IT'S A CRIME! (OR A MYSTERY...)

CWA Daggers 2010

It was a busy Dagger day at the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival on Friday 23 July.  First the shortlists for the Gold, Ian Fleming Steel and John Creasey (New Blood) Daggers were announced at a lunchtime event.  Later in the evening this was followed by the announcement of the winners for the Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction, Dagger in the Library, International, Short Story and Debut Daggers.

Shortlists follow.  The winners will be announced as part of the ITV3 Crime Thriller Awards, sponsored by Specsavers, in the autumn.

Gold Dagger

Conman, Richard Asplin (No Exit Press)
Blacklands, Belinda Bauer (Corgi)
Blood Harvest, S J Bolton (Bantam Press)
Rain Gods, James Lee Burke (Orion)
Shadowplay, Karen Campbell (Hodder & Stoughton)
The Strange Case of the Composer and his Judge, Patricia Duncker (Bloomsbury)
Still Midnight, Denise Mina (Orion)
The Way Home, George Pelecanos (Orion)

Ian Fleming Steel Dagger

61 Hours, Lee Child (Bantam Press)
A Loyal Spy, Simon Conway (Hodder & Stoughton)
Gone, Mo Hayder (Bantam Press)
Slow Horses, Mick Herron (Robinson)
The Dying Light, Henry Porter (Orion)
Innocent, Scott Turow (Macmillan)
The Gentlemen’s Hour, Don Winslow (Heinemann)

John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger

Acts of Violence, Ryan David Jahn (Pan)
Cut Short, Leigh Russell (No Exit Press)
Martyr, Rory Clements (John Murray)
Random, Craig Robertson (Simon & Schuster)
Stop Me, Richard Jay Parker (Allison & Busby)
Rupture, Simon Lelic (Picador)
The Holy Thief, William Ryan (Mantle )
The Pull of the Moon, Diane Janes (Robinson)

An Appreciation of Laurie R. King, Mary Russell and The God of the Hive

By ScotKris

It is no secret that I am a huge admirer of Laurie King's fiction, whether it be the latest (and now infrequent) Kate Martinelli San Francisco-based police procedurals, the thought-provoking and inventive stand-alone novels, and the now ten-strong series of Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes novels, of which The God of the Hive is the latest, and was published in the UK by Allison & Busby on July 5th. There are some of Laurie King's novels that I feel maybe have the edge over others but all, without exception, leave me with a feeling of immense satisfaction at the quality of the story and the writing.
 
That said my advice on this new Mary Russell novel is to go back and read The Language of Bees before reading The God of the Hive, as this is the closest Laurie King has come to writing what is, in effect, a direct sequel within this series. If you don't, you will certainly feel as if you have 'missed' something of some importance and, this time, you will have done, as the story picks up only an hour or so after The Language of Bees concludes. Unlike some readers, I did find The Language of Bees to be complete in itself, but with the publication of The God of the Hive, the two novels together make for a remarkable and enthralling story.

Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2010 - the shortlist

The shortlist has been announced today:

In The Dark – Mark Billingham
The Surrogate – Tania Carver
A Simple Act Of Violence - RJ Ellory
The Crossing Places – Elly Griffiths
Dead Tomorrow – Peter James
Gallows Lane – Brian McGilloway
Doors Open – Ian Rankin
Child 44 – Tom Rob Smith

Congratulations to all & may the best one win!  You can vote via this link direct to the relevant page.