The CWA Dagger in the Library Award

CWA Dagger logo

The CWA Dagger in the Library Award, formerly the Golden Handcuffs, is awarded by the Crime Writers' Association to a living author of crime fiction who has given most pleasure to readers. It was first awarded in 1994.

Unlike most other literary prizes, The CWA Dagger in the Library is awarded not for an individual book but for the author's body of work. Writers are nominated by library users and chosen by a panel of librarians. The CWA Dagger in the Library Award is sponsored by the publishers Random House and the winner receives an ornamental dagger and £1,500.

To find out more about The CWA Dagger in the Library Award, please visit their website at:


From the Library catalogue

The following link will take you directly into the library catalogue. Once in the catalogue you will see a link in the Recommended Reading box to a list of previous winners for this award. If you wish to reserve an item in the catalogue you will need to first log in as a library member using your User ID and PIN.

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Visit the Library Catalogue.