Daggerology 2015
Hmmm. So, here I am, merrily tackling the Historical Dagger shortlist, when the longlists for the New Blood, Steel and Gold Daggers arrive, a fortnight earlier than I had expected. And according to the CWA website, the longlists become shortlists on June 30th, with the prizes being awarded in September.
Which means, I think, that there has been a conscious decoupling between the Dagger awards and the ITV3 Crime Thriller Awards. I imagine that the ITV3 show will continue (Broadchurch II needs some love from somewhere) and will still have the 'book club' element to it (this being the ITV network's only regular, weekly, primetime coverage of books any time of year.)
Anyway, the longlists - I'm enthused by the presence of titles by Sam Hawken, Mick Herron and Paul Mendelson, authors that I've read and enjoyed thanks to working my way through past Dagger prize lists. I'm surprised there's no love for M J Carter's The Infidel Stain, and that only nine books have been thought deserving of a place on the New Blood list (M P Wright's Heartman and Luke McCallin's The Man from Berlin are notable absentees given their nominations for Steel and Historical Daggers, for instance.) No place either for Rene Knight's high profile debut Disclaimer, or Jamie Doward's well reviewed Toxic.
Which means, I think, that there has been a conscious decoupling between the Dagger awards and the ITV3 Crime Thriller Awards. I imagine that the ITV3 show will continue (Broadchurch II needs some love from somewhere) and will still have the 'book club' element to it (this being the ITV network's only regular, weekly, primetime coverage of books any time of year.)
Anyway, the longlists - I'm enthused by the presence of titles by Sam Hawken, Mick Herron and Paul Mendelson, authors that I've read and enjoyed thanks to working my way through past Dagger prize lists. I'm surprised there's no love for M J Carter's The Infidel Stain, and that only nine books have been thought deserving of a place on the New Blood list (M P Wright's Heartman and Luke McCallin's The Man from Berlin are notable absentees given their nominations for Steel and Historical Daggers, for instance.) No place either for Rene Knight's high profile debut Disclaimer, or Jamie Doward's well reviewed Toxic.