2019 shortlisted story
Slipher’s Rail - Sherry Rankin One summer in Arkansas, I fell in love with my cousin. When I first told Marta, she said, “How original” in that dry, measured tone of hers. “That’s a disgusting stereotype with absolutely no basis in...
2018 winning story
The Value of Vermin Control - Russell Day I took my hat off and cleared my throat. The young man behind the armour glass and the steel bars didn’t look up, even though I was his only customer. I wasn’t especially surprised. In my experience, p...
2017 winning story
Box Clever - Sam Hepburn I’ve always been a dreamer – the nerdy kid hunched over his Playstation dreaming of being popular, the geeky teenager in sweaty boxers dreaming of hitting the big time with his latest bit of software, the broke student...
2016 winning story
A Box-Shaped Mystery - Peter Guttridge ‘The Mystery remains box-shaped, at once a prison and a refuge. Its four walls are, roughly, a Crime, a Mystery, an Enquiry and a Conclusion with an Element of Satisfaction in it.’ Margery Allingham P...
2016 shortlisted story
The Blockage - Ian Cowmeadow Fine drops of rain bloomed on the van’s windscreen. The engine clicked as the heat drifted from it and Shelly Wrench was beginning to feel the cold. Across the street, a strip light flickered behind a frosted window ...
Murder at the Seaview Hotel Book Launch
Thursday November 11 2021 at 2pm Join author Glenda Young in a Q&A by Zoom with Gemma Alexander of Scarborough's South Cliff Gardens. Join Sunderland's best-selling author Glenda Young online as she launches her debut cosy crime Murder at the S...
2015 winning story
Game Over - Lesley Mace The feel of the skateboard rumbles up through the bones of his feet. He is enclosed within the sound of wheels. He concentrates on contracting muscles, on making his body into the correct shape to fly over the top of the co...
Michael Connelly to receive CWA Diamond Dagger 2018
The Crime Writers’ Association is delighted to announce that Michael Connelly is to receive the 2018 CWA Diamond Dagger, the highest honour in British crime writing. The Dagger award recognises authors whose crime writing careers have been marked b...
WRITERS’ BLOCK by Sarah Rayne
We’ve all been there. It doesn’t matter if we’re in the best-selling lists, or just starting out with a hopeful eye on the CWA Debut Dagger as a stepping-stone to great things (which, of course, it can often be) – we’ve all sat dismally in...
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