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The 2026 CWA Dagger Winners
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Posted on 3 July, 2026
‘There is only one recipe for a best-seller and it is a very simple one. You have to get the reader to turn over the page.’
Ian Fleming
Ian Fleming Publications are proud to sponsor the Crime Writer’s Association’s Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award, an annual literary prize for the best thriller published in the UK. Eligible books in this category are thrillers set in any period and include, but are not limited to, spy fiction, noir thrillers and action-adventure stories. Past winners include Gillian Flynn, Mick Herron, Robert Harris and Karin Slaughter.
The winners of the 2026 Daggers were announced last night at the CWA Daggers Awards Dinner, with King of Ashes by S. A. Cosby taking the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award. The judges commented:
‘Guilt, sacrifice and family secrets collide in this immersive blend of American Dream drama and Shakespearean tragedy. Cosby’s vivid prose, intricate plotting and commitment to emotional and moral complexity give the novel distinct power.’
Our congratulations go out to all of the winners.
King of Ashes by S. A. Cosby
Roman Carruthers left the smoke and fire of his family’s crematory business behind in his hometown of Jefferson Run, Virginia. He is enjoying a life of shallow excess as a financial adviser in Atlanta until he gets a call from his sister, Neveah, telling him their father is in a coma after a hit-and-run accident.
When Roman goes home, he learns the accident may not be what it seems. His brother, Dante, is deeply in debt to dangerous, ruthless criminals. And Roman is willing to do anything to protect his family. Anything.
A financial whiz with a head for numbers and a talent for making his clients rich, Roman must use all his skills to try to save his family while dealing with a shadow that has haunted them all for twenty years: the disappearance of their mother when Roman and his siblings were teenagers. It’s a mystery that Neveah, who has sacrificed so much of her life to hold her family together, is determined to solve once and for all.
As fate and chance and heartache ignite their lives, the Carruthers family must pull together to survive or see their lives turn to ash. Because, as their father counseled them from birth, nothing lasts forever. Everything burns.
S. A. Cosby is a New York Times bestselling writer from southeastern Virginia. He is the author of All the Sinners Bleed, which was on more than forty Best of the Year lists, including Barack Obama’s, as well as Edgar Award finalist Razorblade Tears and Los Angeles Times Book Prize winner Blacktop Wasteland. He has also won the Anthony Award, ITW Thriller Award, Barry Award, Macavity Award, BCALA Award, and Audie Award and has been longlisted for the ALA Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence.
Find the winners, shortlists and longlists for all of the Daggers here, and learn about the previous shortlists and winners of the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger here. Information about the entry process for the awards is available here.