The CWA Dagger in the Library Shortlist 2014

Today marks the announcement of the shortlist for the CWA 2014 Dagger in the Library award, sponsored by Dead Good.

This year, for the first time, readers compiled the longlist as crime lovers everywhere were invited to vote online for their three favourite authors. Five authors were then shortlisted by a panel of judges including previous winner Steve Mosby, CWA Director Lucy Santos and a group of UK librarians.

Unlike most other literary prizes, the Dagger in the Library honours an author’s whole body of work to date, rather than a single title. Previous winners of the award include Belinda Bauer, Steve Mosby, Mo Hayder, Colin Cotterill, Stuart MacBride and Alexander McCall Smith.

The CWA Dagger in the Library shortlist 2014 (in alphabetical order):

Sharon Bolton (Transworld)
Elly Griffiths (Quercus)
Mari Hannah(Pan)
James Oswald (Michael Joseph)
Mel Sherratt (Thomas & Mercer)

Sharon Bolton has been dubbed by The Times as ‘the High Priestess of English Rural Gothic’. Bolton has written eight crime novels and is the author of the Lacey Flint series.

Elly Griffiths’ novels feature protagonist Ruth Galloway, the Head of Forensic Archaeology at the University of North Norfolk. Her inspiration for the series came when her husband gave up his city job to become an archaeologist.

Mari Hannah has published four books to date and is the author of the DCI Kate Daniels series. A former Probation Officer, Mari lives in Northumberland where her novels are set.

James Oswald has written four books in the Inspector McLean series and first found success as a self-publishing phenomenon. Set in Edinburgh, his crime novels contain supernatural elements.

Mel Sherratt is the author of what she calls ‘grit-lit’ – crime, psychological thrillers and suspense. She has achieved huge success by self-publishing her five books.

The winner will be announced at the beginning of December.