Sapere Books Historical DaggerThis 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 (fifty) 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.
| Title | Author | Publisher |
| THE MAN THAT GOT AWAY | Lynne Truss | Raven Books |
| THE KING’S EVIL | Andrew Taylor | Harper Collins |
| THE BEAR PIT | SG MacLean | Quercus Fiction |
| THE ANARCHISTS’ CLUB | Alex Reeve | Raven Books |
| METROPOLIS | Philip Kerr | Quercus Fiction |
| THE PAPER BARK TREE MYSTERY | Ovidia Yu | Constable |
| THE SERPENT’S MARK | SW Perry | Corvus |
| IN TWO MINDS | Alis Hawkins | The Dome Press |
| LIBERATION SQUARE | Gareth Rubin | Michael Joseph |
| THE BONE FIRE | SD Sykes | Hodder & Stoughton |
| SORRY FOR THE DEAD | Nicola Upson | Faber & Faber |
| DEATH IN THE EAST | Abir Mukherjee | Harvill Secker |
Janet Laurence (Chair)Janet Laurence. She has written four cookery books and has contributed articles to a number of publications, including a series on historical cooking for Country Life. Under a pseudonym she also writes contemporary women’s fiction and was recently chair of the International Dagger.
Angela RipponAngela May Rippon CBE is an English television journalist, newsreader, writer and presenter. Rippon presented radio and television news programmes in South West England before moving to BBC One’s Nine O’Clock News, becoming a regular presenter in 1975.
Professor Edward JamesEdward James is Emeritus Professor of Medieval History at University College Dublin. He has published numerous papers on the archaeology, art and history of early medieval Europe. He is also an enthusiastic reader of science fiction and fantasy. In 2017 the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts presented him with their Distinguished Scholarship Award.
Andre PaineAndre 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.
Murder, treachery and a reckoning with his past await Captain Damian Seeker in Yorkshire in this gripping historical epic set during rising disillusionment with Cromwell’s government in 17th century England.
