Debut Dagger Writing Tips
Here are tips from recent newsletters compiled for you by Dea Parkin, the CWAâs Competitions Coordinator (and professional editor). If youâre at the stage where your entry is finished and youâre into the all-important revision and editing pr...
2020 winning story
A Time to Confess - Della Millward âIn my experience, those who beg for mercy seldom deserve it.â Alex Masonâs clear voice carried across the dry air of the cavern and Peter was glad there werenât many people around to hear her. Sometim...
2020 highly commended story
Sting in the Tail - Laila Murphy Did you know that insects are among the most successful species on Earth? They outlived dinosaurs. Theyâll outlive us. My speciality is wasps. Vespology. Wasps get a bad deal. People are afraid of them but the...
2020 highly commended story
Voices - Lauren Everdell âSomeone do the handoff?â âJane Doe, Patient Foxtrot Alpha One One, found semi-conscious in an alley. Multiple stab wounds to the torso and apparent blunt force trauma to the back of the skull. Query traumatic brai...
Perfect Crime One-Day Festival, Liverpool
Liverpool's First Ever Crime Fiction Day Perfect Crime UK is LIVE and IN PERSON this November, and have we got a lineup for you! Ann Cleeves, creator of Vera and Shetland, will be appearing in two sessions at this all-day event for crime fans in L...
2019 winning story
A Perfect Murderer - Ray Bazowski âThereâs something that needs to be said at the start.â This forbidding sentence was how Mother always began family meetings. Since flight was impractical and fight inconceivable, we all looked for ways to b...
2019 runner up
Decluttering - Rosie De Vekey The Greenville Herald 21st December 2018 âGhosting husbandsâ on the rise! Pressures of Trumpâs America blamed for men disappearing from families in record numbers. A beginning Itâs a war...
2019 shortlisted story
Trick of the Eye - Louise Harnby âMaybe they bricked it up and skimmed it but it was there.â Laura Hughes swears there was a door but Iâm looking at concrete. On the other side is a room that never sleeps. The call centre runs twenty-four...
Alibis in the Archive Online
Online: Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 October Alibis in the Archive is back! Organised by award-winning crime writer Martin Edwards, former chair of the Crime Writersâ Association and recipient of the 2019 CWA Diamond Dagger, this online event hosted ...
2019 shortlisted story
Slipherâs Rail - Sherry Rankin One summer in Arkansas, I fell in love with my cousin. When I first told Marta, she said, âHow originalâ in that dry, measured tone of hers. âThatâs a disgusting stereotype with absolutely no basis in...
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