Mystery/Thriller Reading Friends discussion

2024 DAGGER SHORTLISTS ANNOUNCED
The Dagger Awards are awarded by The Crime Writers’ Association to celebrate the best in crime and thriller writing. The awards will be presented at the Daggers Banquet on July 6, 2023 in London. Here are the shortlists:

Gold Dagger Shortlist
° Over My Dead Body by Maz Evans
° The Secret Hours by Mick Herron [review]
° Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane
° Tell Me What I Am by Una Mannion [review]
° Black River by Nilanjana Roy
° Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto [review]

Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Shortlist
° All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby [review]
° Ozark Dogs by Eli Cranor
° Everybody Knows by Jordan Harper [review]
° The Mantis by Kōtarō Isaka
° Gaslight by Femi Kayode
° Drowning: The Rescue of Flight 1421 by T.J. Newman [review]

New Blood Dagger Shortlist
° In the Blink of an Eye by Jo Callaghan
° The Golden Gate by Amy Chua [review]
° The Maiden by Kate Foster
° West Heart Kill by Dann McDorman
° Go Seek by Michelle Teahan
° The Tumbling Girl by Bridget Walsh [review]

Historical Dagger Shortlist
° Clara & Olivia by Lucy Ashe [review]
° Harlem After Midnight by Louise Hare
° A Bitter Remedy by Alis Hawkins
° Viper’s Dream by Jake Lamar
° Scarlet Town by Leonora Nattrass
° Voices of the Dead by Ambrose Parry

Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger Shortlist
° Red Queen by Juan Gómez-Jurado [review]
° The Sins of Our Fathers by Åsa Larsson
° Nothing Is Lost by Cloé Mehdi
° The Consultant by Im Seong-sun
° The Prey by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir
° My Husband by Maud Ventura

Non-Fiction Dagger Shortlist
° The Art Thief by Michael Finkel
° No Ordinary Day: Espionage, Betrayal, Terrorism and Corruption—The Truth Behind the Murder of WPC Yvonne Fletcher by Matt Johnson with John Murray
° Devil’s Coin: My Battle to Take Down the Notorious OneCoin Cryptoqueen by Jennifer McAdam with Douglas Thompson
° Seventy Times Seven: A True Story of Murder and Mercy by Alex Mar
° How Many More Women?: The Silencing of Women by the Law and How to Stop It by Jennifer Robinson and Keina Yoshida
° Ian Fleming: The Complete Man by Nicholas Shakespeare

Short Story Shortlist
° “Safe Enough” by Lee Child
An Unnecessary Assassin
° “The Last Best Thing” by Mia Dalia
Bang!: An Anthology of Modern Noir Fiction
° “The Also-Rans” by Benedict J. Jones
Bang!: An Anthology of Modern Noir Fiction
° “The Divide” by Sanjida Kay
The Book of Bristol
° “The Spendthrift and the Swallow” by Ambrose Parry
° “Best Served Cold” by F.D. Quinn
An Unnecessary Assassin

Wow. I've got some catching up to do. I have read West Heart Kill and really liked it. The only other I have that I haven't read yet is Small Mercies. Every time I see one of these lists I can't decide if I should just stop genre-jumping and stick to my favorite of favorites or shrug and keep going. . .

Thanks for the list Barry!

Gail - I haven't even run down the list in Barry's post yet and have to give a recommendation for Dennis Lehane's Small Mercies. It is stellar!
back to peruse the list....
Gail W wrote: "Wow. I've got some catching up to do. I have read West Heart Kill and really liked it. The only other I have that I haven't read yet is Small Mercies. Every time I see one of these lists I can't de..."

Barry - thanks very much! Oh boy, and what a list it is, several are very tempting!
I have read these - all very good.
° Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane
° Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto
° All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby [review]
° Drowning: The Rescue of Flight 1421 by T.J. Newman [review]

## Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger Shortlist
° Red Queen by Juan Gómez-Jurado [review]
this one was ok, it wasn't bad, just didn't compel me to get right to the next book. There were a few moments where the translation took me out of the story