{"title":"2026 Dagger Award Winners","description":"\u003cp\u003eThese are winners of the 2026 Crime Writers' Association dagger awards:\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"the-wolf-tree-by-laura-mccluskey-9780008681302","title":"The Wolf Tree","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWinner of the 2026 ILP John Creasey First Novel Dagger award.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn a small island off the coast of Scotland, an isolated community is grieving. Eighteen-year-old Alan Ferguson was found at the foot of the lighthouse – an apparent suicide. DIs Georgina Lennox and Richard Stewart are sent to investigate.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBut a raging storm keeps them trapped on the island for four days. And the locals don’t take kindly to mainlanders. As George and Ritchie question the island’s inhabitants, they discover a village filled with superstition and shrouded in secrets.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBut someone wants those secrets to stay buried. At any cost.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Laura McCluskey","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51247271051605,"sku":"003558","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0877\/7462\/6133\/files\/9780008681302_6c0c79f5-1e5f-46a3-a53b-969c25474b94.jpg?v=1754740366"},{"product_id":"the-death-of-us-by-abigail-dean-9780008625658","title":"The Death of Us","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWinner of the 2026 CWA Gold Dagger award\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIsabel and Edward meet as teenagers. When she tells him she loves him, it feels like the bravest thing she’s ever done. But years later, a stranger walks into their home and tears their world apart.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is where their story really begins.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Crime Writer Association judges: \u003cem\u003eA tense and unflinching story of the aftermath of violent crime. The novel shifts between timelines, examining the effects on a couple over the years between the incident and the upcoming trial of their attacker, showing that the violence and violation never truly ended for them. It’s an outstanding examination of the effects of trauma, and the power of love.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Abigail Dean","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52047601107285,"sku":"004060","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0877\/7462\/6133\/files\/9780008625658_6e95215d-d169-44c1-93a9-14c8318522b1.jpg?v=1765291271"},{"product_id":"a-murder-for-miss-hortense-by-mel-pennant-9781399814393","title":"A Murder for Miss Hortense","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWinner of the 2026 CWA Whodunnit Dagger award\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRetired nurse, avid gardener, renowned cake maker and fearless sleuth Miss Hortense has lived in Bigglesweigh, a quiet Birmingham suburb, since she emigrated from Jamaica in 1960.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eShe takes great pride in her home, starching her lace curtains bright white, and she can tell if she's been short-changed on turmeric before she's even taken her first bite of a beef patty. Thirty-five years of nursing have also left her afraid of nobody - be they a local drug dealer or a priest - and an expert in deciphering other people's secrets with just a glance. Miss Hortense uses her skills to investigate the investments of the Pardner network - a special community of Black investors, determined to help their people succeed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBut when an unidentified man is found dead in one of the Pardner's homes, a Bible quote noted down beside his body, Miss Hortense's long-buried past comes rushing back to greet her, bringing memories of the worst moment of her life, one which her community has never let her forget. It is time for Miss Hortense to solve a mystery that will see her, and the community she loves, tested to their limits.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Mel Pennant","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52128050643285,"sku":"004076","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0877\/7462\/6133\/files\/9781399814393_2e2805ee-cdb6-4b2f-9644-2360e95c98e0.jpg?v=1766236843"},{"product_id":"king-of-ashes-by-s-a-cosby-9781472299208","title":"King of Ashes","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWinner of the 2026 Ian Fleming Steel Dagger award\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRoman Carruthers left the smoke and fire of his family's crematory business behind in his hometown of Jefferson Run, Virginia. He is enjoying a life of shallow excess as a financial adviser in Atlanta until he gets a call from his sister, Neveah, telling him their father is in a coma after a hit-and-run accident. When Roman goes home, he learns the accident may not be what it seems.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHis brother, Dante, is deeply in debt to dangerous, ruthless criminals. And Roman is willing to do anything to protect his family. Anything.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA financial whiz with a head for numbers and a talent for making his clients rich, Roman must use all his skills to try to save his family while dealing with a shadow that has haunted them all for twenty years: the disappearance of their mother when Roman and his siblings were teenagers. It's a mystery that Neveah, who has sacrificed so much of her life to hold her family together, is determined to solve once and for all. As fate and chance and heartache ignite their lives, the Carruthers family must pull together to survive or see their lives turn to ash.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBecause, as their father counseled them from birth, nothing lasts forever. Everything burns.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"S. A. 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Here are Helen's neighbours: the Topps, the Josses, the Mitchells, the Gordons, the Donalds, the Coulls and the Hunts.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eReturning home from school for her midday meal, Helen is sent by her mother Agnes to buy a loaf from the bakery at the end of the street. Agnes never sees her daughter alive again. Nina Allan explores the aftermath of Helen's disappearance, turning a probing eye to the close-knit neighbourhood - where everyone knows everyone, at least by sight - and with subtlety and sympathy, explores the intricate layers of truth and falsehood that can coexist in one moment of history.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFull of echoes, allusions and eerie diversions, A Granite Silence is an investigation into a notorious true crime case, but also a stylish, imaginative inquiry into who gets to tell a story, how it is told, and why.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Nina Allan","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53709093208405,"sku":"004511","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0877\/7462\/6133\/files\/9781529435603_e30303a3-e4af-40d3-b0c0-06f0cc5de793.jpg?v=1776438302"},{"product_id":"we-live-here-now-by-sarah-pinborough-9781398722620","title":"We Live Here Now","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWinner of the 2026 Twisted Dagger Award\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen Emily wakes from a coma following an accident that nearly kills her, she finds herself agreeing to move from London to the wild moors of Devon with her husband Freddie. A fresh start is exactly what their marriage needs.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs their car pulls up to Larkin Lodge, their dream country home, Emily's heart sinks. Outside, everything is covered in an icy gray mist. Inside, the air is filled with dust and abandonment.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd then she finds the empty suite on the second floor. A room so bleak, so cold, so void of anything good. Something bad happened in here.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSomeone dies in here. Why can't Freddie feel the darkness that stirs within its walls? There's something wrong with the house, this strange house, where the floorboards creak at night, the doors rattle, the windows slam shut, the taps turn on and off - and on and off. But if the house is hiding something, so are Emily and Freddie...\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sarah Pinborough","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53709096026453,"sku":"004519","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0877\/7462\/6133\/files\/9781398722620_0b709461-da66-422e-85cf-0527d0d9fa5d.jpg?v=1776438359"},{"product_id":"the-winter-job-by-antti-tuomainen-9781917764346","title":"The Winter Job","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWinner of the 2026 CWA Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHelsinki, 1982. Recently divorced postal worker Ilmari Nieminen has promised his daughter a piano for Christmas, but with six days to go – and no money – he’s desperate.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA last-minute job offers a solution: transport a valuable antique sofa to Kilpisjärvi, the northernmost town in Finland. 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