The Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) recently announced the 2026 Dagger Awards longlist. These crime fiction awards are their selections for the best crime writing in the selected categories. This is also a great place to find an additional book or author to explore in your own reading. See if you can find a new thriller, a spy novel, or a debut writer. As I’ve been finding out, crime fiction includes something for everyone. From the exotic to the mundane. Including many cultures, eras, and lifestyles.
The Dagger Awards are presented to celebrate the very best in crime writing. Based in the United Kingdom, they attract members from all over the world. The awards will be presented on July 2nd at the 2026 CWA Dagger Awards Dinner in London.
The Crime Writers’ Association was founded in 1953 by author John Creasey. He wrote over 400 books, including the Gideon series. The CWA Daggers are the oldest awards in the genre.
Nadine Matheson, Chair of the CWA, said, “Congratulations to every author who appears on this year’s Dagger Awards longlist. A longlist recognition is no small thing and speaks to the dedication, craft, and ambition that goes into every book. This year’s longlist also reflects something that excites me deeply as Chair of the CWA, the extraordinary range and evolution of crime writing today. The genre continues to grow in breadth, in voice, and in ambition, and this longlist is a testament to that.”
The KAA Gold Dagger, for the best crime novel of the year:
D.V. Bishop Carnival of Lies (Pan Macmillan/Macmillan)
James Lee Burke Don’t Forget Me, Little Bessie (Orion Fiction/Orion Fiction)
S.A. Cosby King of Ashes (Headline)
Abigail Dean The Death of Us (HarperCollins/Hemlock Press)
Holly Jackson Not Quite Dead Yet (Penguin Random House/Michael Joseph)
Vaseem Khan Quantum of Menace (Bonnier Books UK/ Zaffre)
Ariel Lawhon The Frozen (River Swift Press)
Beth Lewis The Rush (Profile Bools/Viper)
Simon Mason A Voice in The Night (Quercus/Riverrun)
Liam McIlvanney The Good Father (Bonnier Books UK/Zaffre)
Martin Cruz Smith Hotel Ukraine (Simon & Schuster UK)
Lauira Shepherd-Robinson The Art of a Lie (Pan Macmillan/Mantle)
Sally Smith A Case of Life and Limb (Bloomsbury Publishing/Raven Books)
The Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for the best thriller novel of the year:
Tariq Ashkanani The Midnight King (Profile Books/Viper)
Julie Clark The Ghostwriter (Bonnier Books UK/Zaffre)
S.A. Cosby King of Ashes (Headline)
Robert Crais The Big Empty (Simon & Schuster UK)
Abigail Dean The Death of Us (HarperCollins/Hemlock Press)
A.A. Dhand The Chemist (HarperCollins/HQ Fiction)
Robert Dugoni A Dead Draw (Amazon Publishing/Thomas & Mercer)
Mark Ezra A Sting in her Tale (Bedford Square Publishers/No Exit Press)
William Hussey Burying Jericho (Bonnier Books UK/Zaffre)
Noelle Ihli Such Quiet Girls (Pan Macmillan/Pan
Liam McIlvanney The Good Father (Bonnier Books UK?Zaffre)
Karin Slaughter We Are All Guilty Here (HarperCollins Publishers)
The Twisted Dagger for the best, dark and twisty, psychological suspense:
Kia Abdullah What Happens in the Dark (HarperCollins/HQFiction)
Nicci Cloke Her Many Faces (Penguin Random House UK/Harvill)
Fiona Cummins Some of Us are Liars (Pan Macmillan/Macmillan)
Fflur Dafydd The House Of Water (Hodder & Stoughton/Hodder Fiction)
Abigail Dean The Death of Us (HarperCollins/Hemlock Press)
Alice Feeney Beautiful Ugly (Pan Macmillan/Macmillan)
Carole Hailey Scenes From A Tragedy (Atlantic Books/Corvus)
Lisa Jewell Don’t Let Him In (Penguin Random House/Century)
Sam Lloyd The Bodies (Transworld/Bantam)
Liam McIlvanney The Good Father (Bonnier Books UK/Zaffre)
Sarah Pinborough We Live Here Now (Orion Fiction)
Holly Seddon 59 Minutes (Orion Publishing Group/Orion Fiction)
The Whodunnit Dagger celebrates books where the sex, swearing, and bloodletting take place offstage, focusing on the intellectual challenge at the heart of the story:
Alexandra Benedict The Christmas Cracker Killer (Simon & Schuster UK)
SJ Bennett The Queen Who Came in from the Cold (bonnier Books UK/Zaffre)
Anna Fitzgerald Healy Etiquette for Lovers and Killers (Little. Brown Book Group/Fleet)
Victoria Goldman Little Secrets (Three Crowns Publishing UK/self-published)
Robert Holtom A Queer Case (Titan Books)
Richard Hooton The Margaret Code (Little, Brown Book Group/Sphere)
RL Killmore A Cinnamon Falls Mystery (Simon & Schuster UK)
Clare Mackintosh Other People’s Houses (Little. Brown Book Group/Sphere)
Jo Middleton Not Another Bloody Christmas (HarperCollins/Avon)
Guy Morpuss A Trial In Three Acts (Profile Books/Viper)
Mel Pennant A Murder for Miss Hortense (John Murray Press/Baskerville)
CJ Wray Bad Influence (Orion Fiction)
The ILP John Creasey Dagger awarded for a first-time artist:
Natalie Jayne Clarke The Malt Whiskey Murders (Birlinn Ltd/Polygon)
Anna Fitzgerald Healey Etiquette for Lovers and Killers (Little, Brown Book Group/Fleet)
Sam Guthrie The Peak (HarperCollins Publishers)
Sue Hincenberg The Retirement Plan (Little, Brown Book Group/Sphere)
Elspeth Latimer The Lost Detective (Story Machine)
Laura McCluskey The Wolf Tree (HarperCollins/Hemlock Press)
Zoe Rankin The Vanishing Place (Profile Books/Viper)
Bailey Seybolt Coram House (Bloomsbury Publishing/Raven Books)
Jennifer Trevelyan A Beautiful Family (Pan Macmillan/Mantle)
Henry Wise Holy City (Bedford Square Publishers/No Exit Press)
The ALCS Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction:
Jake Adelstein The Devil Takes Bitcoin (Scribe)
Aine Cain and Kevin Greemlee Shadow of the Bridge: The Delphi Murders and The Dark Side of The American Heartland (Pegasus Books/Pegasus Books/Pegasus Crime)
David Collins Saffie (Silvertail Books)
Gordon Corera The Spy in the Archive: How One Man Tried to Kill the KGB (HarperCollins/William Collins)
John Curran The Murder Game (HarperCollins/Collins Crime Club)
Charlie English The CIA Book Club: The Best-Kept Secret of the Cold War (HarperCollins/ William Collins)
Caroline Fraser Murderland (Little, Brown Book Group/Fleet)
Thomas Harding The Einstein Vendetta: Hitler, Mussolini, and A True Story of Murder (Penguin/Michael Joseph)
Paul Henderson and David Gardner A Spy in the Family (Mirror Books)
Neil Root The Cleveland Street Scandal (The History Press)
Susannah Stapleton That Dark Spring (Pan Macmillan/Picador)
Shaun Walker The Illegals (Profile Books)
The Short Story Dagger:
Willian Boyle ‘Arlene’ in Birds, Strangers and Psychos (No Exit Press)
SA Cosby ‘Split Your Silver Tongue’ in Birds, Strangers and Psychos (No Exit Press)
Ragnar Jonasson ‘Chest’ in Birds, Strangers and Psychos (No Exit Press)
Denise Mina ‘The Karpman Drama Triangle’ in Birds, Strangers and Psychos (No Exit Press)
Abir Mukherjee ‘Full Circle’ in Playing Dead:Short Stories by Members of the Detection Club (Severn House)
Ambrose Perry ‘The Apple Falls Not Far’ (Cannongate)
Zoe Sharp and John Lawton “Once Upon a Time in New Jersey’ in CrimeFest: Leaving the Scene Celebrating 16 Years (No Exit Press)
Peter Swanson: ‘Strangers on a School Bus’ in Birds, Strangers and Psychos (No Exit Press)
Michael Wood ‘Waiting’ in Criminal Pursuits: This Is Me (Telos Publishing)
Historical Dagger awarded to the best novel set in any period up to 50 years prior:
Nina Allan A Granite Silence (Quercus/riverrun)
Robin Blake Spoiler’s Prey (Severn House)
Graeme Macrae Burnet Benecula (Birlinn Ltd/Polygon)
Kate Foster The Mourning Necklace (Pan Macmillan/Mantle)
Ariel Lawhon The Frozen River (Swift Press)
Beth Lewis The Rush (Profile Books/Viper)
Rob McInroy Barvick Falls (Tippermuir Books)
Donna Moore The Devil’s Draper (Fly on the Wall Press)
Alan Parks Gunner (John Murray Press/Baskerville)
SW Perry Cairo Gambit (Atlantic Books/Corvus)
Laura Shepherd-Robinson The Art of a Lie (Pan Macmillan/Mantle)
Sally Smith A Case of Life and Limb (Bloomsbury Publishing/Raven Books)
Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger for the crime novel not originally written in English and translated for UK publication:
Eva Bjorg Aegisdottir Home Before Dark (Orenda Books) translated by Victoria Cribb
Karston Dusse Murder Mindfully (Faber) translated by Florian Duijsens
Johana Gustawsson Scars of Silence (Orenda Books) translated by David Warriner
Jorn Lier Horst The Lake (Penguin Random House) translated by Anne Bruce
Kotaro Isaka Seesaw Monster (Penguin Random House) translated by Sam Malissa
Jurica Pavicic Red Water (Bitter Lemon Press) translated by Matt Robinson
Sam Ramo The Grave in the Ice (Bonnier Books UK) translated by Kristian London
Leonie Swann Big Bad Wool (Allison & Busby) translated by Amy Bojang
Antti Tuomainen The Winter Job (Orenda Books) translated by David Hackston
Uketsu Strange Pictures (Pushkin Press) translated by Jim Rion
The 2026 Dagger Awards longlist announced by the Crime Writers Association @OpeningaMystery @TimSuddeth #Awards #Mysteries Share on X