A rampaging and increasingly murderous ride through twenty-four hours in Paris, and the surprise book of the year that all judges recognised as something very special. Seldom have we seen twists and turns that are so unexpected. Or so welcome.
This award is for crime novels (defined by the broadest definition including thrillers, suspense novels and spy fiction) as long as the book was not originally written in English and has been translated into English for UK publication during the Judging Period. Up until 2019 this award was known as The CWA International Dagger.
To see the titles that have been nominated for the Dagger so far in 2019/2020, please scroll down.
Maxim Jakubowski (Chair)Maxim worked for many years in book publishing as an editor and launched the Murder One Bookshop, which he owned and ran for over 20 years. He now writes, edits and translates full-time in London. The series The Mammoth Book of Best British Crime, which he edits and now at volume 13, has printed many winners of the CWA Short Story Dagger. His website is maximjakubowski.co.uk.
Ngaire Mason-Wenn WallaceNgaire is an internationally published author with a background in Recruitment Consulting and Human Resources. She holds a BA in English and History from the University of Auckland, New Zealand, and has also studied psychology and linguistics. Her keen interest in the human mind has informed her career in the corporate world, her writing, and her love of crime fiction.
Anne CaterAnne has been an avid reader for a long as she can remember, loves to discuss books, and shout about the ones that she loves. Eight years ago she started her blog “Random Things Through My Letterbox.” She reviews Commercial Women’s Fiction novels for The Daily Express books on Friday monthly feature.
Woody HautWoody is the author of two novels Cry For a Nickel, Die For a Dime and Days of Smoke, as well as Pulp Culture: Hardboiled Fiction and the Cold War, Neon Noir: Contemporary American Crime Fiction,, and Heartbreak and Vine: the Fate of Hardboiled Writers in Hollywood. He currently writes for the Los Angeles Review of Books and Crime. He blogs on all things noir at woodyhaut.blogspot.com.
Rhys HughesRhys has lived in many countries. He currently shares his time between Britain and Kenya. His first book, Worming the Harpy was published in 1995, and since that time he had published more than forty other books, nine hundred short stories, and many articles. His work has been translated into ten languages.
| Title | Author | Translated by | Publisher |
| The Iron Chariot | Stein Riverton | Lucy Moffatt | Lightning Books |
| The Only Child | Mi-ae Seo | Yewon Jung | Point Blank |
| The Island | Ragnar Jónasson | Victoria Cribb | Michael Joseph |
| The Cabin | Jørn Lier Horst | Anne Bruce | Michael Joseph |
| The Hojin Murders | Seishi Yokomizo | Louise Heal Kawai | Pushkin Vertigo |
| I Will Miss You Tomorrow | Heine Bakkeid | Anne Bruce | Raven Books |
| Broken Glass | Alexander Hartung | Fiona Beaton | Thomas & Mercer |
| The Body on the Beach | Anna Johannsen | Lisa Kristine Renate Reinhardt | Thomas & Mercer |
| Ten Swedes Must Die | Martin Österdahl | Peter Sean Woltemade | Thomas & Mercer |
| Second Sister | Chan Ho-Kei | Jeremy Tiang | Head of Zeus |
| Lazarus | Kars Kepler | Neil Smith | Harper Fiction |
| Death Deserved | Jorn Lier Horst & Thomas Enger | Anne Bruce | Orenda Books |
| Little Siberia | Antti Tuomainen | David Hackston | Orenda Books |
| Blood Song | Johana Gustawsson | Rachel Warriner | Orenda Books |
| Mexico Street | Simone Buchholz | Rachel Ward | Orenda Books |
| Cage | Lilja Sigurdardottir | Quentin Bates | Orenda Books |
| Wolves at the Door | Gunnar Staalesen | Don Bartlett | Orenda Books |
| Cold Fear | Mads Peder Nordbo | Charlotte Barslund | Text Publishing |
| The Last Hunt | Deon Meyer | KL Seegers | Hodder & Stoughton |
| The Absolution | Yrsa Sigurdardottir | Victoria Cribb | Hodder & Stoughton |
| The Other End of the Line | Andrea Camilleri | Stephen Sartarelli | Mantle |
| The Catholic School | Edoardo Albinati | Antony Shugaar | Picador |
| The Reunion | Guillaume Musso | Frank Wynne | Weidenfeld & Nicolson |
| Not Saying Goodbye | Boris Akunin | Andrew Bromfield | Weidenfeld & Nicolson |
| Like Flies From Afar | K. Ferrari | Adrian Nathan West | Canongate Books |
| The Godmother | Hannelore Cayre | Stephanie Smee | Old Street Publishing |
| The Fatherland Files | Volker Kutscher | Niall Sellar | Sandstone Press |
| Summer of Reckoning | Marion Brunet | Katherine Gregor | Bitter Lemon Press |
| The Aosawa Murders | Riku Onda | Alison Watts | Bitter Lemon Press |
| The Fragility of Bodies | Sergio Olguin | Miranda France | Bitter Lemon Press |
| Grab A Snake By The Tail | Leonardo Padura | Peter Bush | Bitter Lemon Press |
| Like Flies From Afar | K. Ferrari | Adrian Nathan West | Canongate Books |
| Sanctury | Luca D’Andrea | Katherine Gregor | MacLehose Press |
| The Girl Who Lived Twice | David Lagercantz | George Goulding | MacLehose Press |
| The Dance of Death | Olivier Bottini | Jamie Bulloch | MacLehose Press |
| The Carrier | Mattias Berg | George Goulding | MacLehose Press |
| Three Hours | Anders Roslund & Börge Hellström | Elizabeth Clarke Wessel | riverrun |
| The Silent War | Andrea Norman | Ian Giles | riverrun |
| Victim 2117 | Jusi Adler-Olsen | Stefanie Bierwerth | Quercus Fiction |
| Death at Saint-Chartier | Ivo Fornesa | Allen Young | Allison & Busby |
| November | Jorge Galan | Jason Wilson | Constable |
| Into the Labyrinth | Donato Carrisi | Katherine Gregor | Little, Brown |
| Kult | Stefan Malmström | Suzanne Martin Cheadle | Silvertail Books |
| A Grave for Two | Anne Holt | Anne Bruce | Corvus / Atlantic Books |
| Die for Me | Jesper Stein | Charlotte Barslund | Mirror Books |