The CWA Dagger in the Library, 2013 Long list of thirteen names announced

The judging panel for this year’s Dagger in the Library Award are pleased to announce the longlist for the 2013 award. We have been thrilled with the response and the nominations we have received from libraries up, down and across the country and have been knee deep in books since January. 

 As ever, the selection process proved tough and there was much discussion before we arrived at our chosen longlist. 

 We are all eagerly reading on for the shortlisting process and are thrilled to see some new names as well as some familiar ones on this year’s list.

Thanks also to our colleagues at Random House/Dead Good and the Reading Agency for their support and sponsorship of this unique award but also a big thank you to all the public library staff and users who took the time to nominate their favourite authors for this award. We are not exaggerating when we say, this award could not take place without you.
Many congratulations to these nominated authors:

Belinda Bauer

Belinda Bauer grew up in England and South Africa. She has worked as a journalist and screenwriter and her script The Locker Room earned her the Carl Foreman/Bafta Award for Young British Screenwriters. With her first novel, Blacklands, Belinda won the CWA Gold Dagger in 2010. Her second and third novels, Darkside and Finders Keepers, were highly acclaimed, and she was shortlisted for the Dagger in the Library Award last year. She lives in Wales.
She is published by Transworld and her website is www.belindabauer.co.uk.
The photograph of Belinda Bauer is by Johnny Ring

Alison Bruce

Alison Bruce was born in Surrey but moved to Cambridge in 1998 where she lives with her husband and two children. The first novel in the Gary Goodhew series, Cambridge Blue, was published in 2008, followed by The Siren, The Calling and The Silence. She has also written two true crime books. The fifth Goodhew novel, The Backs, will be published in September 2013.
She is published by Constable & Robinson and her website is www.alisonbruce.com.

S.J. Bolton

S.J. Bolton was born in Lancashire and lives near Oxford with her husband and young son. Blood Harvest was shortlisted for the 2010 CWA Gold Dagger and Awakening won the Simon & Schuster Mary Higgins Clark Award in 2010.
She has in total seven books to her name, most recentlyLike This, For Ever.
She is published by Bantam Press, Transworld and her website is www.sjbolton.com.

Peter May

Peter May was an award-winning journalist at the age of just twenty-one. He left newspapers for television and screenwriting, creating three prime-time British drama series and accruing more than 1,000 television credits. Peter now lives in France where he focuses on writing novels.
He is published by Quercus and his website is www.petermay.co.uk.

Gordon Ferris

Gordon Ferris is an ex-techy in the Ministry of Defence and an ex-partner in one of the Big Four accountancy firms. Maybe that's where he gets his interest in spies and crooks. He writes about the important things in life: conflicted heroes and headstrong women embroiled in tangled tales of life, love and death. He is the author of the No. 1 bestselling eBook The Hanging Shed and the new novel Bitter Water in the Brodie series as well as Truth Dare Kill and The Unquiet Heart in the Danny McRae series.
His website is www.gordonferris.com

Tania Carver

Tania Carver is the pseudonym for the husband-and-wife writing team of Martyn and Linda Waites. They have now written four books featuring Detective Inspector Phil Brennan and criminal psychologist Marina Esposito.
They are published by Sphere and their website is www.taniacarver.com

Elly Griffiths

Elly Griffiths was born in London. She read English at King's College, London and worked in publishing for many years. Her crime novels are based in Norfolk and feature Dr Ruth Galloway, forensic archaeologist. She lives near Brighton with her husband, an archaeologist and their two children.
She is published by Quercus and her website is www.ellygriffiths.co.uk.

Christopher Fowler

Christopher Fowler is the multi award-winning author of over thirty novels and twelve short story collections, including Roofworld, Spanky, Calabash, Hell Train and ten Bryant & May mystery novels. He currently writes a weekly column in the Independent on Sunday and reviews for the Financial Times. He lives in King’s Cross in London.
He is published by Bantam and his website is www.christopherfowler.co.uk

Michael Ridpath

Michael Ridpath spent eight years as a bond trader in the City before giving up his job to write full-time. He wrote eight thrillers set in the worlds of business and finance, before turning his hand to something slightly different. The result, Where The Shadows Lie, the first in a series featuring an Icelandic detective named Magnus, was published in June 2010. This was followed with 66° North and Meltwater. He lives in north London with his wife and three children.
He is published by the Corvus imprint of Atlantic Books and his website is michaelridpath.com.

Jane Casey

Born and brought up in Dublin, Jane Casey has been twice shortlisted for the Irish Crime Novel of the Year Award. She is the author of The Missing and two previous Maeve Kerrigan novels The Burning and The Reckoning. Married to a criminal barrister, Jane lives in south-west London.
She is published by Ebury Press and her website is www.maevekerrigan.co.uk.

Phil Rickman

Phil Rickman lives on the Welsh border where he writes and presents the book programme Phil the Shelf on BBC Radio Wales. He is the hugely popular author of The Bones of Avalon and the Merrily Watkins Mysteries.
He is published by the Corvus imprint of Atlantic Books and his website is www.philrickman.co.uk.

Alex Gray

Alex Gray was born and educated in Glasgow. She has been awarded the Scottish Association of Writers' Constable and Pitlochry trophies for her crime writing, and is the Scottish Chapter convenor for the Crime Writers’ Association. Married with a son and daughter, she now writes full time.
She is published by Sphere and her website is www.alex-gray.com.

Frances Brody

Frances Brody comes from a great family of story tellers, though she’s the first in the family to write professionally. She is the author of four Kate Shackleton mysteries, most recently A Woman Unknown, published on 1st September 2012.
She is published by Piatkus and her website is frances-brody.com

This award is unique in that it is the only award that is nominated exclusively by library users, readers and librarians. You really do get to decide who gets onto the long list. 
Unlike most other literary prizes, the Dagger in the Library is awarded not for an individual book but for the author’s body of work. Last year’s winner was Steve Mosby, and previous winners have included Mo Hayder, Colin Cotterill, Stuart MacBride and Craig Russell; whilst Lesley Horton and C J Sansom have been Highly Commended.

The nominated authors must be alive, preferably working in Britain and cannot have won the award before. As the award is for a body of work, authors should have published at least three books. Entries from reading groups or individuals are submitted through libraries. Nomination forms may be downloaded by clicking the links at the top of the right-hand column.
Queries to: library.dagger@thecwa.co.uk