Tom Benn, Alan Parks and Deon Meyer longlisted for CWA Daggers 2023

 
 

We are delighted that three Blake Friedmann authors have had their recent crime novels longlisted in this year’s Crime Writers’ Association Daggers. OXBLOOD by Tom Benn is longlisted for the Gold Dagger, the award for the overall best crime novel of the year. Deon Meyer’s THE DARK FLOOD, translated by K.L. Seegers, is on the longlist for the Dagger for Crime Fiction in Translation. MAY GOD FORGIVE by Alan Parks has been longlisted for the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger, for the best espionage, psychological, or adventure thriller novel.

The Crime Writers’ Association Daggers are the oldest awards of the genre and among the most prestigious. The Daggers shortlists will be announced on 12 May at Crimefest and the winners at a gala dinner on 6 July.

Photo: Benjamin Mathers

OXBLOOD follows three generations of women as they try to come to terms with the bloody legacy of their family in 1980s Manchester. Told in vivid, visceral prose, OXBLOOD was published by Bloomsbury in April 2022, and recently earned Tom the 2022 Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award. Translation rights have been sold in Spain and the paperback is just out in the UK.

‘One of the most powerful and urgent writers of our times.’ – David Peace

‘A compelling and deeply unsettling experience… a novel that glitters with the dark energy and lifeblood of its characters.’ – Naomi Booth

Tom Benn is an author, screenwriter and lecturer from Stockport, England. His first novel, THE DOLL PRINCESS, was shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize and the Portico Prize, and his creative nonfiction has appeared in The Paris Review Daily. His first film Real Gods Require Blood premiered in competition at the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for Best Short Film at the BFI London Film Festival.

THE DARK FLOOD sees detectives Benny Griessel and Vaughn Cupido demoted and sent to the leafy university town of Stellenbosch, but an apparently humdrum missing person case soon takes a disturbing turn. THE DARK FLOOD was first published by Human & Rousseau in 2020 in Afrikaans, where it became an instant #1 bestseller. The English edition, translated by K.L. Seegers, was published by Hodder in the UK and Grove Atlantic in the US in 2022, and was nominated for a Barry Award 2023. The paperback editions have just been published.

‘The best work yet from this gifted author.’ — Publishers Weekly

‘Deon Meyer’s Benny Griessel novels, featuring a detective in an elite crime squad in Cape Town, are a joy to read.’ – Joan Smith, The Sunday Times

Deon Meyer is an internationally bestselling and prizewinning author, who was awarded France’s highest arts honour, Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres (Knight in the Order of Arts and Letters) in 2021. Rights in his titles are sold in 30 territories and 28 languages and many of his books have been optioned for film. He has been shortlisted for the CWA International Dagger three times and his books have won many prizes around the world, including the Deutsche Krimi Prize in Germany and Le Grand Prix de Littérature Policière and Le Prix Mystère de la Critique in France.

Photo: Euan Robertson

MAY GOD FORGIVE is the fifth title in Alan Parks’ highly acclaimed Harry McCoy series, and winner of the McIlvanney Scottish Crime Book of the Year. After a fatal arson attack leaves tempers frayed in Glasgow, McCoy finds himself in a race against to find the suspects, before they turn up dead one by one. In 2022 MAY GOD FORGIVE was published in the UK by Canongate and in the US by Europa. The series is sold in more than ten countries around the world and the paperback will be out in the UK this week, on 27 April 2023.

‘MAY GOD FORGIVE is the fifth instalment in a remarkable series that began with BLOODY JANUARY. The novels, as someone once said, can be read in any order; the important thing is to read them all.’ – Mark Sanderson, The Times

‘MAY GOD FORGIVE is crime fiction which pulls no punches, powerfully told and, at times, heartbreakingly poignant. One of the crime novels of 2022.’ – Mike Ripley, Getting Away With Murder

Alan Parks was born in Scotland and worked in the music business before becoming a full-time writer. His debut novel BLOODY JANUARY propelled him onto the international literary crime fiction scene and his work has been hailed by contemporary writers and critics alike. He still lives and works in Glasgow, the city that is so vividly depicted in the 1970s setting of his Harry McCoy thrillers.

THE DARK FLOOD by Deon Meyer nominated for a Barry Award

We are delighted that THE DARK FLOOD by Deon Meyer has been nominated for the Barry Awards in the Best Mystery or Crime Novel category.

The nominees are chosen by the editorial board of Deadly Pleasures magazine, with winners voted by the readers of Deadly Pleasures.

The winners are to be announced at the Opening Ceremonies of Bouchercon-San Diego on 31 August 2023.

The other titles nominated in the category are THE ACCOMPLICE by Steve Cavanagh, DESERT STAR by Michael Connelly, SHIFTY’S BOYS by Chris Offutt, SECRET IDENTITY by Alex Segura and CITY ON FIRE by Don Winslow.

THE DARK FLOOD was published by Grove Atlantic in North America and by Hodder & Stoughton in the UK in 2022, translated by K. L. Seegers. This followed publication in Afrikaans by Human & Rousseau in 2020, where it was an instant No. 1 bestseller. It was shortlisted for the South African Adult Fiction Book Award 2021 and the ATKV Thriller Prize 2021 and won Best in Translation at the Crime Fiction Lover Awards 2022. Translation rights in THE DARK FLOOD have been sold in five further territories, though overall Deon’s books are sold in many more languages.

THE DARK FLOOD by Deon Meyer

One last chance. Almost fired for insubordination, detectives Benny Griessel and Vaughn Cupido find themselves demoted, exiled from the elite Hawks unit and dispatched to the leafy streets of Stellenbosch. Working a missing persons report on student Callie de Bruin is not the level of work they are used to, but it's all they get. And soon, it takes a dangerous, deeply disturbing turn.

One last chance. Stellenbosch is beautiful, but its economy has been ruined by one man. Jasper Boonstra and his gigantic corporate fraud have crashed the local property market, just when estate agent Sandra Steenberg desperately needs a big sale. Bringing up twins and supporting her academic husband, she is facing disaster. Then she gets a call. From Jasper Boonstra, fraudster, sexual predator and owner of a superb property worth millions, even now.

For Sandra, the stakes are high and about to get way higher.

For Benny Griessel, clinging to sobriety and the relationship that saved his life, the truth about Callie can only lead to more trouble.

Praise for THE DARK FLOOD

‘In Meyer’s stellar seventh thriller featuring South African police detective Benny Griessel… Meyer adds a Madoff-like financial fraudster and a homicide as he toggles between story lines and keeps things moving toward the wholly satisfying conclusion. This is the best work yet from this gifted author.’ – Publishers Weekly

‘A well-crafted blend of suspense, culture, and humor.’ – Kirkus Reviews

‘Deon Meyer’s Benny Griessel novels, featuring a detective in an elite crime squad in Cape Town, are a joy to read… Meyer has become an outstanding chronicler of South Africa’s corruption.’ – Joan Smith, The Sunday Times

‘Meyer handles the complicated plot with panache, bringing in both men’s private problems and relationships to create plenty of warmth.’ – Patrick Graney, Literary Review

‘A fine mix of suspense, action, political intrigue and personal revelation’ – Tom Nolan, The Wall Street Journal

About Deon Meyer

Deon Meyer is an internationally bestselling and prizewinning author, who was awarded France’s highest arts honour, Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres (Knight in the Order of Arts and Letters) in 2021. He writes in Afrikaans and his South African publisher Human & Rousseau has sold more than 600,000 Afrikaans copies of his novels. Rights in his titles are sold in 30 territories and 28 languages and many of his books have been optioned for film and TV, with a couple currently in production. Acclaimed 6-part series TRACKERS was broadcast in South Africa in 2019, with a stellar South African cast and went on to appear on channels and streamers around the world.

Deon’s books have been awarded many prizes around the world: the Deutsche Krimi Prize in Germany, the ATKV Prize in South Africa, and Le Grand Prix de Littérature Policière and Le Prix Mystère de la Critique in France. COBRA was shortlisted for the 2015 CWA International Dagger, THIRTEEN HOURS was shortlisted for the 2010 CWA International Dagger, and HEART OF THE HUNTER, was longlisted for the 2005 IMPAC Prize and selected as one of Chicago Tribune’s ‘10 best mysteries and thrillers of 2004’. THE DARK FLOOD was a Number One bestseller in South Africa in both English and Afrikaans. It was shortlisted for the South African Adult Fiction Book Award 2021 and the ATKV Thriller Prize 2021 and won Best in Translation at the Crime Fiction Lover Awards 2022.

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