Abigail Dean, a London-based author and former lawyer, has won the 2026 Gold Dagger for her thriller The Death Of Us. The novel examines how a violent crime reverberates through a marriage over decades. The award was presented at the Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) Dagger Awards gala dinner on Thursday evening.
Other Major Winners at the CWA Daggers
Dean, known for Girl A and Day One, triumphed over fellow nominees including Holly Jackson, SA Cosby, Vaseem Khan, Ariel Lawhon, and Laura Shepherd-Robinson. SA Cosby, the only author shortlisted for three Dagger awards, won the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for King Of Ashes, named the year's best thriller. Cosby's Southern Gothic crime epic, inspired by The Godfather, blends family drama, organised crime, revenge, and long-buried secrets. Before his literary breakthrough with Blacktop Wasteland, Cosby worked in construction, retail, and security.
Additional Dagger Categories
Nina Allan received the Historical Dagger for A Granite Silence, a mystery set in 1930s Aberdeen about a young girl's disappearance. Sarah Pinborough won the Twisted Dagger for psychological suspense with her Gothic novel We Live Here Now. Pinborough is known for Behind Her Eyes, adapted into a 2021 Netflix series starring Tom Bateman, Simona Brown, Eve Hewson, and Robert Aramayo.
Mel Pennant won the Whodunnit Dagger for A Murder for Miss Hortense. Antti Tuomainen, Finland's "King of Helsinki Noir," won the Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger for The Winter Job, with translator David Hackston also recognised. The Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction went to Susannah Stapleton for That Dark Spring; Stapleton trained as an archaeologist and worked in museums before becoming a historical researcher. The Short Story Dagger was awarded to Ambrose Parry (joint pen name of Chris Brookmyre and Marisa Haetzman) for The Apple Falls Not Far.
Tim Sullivan received The Dagger in the Library, voted by librarians, for his body of work; he is also a screenwriter for the 2010 film Letters to Juliet. Laura McCluskey won the Creasey First Novel Dagger with The Wolf Tree, and Michael Nikitin took the Emerging Author Dagger for Blind Side of the Sun.
Diamond Dagger and CWA Chair's Remarks
The CWA Diamond Dagger, announced earlier this year, was awarded to Mark Billingham for his contribution to crime writing. Billingham said: "I could not be more thrilled or honoured. To be added to a list that features most of my literary heroes is fantastic." CWA chair Nadine Matheson commented: "It is a genuine pleasure to congratulate every winner of this year’s Daggers. The range and quality on display are a reminder of just how much vitality there is in crime fiction and how it continues to push at its own boundaries, and this year’s winners are leading that charge."
