The Crime Writers’ Association

Short Story Dagger

This award is for any crime short story first published in the UK in English during the Judging Period, whether on its own or within an anthology or collection. Upon publication it must have been for sale to the public, either in print or e-book, through established channels or platforms.

The term short story refers to a work of fiction no shorter than 1,000 and no longer than 15,000 words.

You are able to nominate a full anthology where we consider every story, or an individual story.

Publishers or authors can nominate.


Short Story Dagger 2023 Winner


Hazell Ward

From: Cast A Long Shadow

Cast A Long Shadow

An emotional tale of rape and murder that leads to a man being condemned by suspicion by a whole village. But is this suspicion justified? Ward delivers a truly emotional ride with a twist.


2023 shortlist


2023 longlist

 

Author name Title of story Title of Anthology Editor Publisher name Imprint
Leigh Bardugo  The Disappearance  Marple   HarperCollins  
Victoria Dowd & Delilah Dowd  The Tears of Venus  Unlocked    The D20 Authors  
John Grisham  Strawberry Moon  Sparring Partners    Hodder & Stoughton  
Rachel Howzell Hall  Clout Chaser  The Perfect Crime  Vaseem Khan and Maxim Jakubowski HarperCollins  
Sanjida Kay  The Beautiful Game  The Perfect Crime  Vaseem Khan and Maxim Jakubowski HarperCollins  
Vaseem Khan  Death In Darjeeling  The Perfect Crime  Vaseem Khan and Maxim Jakubowski HarperCollins  
Laura Lippman  Just One More  Seasonal Work and Other Killer Stories   FABER & FABER  
Abir Mukherjee  Paradise Lost  The Perfect Crime  Vaseem Khan and Maxim Jakubowski HarperCollins  
Judith O’Reilly  Auld Bride  Gone  Stephen J. Golds Red Dog Press  
CJ Tudor Runaway Blues  A Sliver of Darkness    Penguin Random House Michael Joseph
Ferdinand von Schirach  The Lake House  Punishment  translated by Katharina Hall John Murray Press Baskerville
Hazell Ward  Cast A Long Shadow  Cast A Long Shadow  Katherine Stansfield and Caroline Oakley Honno Press Honno Welsh Women’s Press

The 2023 Judges

Chris Simmons  (Chair)
Chris Simmons is the online editor of his brainchild, Crimesquad.com – a crime review website, running since March 2005. Chris is a past judge for the John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger, which has highlighted the debuts of authors such as Louise Penny (John Creasey Dagger winner), S J Watson, Sarah Hilary, James Oswald and two-time Dagger winner, Wiley Cash.

Harriet Tyce

Harriet Tyce was born and grew up in Edinburgh. She graduated in 1994 with a degree in English Literature before working as a criminal barrister for nearly a decade. Having escaped law and early motherhood, she started writing, and completed the MA in Creative Writing – Crime Fiction at the University of East Anglia. She has written three novels to date, the Sunday Times bestsellers Blood Orange and The Lies You Told. It Ends At Midnight was published in April 2022 to critical acclaim.

Laura Wilson

Laura Wilson’s psychological crime novels have been critically acclaimed. Stratton’s War won the CWA Ellis Peters Award for Historical Crime Fiction and both The Lover – which won the Prix du Polar Europeen – and A Thousand Lies were shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger. She also writes for young adults as Jamie Costello. She has taught on the Crime/Thriller MA course at London’s City University, written a series of Crime Fiction Masterclass columns for Mslexia magazine, judged both the CWA John Creasey Dagger and the Debut Dagger, programmed the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival, and co-organised the Killer Women Festival. She is also the Guardian’s crime and thriller fiction reviewer.

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