CWA Historical Dagger

The CWA Historical Dagger (currently called the CWA Endeavor Historical Dagger) is an annual award given by the British Crime Writers' Association to the author of the best historical crime novel of the year. ^[1] Established in 1999, it is presented to a novel "with a crime theme and a historical background of any period up to 35 years before the current year". ^[1]

The award was called the Ellis Peters Historical Dagger from 1999 to 2005, and was known as the Ellis Peters Historical Award from 2006 to 2012, to commemorate the life and work of historical crime writer Ellis Peters, ^[1] whose Cadfael Chronicles (1977–1994) are generally credited with popularizing the genre that would become known as the historical mystery. ^{[2] [3]}

Starting in 2014, the award became known as the CWA Endeavour Historical Dagger through sponsorship by Endeavor Press. ^{[4] [5]}

Honorees

Year	Author	Title	Publisher	Result	Ref.
1999	Lindsey Davis	Two for the Lions	Century	Winner	[6]
	Ian Morson	Falconer and the Great Beast		Shortlist
	Charles Todd	Wings of Fire		Shortlist
2000	Gillian Linscott	Absent Friends	Virago Press	Winner
	Rennie Airth	River of Darkness		Shortlist
	Clare Curzon	Guilty Knowledge		Shortlist
	Pierre Magnan	The Murdered House		Shortlist
	Hannah March	The Devil’s Highway		Shortlist
	Michael Pearce	Death of an Effendi		Shortlist
	Laura Wilson	A Little Death		Shortlist
2001	Andrew Taylor	The Office Of The Dead	HarperCollins	Winner
	Michael Pearce	A Cold Touch of Ice		Runner Up
	Lindsey Davis	Ode to a Banker		Shortlist
	Hannah March	A Distinction of Blood		Shortlist
	Steven Saylor	Last Seen in Massilia		Shortlist
	Penn Williamson	Mortal Sins		Shortlist
2002	Sarah Waters	Fingersmith	Virago Press	Winner
	Lindsey Davis	The Jupiter Myth		Shortlist
	Philip Gooden	The Pale Companion		Shortlist
	Gillian Linscott	Dead Man Riding		Shortlist
	José Carlos Somoza	The Athenian Murders		Shortlist
	Martin Stephen	The Desperate Remedy		Shortlist
2003	Andrew Taylor	The American Boy	Flamingo	Winner
	Tom Bradby	The White Russian		Shortlist
	Marcello Fois	The Advocate		Shortlist
	Lee Jackson	London Dust		Shortlist
	Gillian Linscott	Blood on the Wood		Shortlist
	C. J. Sansom	Dissolution		Shortlist
	Olen Steinhauer	The Bridge of Sighs		Shortlist
2004	Barbara Cleverly	The Damascened Blade	Constable & Robinson	Winner
	Marjorie Eccles	The Shape of Sand		Shortlist
	Tom Franklin	Hell at the Breech		Shortlist
	Janet Gleeson	The Thief Taker		Shortlist
	Matthew Pearl	The Dante Club		Shortlist
	Steven Saylor	The Judgment of Caesar		Shortlist
	Laura Wilson	The Lover		Shortlist
2005	C. J. Sansom	Dark Fire	Macmillan	Winner
	Tom Bradby	The God of Chaos		Shortlist
	Barbara Cleverly	The Palace Tiger		Shortlist
	Catriona McPherson	After the Armistice Ball		Shortlist
	Iain Pears	The Portrait		Shortlist
	Frank Tallis	Mortal Mischief		Shortlist
2006	Edward Wright	Red Sky Lament	Orion	Winner
	Louis Bayard	The Pale Blue Eye		Shortlist
	Nick Drake	Nefertiti: The Book of the Dead		Shortlist
	Jason Goodwin	The Janissary Tree		Shortlist
	C. J. Sansom	Sovereign		Shortlist
	Jenny White	The Sultan’s Seal		Shortlist
2007	Ariana Franklin	Mistress of the Art of Death	Bantam Press	Winner
	Jason Goodwin	The Snake Stone		Shortlist
	Philip Kerr	The One from the Other		Shortlist
	Andrew Martin	Murder at Deviation Junction		Shortlist
	Mark Mills	The Savage Garden		Shortlist
	Stef Penney	The Tenderness of Wolves		Shortlist
2008	Laura Wilson	Stratton’s War	Orion	Winner
	Ariana Franklin	The Death Maze		Shortlist
	Philip Kerr	A Quiet Flame		Shortlist
	Andrew Martin	Death on a Branch Line		Shortlist
	C. J. Sansom	Revelation		Shortlist
	Andrew Taylor	Bleeding Heart Square		Shortlist
2009	Philip Kerr	If The Dead Rise Not	Quercus	Winner
	Rennie Airth	The Dead of Winter		Shortlist
	Shona MacLean	The Redemption of Alexander Seaton		Shortlist
	Mark Mills	The Information Officer		Shortlist
	Andrew Williams	The Interrogator		Shortlist
	Laura Wilson	An Empty Death		Shortlist
2010	Rory Clements	Revenger	John Murray	Winner
	Aly Monroe	Washington Shadow		Shortlist
	S. J. Parris	Heresy		Shortlist
	C. J. Sansom	Heartstone		Shortlist
	Andrew Taylor	The Anatomy of Ghosts		Shortlist
	Andrew Williams	To Kill a Tsar		Shortlist
2011	Andrew Martin	The Somme Stations	Faber and Faber	Winner
	Rory Clements	Prince		Shortlist
	Sam Eastland	The Red Coffin		Shortlist
	Gordon Ferris	The Hanging Shed		Shortlist
	R. N. Morris	The Cleansing Flames		Shortlist
	Imogen Robertson	Island of Bones		Shortlist
2012	Aly Monroe	Icelight	John Murray	Winner	[7]
	Nancy Bilyeau	The Crown		Shortlist
	Maurizio de Giovanni	I Will Have Vengeance		Shortlist
	Gordon Ferris	Bitter Water		Shortlist
	Philip Kerr	Prague Fatale		Shortlist
	S. J. Parris	Sacrilege		Shortlist
	Laura Wilson	A Willing Victim		Shortlist
2013	Andrew Taylor	The Scent of Death	HarperCollins	Winner	[8]
	Rory Clements	The Heretics		Shortlist
	Gordon Ferris	Pilgrim Soul		Shortlist
	Imogen Robertson	The Paris Winter		Shortlist
	Craig Russell	Dead Men and Broken Hearts		Shortlist
	William Ryan	The Twelfth Department		Shortlist
2014	Antonia Hodgson	The Devil in the Marshalsea	Hodder & Stoughton	Winner	[9]
	Kate Griffin	Kitty Peck and the Music Hall Murders		Shortlist
	S. J. Parris	Treachery		Shortlist
	Jill Paton Walsh	The Late Scholar		Shortlist
	Michael Russell	The City of Strangers		Shortlist
	Imogen Robertson	Theft of Life		Shortlist
	Robert Ryan	The Dead Can Wait		Shortlist
2015	S. G. MacLean	The Seeker	Quercus	Winner	[10] [11]
	Martin Davies	Havana Sleeping		Shortlist
	Luke McCallin	The Man From Berlin		Shortlist
	C. J. Sansom	Lamentation		Shortlist
	Andrew Taylor	The Silent Boy		Shortlist
2016	David Young	Stasi Child	Twenty7Books	Winner
	Michelle Birkby	The House at Baker Street		Shortlist
	Philip Kerr	The Other Side of Silence		Shortlist
	William Shaw	A Book of Scars		Shortlist	[12]
	Fiona Veitch Smith	The Jazz Files		Shortlist
	A. J. Wright	Striking Murder		Shortlist
2017	Abir Mukherjee	A Rising Man	Harvill Secker	Winner
	M. J. Carter	The Devil’s Feast		Shortlist
	Luke McCallin	The Ashes of Berlin		Shortlist
	Denise Mina	The Long Drop		Shortlist
	Steven Price	By Gaslight		Shortlist
	Michael Russell	The City in Darkness		Shortlist
2018	Rory Clements	Nucleus	Zaffre Publishing	Winner	[13]
	Abir Mukherjee	A Necessary Evil	Harvill Secker	Shortlist	[14]
	L. C. Tyler	Fire	Constable	Shortlist	[14]
	Thomas Mullen	Lightning Men	Little, Brown & Co.	Shortlist	[14]
	Ngaio Marsh and Stella Duffy	Money in the Morgue	HarperCollins	Shortlist	[14]
	Nicola Upson	Nine Lessons	Faber & Faber	Shortlist	[14]
2019	S. G. MacLean	Destroying Angel	Quercus	Winner	[15]
	Liam McIlvanney	The Quaker		Shortlist
	Abir Mukherjee	Smoke and Ashes		Shortlist
	Alex Reeve	The House on Half Moon Street		Shortlist
	C. J. Sansom	Tombland		Shortlist
	Laura Shepherd-Robinson	Blood & Sugar		Shortlist
2020	Abir Mukherjee	Death in the East	Harvill Secker	Winner	[16] [17] [18]
	Alis Hawkins	In Two Minds		Shortlist
	Philip Kerr	Metropolis		Shortlist
	S. G. MacLean	The Bear Pit		Shortlist
	Alex Reeve	The Anarchists’ Club		Shortlist
	Ovidia Yu	The Paper Bark Tree Mystery		Shortlist
2021	Vaseem Khan	Midnight at Malabar House	Hodder & Stoughton	Winner	[19] [20] [21]
	John Banville	Snow	Faber and Faber	Shortlist	[22]
	Chris Lloyd	The Unwanted Dead	Orion	Shortlist	[22]
	Michael Russell	The City Under Siege	Constable; Little, Brown Book Group	Shortlist	[22]
	David Stafford	Skelton’s Guide to Domestic Poisons	Allison & Busby	Shortlist	[22]
	Ovidia Yu	The Mimosa Tree Mystery	Constable; Little, Brown Book Group	Shortlist	[22]
2022	Ray Celestin	Sunset Swing	Pan Macmillan; Mantle	Winner	[23] [24]
	John Banville	April in Spain	Faber and Faber	Shortlist	[25]
	Andy Charman	Crow Court	Unbound	Shortlist	[25]
	Alis Hawkins	Not One of Us	Canelo	Shortlist	[25]
	Robbie Morrison	Edge of the Grave	Pan Macmillan; Macmillan	Shortlist	[25]
	Ambrose Parry	A Corruption of Blood	Canongate Books	Shortlist	[25]
2023	D. V. Bishop	The Darkest Sin	Pan Macmillan; Macmillan	Winner	[26]
	Anna Mazzola	The Clockwork Girl	Orion	Shortlist	[27]
	J. B. Mylet	The Homes	Viper	Shortlist	[27]
	Harini Nagendra	The Bangalore Detectives Club	Little, Brown Book Group, Constable	Shortlist	[27]
	Leonora Nattrass	Blue Water	Viper	Shortlist	[27]
	Sarah Smith	Hear No Evil	John Murray	Shortlist	[27]
2024	Jake Lamar	Viper's Dream	No Exit Press	Winner	[28]
	Lucy Ashe	Clara & Olivia	Oneworld	Shortlist	[29]
	Louise Hare	Harlem After Midnight	HarperCollins	Shortlist	[29]
	Alis Hawkins	A Bitter Remedy	Canelo	Shortlist	[29]
	Leonora Nattrass	Scarlet Town	Viper	Shortlist	[29]
	Ambrose Parry	Voices of the Dead	Cannongate Books	Shortlist	[29]

 References

1. "CWA Endeavour Historical Dagger". The Crime Writers' Association. Archived from the original on 25 January 2020. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
2. Picker, Lenny (March 3, 2010). "Mysteries of History". Publishers Weekly . Retrieved November 13, 2013.
3. Rivkin Jr., David B. (February 27, 2010). "Five Best Historical Mystery Novels". The Wall Street Journal . Archived from the original on 2013-12-04. Retrieved November 17, 2013.
4. "Endeavour Press sponsors the CWA Historical Dagger Award". Endeavour Press. Archived from the original on 2015-10-01. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
5. "Who Wunnit? CWA Dagger Winners Announced". The Crime Writers' Association. June 30, 2014. Archived from the original on May 29, 2015. Retrieved May 29, 2015.
6. Lee, Richard. "The CWA Ellis Peters Historical Dagger for Historical Detective Fiction 1999/2000". Historical Novel Society. Retrieved 2023-01-02.
7. "Awards: Frank O'Connor Short Story; CWA Daggers". Shelf Awareness . July 10, 2012. Retrieved 2023-01-03.
8. "Awards: SCBWI Late Bloomer; CWA Daggers". Shelf Awareness . July 17, 2013. Retrieved 2023-01-03.
9. "Awards: CWA Daggers". Shelf Awareness . July 2, 2014. Retrieved 2023-01-03.
10. "CWA Endeavour Historical Dagger: This Year's Winner 2015". The Crime Writers' Association. Archived from the original on 2014-10-25. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
11. "Awards: Desmond Elliott; CWA Daggers". Shelf Awareness . July 2, 2015. Retrieved 2023-01-03.
12. "William Shaw shortlisted for CWA Endeavour Historical Dagger Award". Curtis Brown. 2016-07-28. Retrieved 2023-01-03.
13. "2018 CWA Dagger Winners Announced". Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society . Retrieved 2023-01-03.
14. "2018 Daggers Shortlists Announced". Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society . Retrieved 2023-01-03.
15. "2019 CWA Daggers Announced". Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society . Retrieved 2023-01-03.
16. "Michael Robotham wins the 2020 Gold Dagger". The Booktopian. 2020-10-23. Retrieved 2020-10-23.
17. "CWA Dagger Awards 2020 Winners Announced". Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society . Retrieved 2023-01-03.
18. "CWA Dagger Awards 2020 Winners Announced". Crime Time. 2020-10-22. Retrieved 2023-01-03.
19. "2021 CWA Daggers Announced". The Crime Writers’ Association. 2021-07-01. Archived from the original on 2021-07-26. Retrieved 2021-07-02.
20. "CWA Dagger Awards 2021 winners announced". Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society . Retrieved 2023-01-03.
21. Mabee, Megan (2021-07-08). "Looking Sharp: Announcing the 2021 CWA Dagger Award Winners". BOOK RIOT. Retrieved 2023-01-03.
22. "Dagger Shortlists Announced". The Crime Writers’ Association. Retrieved 2023-01-03.
23. "CWA Dagger Awards 2022: winners announced". Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society . Retrieved 2023-01-03.
24. Smith, Fiona Veitch (2022-07-01). "CWA Daggers 2022 announced". The Crime Readers' Association. Retrieved 2023-01-03.
25. "CWA Dagger Award Shortlists announced". Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society . Retrieved 2023-01-03.
26. "2023 Dagger Award Winners Announced". The Crime Writers’ Association. Archived from the original on 2023-08-28. Retrieved 2023-07-10.
27. Mitchell, Erin (2023-05-12). "2023 CWA Dagger Shortlists Revealed". Crimespree Magazine. Retrieved 2023-07-10.
28. Cooper-Fiske, Casey (2024-07-04). "James Bond author among winners of crime writing awards". The Standard. Retrieved 2025-02-05.
29. "Historical Dagger". The Crime Writers’ Association. Retrieved 2025-02-05.

External links

• Official website