction author with a Crime Writing MA from City University. No Signal is the second book in the iMe series and follows my debut novel Proximity. In a past life,...


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