The Dagger of Daggers was a special award given in 2005 by the Crime Writers' Association

Crime Writers' Association

The Crime Writers Association is a writers' association in the United Kingdom. Founded by John Creasey in 1953, it is currently chaired by Peter James and claims 450+ members....

 (CWA) to celebrate its 50th anniversary. All books that had previously won the CWA Gold Dagger

Gold Dagger

The Gold Dagger Award was an award given annually by the Crime Writers' Association for the best crime novel of the year.For its first five years, the organization's top honor was known as the Crossed Red Herring Award....

 for Best Crime Novel of the Year were eligible, and the purpose was to select "the best of the best". The shortlist was selected by a ballot of CWA members, with the winner decided by a second round of voting.

Shortlist

• Anthony Price
  Anthony Price
  Anthony Price is an author of espionage thrillers.-Life and work:Price attended The King's School, Canterbury and served in the British Army from 1947 to 1949, reaching the rank of Captain. He then studied at Merton College, Oxford until 1952, earning the MA degree...
  
   - Other Paths to Glory 1974
• Martin Cruz Smith
  Martin Cruz Smith
  Martin Cruz Smith is an American mystery novelist.-Early life and education:Born Martin William Smith in Reading, Pennsylvania, he was educated at the University of Pennsylvania, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in creative writing in 1964...
  
   - Gorky Park
  Gorky Park (novel)
  Gorky Park is a 1981 crime novel written by Martin Cruz Smith set in the Soviet Union. It follows Arkady Renko, a chief investigator for the Militsiya, who is assigned to a case involving three corpses found in Gorky Park, an amusement park in Moscow, who have had their faces and fingertips cut off...
  
  1981
• Peter Lovesey
  Peter Lovesey
  Peter Lovesey is a British writer of historical and contemporary crime novels and short stories. His best-known series characters are Sergeant Cribb, a Victorian-era police detective based in London, and Peter Diamond, a modern-day police detective in Bath...
  
   - The False Inspector Dew
  The False Inspector Dew
  The False Inspector Dew is a humorous crime novel by Peter Lovesey. It won the Gold Dagger award by the Crime Writers' Association in 1982 and has featured on many "Best of" list since.-Plot introduction:...
  
  1982
• Barbara Vine (Ruth Rendell
  Ruth Rendell
  Ruth Barbara Rendell, Baroness Rendell of Babergh, CBE, , who also writes under the pseudonym Barbara Vine, is an English crime writer, author of psychological thrillers and murder mysteries....
  
  ) - A Fatal Inversion
  A Fatal Inversion
  A Fatal Inversion is a 1987 novel by Ruth Rendell, written under the pseudonym Barbara Vine. The novel won the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger in that year and, in 1987, was also shortlisted for the Dagger of Daggers, a special award to select the best Gold Dagger winner of the award's 50...
  
  1987
• Reginald Hill
  Reginald Hill
  Reginald Charles Hill is an English crime writer, and the winner in 1995 of the Crime Writers' Association Cartier Diamond Dagger for Lifetime Achievement.- Biography :...
  
   - Bones and Silence
  Bones and Silence
  Bones and Silence is a crime novel by Reginald Hill, the eleventh novel in the Dalziel and Pascoe series. The novel received the Gold Dagger Award in 1990.-Publication history:...
  
  1990
• Val McDermid
  Val McDermid
  Val McDermid is a Scottish crime writer, best known for a series of suspense novels starring her most famous creation, Dr. Tony Hill.-Biography:...
  
   - The Mermaids Singing
  The Mermaids Singing
  The Mermaids Singing is a crime novel by Scottish author Val McDermid, the first featuring her recurring protagonist, Dr. Tony Hill. It was adapted into the pilot episode of ITV1's television series based on McDermid's work, Wire in the Blood, starring Robson Green and Hermione Norris.The title is...
  
  1995

External links

• CWA Dagger of Daggers page