Coben, Cole, Atkinson vie for crime awards
07.09.09 Katie Allen in The Bookseller

The shortlists for the 2009 Specsavers Crime Thriller Awards have been revealed, with Dick Francis, Alexander McCall Smith, Nicci French, Harlan Coben and Martina Cole all in the running for the new ITV3 Bestseller Dagger. The awards will be held in association with the Crime Writers Association (CWA) and Cactus TV.

Kate Atkinson's When Will There Be Good News? will also be competing against Mark Billingham, Lawrence Block, William Brodrick, M R HAll and Gene Kerrigan for the CWA Gold Dagger 2009 for best crime novel of the year.

The culmination of a six-week season of ITV3 crime and drama programming, the Specsavers Crime Thriller Awards 2009 take place on 21st October, and will be broadcast on ITV3 later that month. On the night Colin Dexter, Lynda La Plante, Ian Rankin, Ruth Rendell and Val McDermid will join P D James in the Hall of Fame, which was inaugurated at last year's awards.

Here are some of the shortlists:
CWA GOLD DAGGER 2009, SPONSORED BY BOOKSDIRECT - for the best crime novel of the year

When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson (Black Swan)

In the Dark by Mark Billingham (Little, Brown)

Hit and Run by Lawrence Block (Orion)

A Whispered Name by William Brodrick (Little, Brown)

The Coroner by M R Hall (Pan Macmilan)

Dark Times In The City by Gene Kerrigan (Harvill Secker)

CWA JOHN CREASEY (NEW BLOOD) DAGGER 2009, SPONSORED BY LOUISE PENNY AND MICHAEL WHITEHEAD - for first books by previously unpublished writers, awarded in memory of CWA founder John Creasey

Sweetsmoke by David Fuller (Abacus)

Bad Catholics by James Green (Luath Press)

No Way To Say Goodbye by Rod Madocks (Five Leaves)

Old City Hall by Robert Rotenberg (John Murray)

Echoes from The Dead by Johan Theorin (Doubleday)

The Blood Detective by Dan Waddell (Penguin)

THE CWA IAN FLEMING STEEL DAGGER 2009, SPONSORED BY IAN FLEMING PUBLICATIONS LTD - for the year’s best thriller

The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly (Orion)

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)

The Last Child by John Hart (John Murray)

Calumet City by Charlie Newton (Bantam)

Moscow Rules by Daniel Silva (Michael Joseph)

The Tourist by Olen Steinhauer (HarperCollins)

The Interrogator by Andrew Williams (John Murray)