A Necessary Evil
Abir Mukherjee
Harvill Secker
Sapere Books Historical Dagger
This year's winner
Nucleus
Rory Clements
Zaffre Publishing
On the eve of war in 1939, Professor Tom Wilde investigates a conspiracy to steal the top secret work of physicists trying to create the first nuclear bomb at Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory after one of their finest minds is murdered.
This award is for the best historical crime novel, first published in the UK in English during the Judging Period, set in any period up to 50 years prior to the year in which the award will be made. For novels that involve passages set later than this time period, at least three-quarters of the book should be set in an earlier period.
Shortlist
Fire
L. C. Tyler
Constable
Lightning Men
Thomas Mullen
Little Brown
Money in the Morgue
Ngaio Marsh & Stella Duffy
Harper Collins
Nine Lessons
Nicola Upson
Faber & Faber)
Nucleus
Rory Clements
Zaffre Publishing
The judges
Eileen Roberts (Chair)
Eileen was the co-founder and organiser of the annual St Hilda’s Mystery & Crime Weekend for 23 years. She was Director of Alumnae Relations at St Hilda’s College from 1991 until 2007 and is now Project Consultant to its Development & Alumnae Office. Previously, she spent 20 years (1970-90) in Cleveland, Ohio, where she was the Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union. She has been an avid reader and admirer of Crime & Mystery novels since childhood especially the ‘golden agers’.
Louisa Service OBE
Louisa is a graduate of St Hilda’s College Oxford and comes from a literary family. More than thirty books have been published by her immediate family (father, brother, husband and nephew). Her working life was spent in the field of periodical publishing – including fourteen years as Chairman of Glass’s Guide Service to the motor industry. She was a magistrate for many years and Chairman of Youth and Family Proceedings courts for twenty-five of them. She was awarded her OBE for her work in music for young people. Latterly she has been President for six years of the Commonwealth Countries League – the umbrella organisation for women’s organisations in the fifty-two countries of the commonwealth. She is a great reader and in particular of crime fiction.
Jon Coates
Jon is the deputy news editor of the Sunday Express and a reviewer of crime fiction for the Daily Express. An avid reader since childhood, he has worked as a journalist for 20 years after completing a history degree at the University of York, where he developed a strange fascination with witchcraft accusations in England in the 16th and 17th century.
Andre Paine
Andre is a former editor of Crime Scene magazine and has reviewed crime and thriller fiction for Metro newspaper. He is also a longstanding music critic for the Evening Standard. While studying for a history degree at the University of Warwick, he became a committed crime fiction devotee — the bookish habit began in childhood with the Sherlock Holmes stories — and continues to read widely in the genre.
The CWA Historical Dagger 2018 Longlist
| Author | Title | Publisher |
| Abir Mukherjee | A Necessary Evil | Harvill Secker |
| Frances Brody | Death in the Stars | Piatkus |
| L. C. Tyler | Fire | Constable |
| Thomas Mullen | Lightning Men | Little Brown |
| Mark Ellis | Merlin at War | London Wall Publishing |
| Ngaio Marsh & Stella Duffy | Money in the Morgue | HarperCollins |
| Nicola Upson | Nine Lessons | Faber & Faber |
| Rory Clements | Nucleus | Zaffre Publishing |
| Philip Kerr | Prussian Blue | Quercus Fiction |
| Jessica Fellowes | The Mitford Murders | Sphere |