The UK based Crime Writers Association announced the shortlist for the Dagger in the Library award on Thursday. The award is for a body of work from an author. The long list was chosen by voting readers and the shortlist is decided by a panel of judges including previous winner Steve Mosby, CWA Director Lucy Santos and a group of UK librarians.
The five shortlisted crime authors are:
Sharon Bolton (Transworld)
Elly Griffiths (Quercus)
Mari Hannah (Pan)
James Oswald (Michael Joesph)
Mel Sherratt (Thomas & Mercer)
Mel and Mari are personal friends and I wanted to send out a big cheer for them. It’s a huge achievement and one I’m proud of them for.
Wishing all the well deserving shortlisted authors the best for the next round. To get this far is acknowledgement of your work. Your readers can’t get enough!
Thanks for sharing this, Rebecca. It’ll be really interesting to see who wins…
It’s a great shortlist, especially from a female perspective…it’s weird, to me, that they’re getting honoured for a “body of work”, as I think of them all as fairly “new” writers, with the exception of perhaps Sharon Bolton. It shows me how far behind I am in my reading, I guess. Though I can’t help giving a wee cheer to fellow Scot, James Oswald, plus he’s also a farmer in his day job (if he still needs one!) and as that’s what my Dad and sister do, I’m delighted at his success. But, in all honesty…go female crime novelists! (And I will get stuck into your books and review them in the v near future!)
What a great list and I’m happy to say that I have read 4 out of 5 on it. The other author is one that I have a book by but have not read yet. Looking forward to see who wins.
Fantastic achievement.
Best of luck to Mari. She deserves this recognition.
And when do I get another book to read!?
I’ve only read Sharon Bolton and Elly Griffiths – both favourites. In fact, I’ve just finished reading Griffiths’ newest one and it’s great! I really must investigate the others, especially since you give them a personal recommendation. 🙂