On the 16th April the 2025 longlists for the Crime Writers' Association (CWA) Dagger awards were announced.

What is the CWA Dagger Awards?

The CWA Daggers were first created in 1955. It is the oldest awards in the genre and has been well known for showcasing quality crime writing for over half a century. 

This year there are 12 different award categories highlighting all aspects of crime writing, from historical crime to true crime, the overarching Gold Dagger, awarded to the best crime novel of the year and the best crime and mystery publisher of the year. The CWA Daggers are one of a few high-profile book awards that has also has a category to celebrate the short story. 

The Ian Fleming Steel Dagger, sponsored by Ian Fleming Publications Ltd, showcases the thriller of the year. The much-anticipated ILP John Creasey First Novel Dagger highlights the best debut novels. The Dagger in the Library nominee longlist is voted by librarians and library users, chosen for the author’s body of work and support of libraries. The Emerging Author Dagger, which has been going for over 20 years, celebrates aspiring crime novelists and is sponsored by Fiction Feedback.

The 2025 CWA Daggers sees the announcement of two new Awards categories. The Twisted Dagger celebrates psychological thrillers and dark and twisty tales whereas The Whodunnit Dagger celebrates books that focus on the intellectual challenge at the heart of a good mystery.

Maxim Jakubowski, Chair of the CWA Daggers’ committee, said: “Once again our independent and rotating judging panels have come up with surprises galore, highlighting the impressive efforts of both major authors and newcomers, with a convincing demonstration of how diverse and talented the crime, mystery and thriller field is at present. A wonderful embarrassment of outstanding titles.”

The CWA Diamond Dagger, is different to all the other awards categories as it does not have a longlist or shortlist. It is awarded to an author whose crime-writing career has been marked by sustained excellence. The announcement of the Diamond Dagger recipient is made in early spring and for 2025 this accolade was awarded to Mick Herron.

The 2025 CWA Dagger Awards Longlists in Full:

Without further ado, take a look at this year's CWA Dagger Awards longlists. Click to head to the book pages or shop these longlisted crime novels at the bottom of the page. 

GOLD DAGGER

A Divine Fury by D V Bishop

I Died at Fallow Hall by Bonnie Burke-Patel

Man of Bones by Ben Creed

The Bell Tower by R J Ellory

The Hunter by Tana French

Guide Me Home by Attica Locke

Book of Secrets by Anna Mazzola

How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin

Nightwatching by Tracy Sierra

Deadly Animals by Marie Tierney

D is for Death by Harriet F Townson

The Innocents by Bridget Walsh

IAN FLEMING STEEL DAGGER

Dark Ride by Lou Berney

The Peacock and the Sparrow by I S Berry

The Cracked Mirror by Chris Brookmyre

Nobody's Hero by M W Craven

Run by Blake Crouch

Sanctuary by Garry Disher

What Happened to Nina? by Dervla McTiernan

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore

Hunted by Abir Mukherjee

Blood Like Mine by Stuart Neville

All the Colours of Dark by Chris Whitaker

City in Ruins by Don Winslow

ILP JOHN CREASEY (NEW BLOOD) DAGGER

The Grief Doctor by Jack Anderson

My Name Was Eden by Eleanor Barker-White

Miss Austen Investigates by Jessica Bull

Knife River by Justine Champine

Three Burials by Anders Lustgarten

A Curtain Twitcher's Book of Murder by Gay Marris 

All Us Sinners by Katy Massey

The Glass Woman by Alice McIlroy

An Honest Living by Dwyer Murphy

Deadly Animals by Marie Tierney

Five by Five by Claire Wilson

HISTORICAL DAGGER

Munich Wolf by Rory Clements

The Undoing of Violet Claybourne by Emily Critchley

Dr Spilsbury and the Cursed Bride by D.L. Douglas

Blood Roses by Douglas Jackson

Banquet of Beggers by Chris Lloyd

The Book of Secrets by Anna Mazzola

Maude Horton’s Glorious Revenge by Lizzie Pook

A Case of Mice and Murder by Sally Smith

The Three Deaths of Justice Godfrey by L.C. Tyler

The Betrayal of Thomas True by A.J. West

Poor Girls by Clare Whitfield

CRIME FICTION IN TRANSLATION DAGGER

Artifice by Claire Berest tr. Sophie Lewis

The Lover of No Fixed Abode by Carlo Fruttero & Franco Lucentini tr. Gregory Dowling

Ruthless by Anne Mette Hancock tr. Tara Chase

Hotel Lucky Seven by Kotaro Isaka tr. Brian Bergstrom

The Silver Bone by Andrey Kurkov tr. Boris Dralyuk

Dogs and Wolves by Hervé Le Corre tr. Howard Curtis

Going to the Dogs by Pierre Lemaitre tr. Frank Wynne

The Simple Art of Killing a Woman by Patrícia Melo tr. Sophie Lewis

The Night of Baba Yaga by Akira Otani tr. Sam Bett

The Clues in the Fjord by Satu Rämö tr.  Kristian London 

Butter by Asako Yuziki tr. Polly Barton

Clean by Alia Trabucco Zerán tr. Sophie Hughes 

ALCS GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION

Secrets From the Agatha Christie Archive by Jared Cade

The Autistic Sleuth by Chris Chan with Patricia Meyer Chan, Ph.D.

Unmasking Lucy Letby by Jonathan Coffey & Judith Moritz

The Lady in the Lake by Jeremy Craddock

Framed by John Grisham & Jim McCloskey 

The Criminal Mind by Duncan Harding

Four Shots in the Night by Henry Hemming

The Book Forger by Joseph Hone 

The Serial Killer Next Door by Emma Kenny

Getting Away with Murder by Lynda LaPlante

Drawn Testimony by Jane Rosenberg

The Peepshow: The Murders at 10 Rillington Place by Kate Summerscale  

SHORT STORY DAGGER

S.J Bennett: ‘The Glorious Twelfth’ in Midsummer Mysteries edited by Martin Edwards (lame Tree Publishing/Flame Tree Collections)

J.C Berthal: ‘A Date on Yarmouth Pier’ in Midsummer Mysteries edited by Martin Edwards (Flame Tree Publishing/Flame Tree Collections)

Ann Cleeves: ‘Parkrun’ in Murder in Harrogate edited by Vaseem Khan (Orion Publishing Group/Orion Fiction)

Elly Griffiths: ‘The Valley of the Queens’ in The Man in Black and Other Stories (Quercus)

Janice Hallett: ‘Why Harrogate?’ in Murder in Harrogate edited by Vaseem Khan (Orion Publishing Group/Orion Fiction)

Vaseem Khan: ‘Murder in Masham’ in Murder in Harrogate edited by Vaseem Khan (Orion Publishing Group/Orion Fiction)

Clare Mackintosh: ‘The Perfect Smile’ in Murder in Harrogate edited by Vaseem Khan (Orion Publishing Group/Orion Fiction)

William Burton McCormick: ‘City Without Shadows’ in Midsummer Mysteries edited by Martin Edwards (Flame Tree Publishing/Flame Tree Collections)

Meeti Shroff-Shah: ‘A Ruby Sun’ in Beyond and Within: Midsummer Mysteries edited by Martin Edwards (Flame Tree Publishing/Flame Tree Collections)

Ruth Ware: ‘Murder at the Turkish Baths’ in Murder in Harrogate edited by Vaseem Khan, (Orion Publishing Group/ Orion Fiction)

WHODUNNIT DAGGER

A Death in Diamonds by SJ Bennett

Murder at the Christmas Emporium by Andreina Cordani

The Spy Coast by Tess Gerritsen

The Case of the Singer and the Showgirl by Lisa Hall

The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby by Ellery Lloyd        

A GOOD PLACE TO HIDE A BODY by Laura Marshall

The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose

A Matrimonial Murder by Meeti Shroff-Shah

A Case of Mice and Murder by Sally Smith

The Mystery of the Crooked Man by Tom Spencer

Everyone On This Train Is A Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson

Murder at the Matinee by Jamie West

TWISTED DAGGER

The Neighbour's Secret by Sharon Bolton

The Perfect Couple by NJ Cracknell  

The Playdate by Clara Dillon

Five Bad Deeds by Caz Frear

Missing White Woman by Kellye Garrett

Emma, Disappeared by Andrew Hughes

Beautiful People by Amanda Jennings

The Stranger In Her House by John Marrs

The Search Party by Hannah Richell

The Trials Of Marjorie Crowe by CS Robertson          

Nightwatching by Tracy Sierra

Look In The Mirror by Catherine Steadman

DAGGER IN THE LIBRARY

Richard Osman

Janice Hallett

Kate Atkinson

Barbara Nadel

CJ Tudor

Edward Marston

Julia Chapman

Lisa Jewell

Robert Galbraith

Tim Sullivan

PUBLISHERS’ DAGGER

Allison & Busby

Bitter Lemon Press

Canelo

Faber & Faber

Michael Joseph (Penguin Random House)

Hemlock Press (HarperCollins)

Orenda

Orion Books

Pan Macmillan

Quercus

Simon & Schuster

Sphere (Little Brown)

2025 CWA Daggers Key Dates

The CWA Dagger shortlists announcement is expected on the 29th May.

The winners for the CWA Daggers will be announced at the award ceremony at the CWA gala dinner which will take place on the 3rd July.