The Duncan Lawrie Dagger Award Nominations

Though the official announcement of all the Dagger Awards won't be made until Tuesday June 3, the Times has an exclusive preview of the world's richest crime fiction prize as given by Natasha Cooper. And the nominees are:

James Lee Burke, THE TIN ROOF BLOWDOWN
Colin Cotterill, THE CORONER'S LUNCH
Frances Fyfield, BLOOD FROM STONE
Steve Hamilton, NIGHT WORK
Laura Lippman, WHAT THE DEAD KNOW
R.N. Morris, A VENGEFUL LONGING

The winner of the award - netting a cool 20,000 pounds -  will be announced on July 10.

Comments

[Cameron Hughes]

Ooh, close call between Laura Lipmann's and Tin Roof Blowdown.

I'd go with Burke's.

[Fiona]

I consistently fail to understand the CWA's incessant shortlisting of Frances Fyfield...

[Gonzalo B]

I think the richest crime fiction prize by far is Spain's Premio de Novela Negra RBA. It awards the winner 125,000 euros.

[Bastian]

i consistently fail to understand the CWA's incessant shortlisting of James Lee Burke, one of the most overrated crime writers. Frances Fyfield is an excellent writer, her books are witty and quirky.

[David J. Montgomery]

They're just following the lead of the Gumshoe Awards, which honored JL Burke earlier this year.

[Fiona]

I consistently fail to understand the CWA's incessant shortlisting of James Lee Burke. Also. I think his prose is puffy and overrated and he can't write a straight plot to save his life. But I'm outnumbered by such a vast, vast majority that I accept that it's probably my own failing, not his, and that I'm wrong. I'm quite ok with it.

[Fiona]

p.s.... I find it very amusing that now they've manhandled the translated novels into an award of their own, the shortlist is significantly American!

[Bastian]

In every Burke's book, the hero always know the villain from his childhood times. Also there are too many subplots that make each book confusing and almost unreadable. How can CWA shorlists a writer who use the same formula again and again?