CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger

The CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger is an annual award given by the British Crime Writers' Association for best thriller of the year. The award is sponsored by the estate of Ian Fleming.

It is given to a title that fits the broadest definition of the thriller novel; these can be set in any period and include, but are not limited to, spy fiction and/or action/ adventure stories. Ian Fleming said there was one essential criterion for a good thriller – that “one simply has to turn the pages”; this is one of the main characteristics that the judges will be looking for.

Winners

2000s

Ian Fleming Steel Dagger winners and finalists, 2002-2009^[1]

Year	Author	Title	Result	Ref.
2002	John Creed	The Sirius Crossing	Winner
	Tom Bradby	The Master of Rain	Finalist
	Lee Child	Without Fail	Finalist
	Robert Crais	Hostage	Finalist
	Leif Davidsen	Lime's Photograph	Finalist
	CC Humphreys	The French Executioner	Finalist
	Stephen Leather	Tango One	Finalist
2003	Dan Fesperman	The Small Boat of Great Sorrows	Winner	[2]
	Lee Child	Persuader	Finalist
	R. J. Ellory	Candlemoth	Finalist
	Lucretia Grindle	The Nightspinners	Finalist
	Robert Littell	The Company	Finalist
	Henry Porter	Empire State	Finalist
	Gerald Seymour	Traitor's Kiss	Finalist
2004	Jeffery Deaver	Garden of Beasts	Winner	[3]
	Dan Fesperman	The Warlord's Son	Finalist
	Joseph Finder	Paranoia	Finalist
	Mo Hayder	Tokyo	Finalist
	Stephen Leather	Hard Landing	Finalist
	Adrian McKinty	Dead I Well May Be	Finalist
	Daniel Silva	The Confessor	Finalist
2005	Henry Porter	Brandenburg	Winner
	G. M. Ford	A Blind Eye	Finalist
	Simon Kernick	A Good Day to Die	Finalist
	Adrian Matthews	The Apothecary's House	Finalist
	Kate Mosse	Labyrinth	Finalist
	Joel Ross	Double Cross Blind	Finalist
	Daniel Silva	A Death in Vienna	Finalist
2006	Nick Stone	Mr Clarinet	Winner
	Michael Connelly	The Lincoln Lawyer	Finalist
	Jo-Ann Goodwin	Sweet Gum	Finalist
	Mo Hayder	Pig Island	Finalist
	Daniel Silva	The English Assassin	Finalist
	Martyn Waites	The Mercy Seat	Finalist
	David Wolstencroft	Contact Zero	Finalist
2007	Gillian Flynn	Sharp Objects	Winner
	Alex Berenson	The Faithful Spy	Finalist
	Harlan Coben	The Woods	Finalist
	R. J. Ellory	City of Lies	Finalist
	Michael Marshall	The Intruders	Finalist
	Michael Robotham	The Night Ferry	Finalist
	Karin Slaughter	Triptych	Finalist
2008	Tom Rob Smith	Child 44	Winner	[4]
	Mo Hayder	Ritual	Finalist
	Gregg Hurwitz	I See You	Finalist
	Michael Robotham	Shatter	Finalist
	David Stone	The Echelon Vendetta	Finalist
2009	John Hart	The Last Child	Winner	[5][6]
	Michael Connelly	The Brass Verdict	Finalist
	Gillian Flynn	Dark Places	Finalist
	Charlie Newton	Calumet City	Finalist
	Daniel Silva	Moscow Rules	Finalist
	Olen Steinhauer	The Tourist	Finalist
	Andrew Williams	The Interrogator	Finalist

2010s

Ian Fleming Steel Dagger winners and finalists, 2010-2019^[1]

Year	Author	Title	Result	Ref.
2010	Simon Conway	A Loyal Spy	Winner
	Lee Child	61 Hours	Finalist	[7]
	Mo Hayder	Gone	Finalist	[7]
	Mick Herron	Slow Horses	Finalist	[7]
	Henry Porter	The Dying Light	Finalist	[8][7]
	Scott Turow	Innocent	Finalist	[8][7]
	Don Winslow	The Gentlemen’s Hour	Finalist	[8][7]
2011	Steve Hamilton	The Lock Artist	Winner	[9][10]
	Michael Gruber	The Good Son	Finalist	[11]
	Craig Smith	Cold Rain	Finalist	[11]
	S.J. Watson	Before I Go to Sleep	Finalist	[11][10]
2012	Charles Cumming	A Foreign Country	Winner	[12][13]
	Megan Abbott	Dare Me	Finalist
	Robert Harris	The Fear Index	Finalist
	Neal Stephenson	Reamde	Finalist
2013	Roger Hobbs	Ghostman	Winner	[14]
	Stuart Neville	Ratlines	Finalist	[15][16]
	Mark Oldfield	The Sentinel	Finalist	[15][16]
	Robert Wilson	Capital Punishment	Finalist	[15][16]
2014	Robert Harris	An Officer and a Spy	Winner	[17][18]
	Louise Doughty	Apple Tree Yard	Finalist	[19][18]
	Terry Hayes	I Am Pilgrim	Finalist	[19]
	Greg Iles	Natchez Burning	Finalist	[19]
2015	Karin Slaughter	Cop Town	Winner	[20][21]
	Sam Hawken	Missing	Finalist	[22]
	Paula Hawkins	The Girl on the Train	Finalist	[22]
	Mick Herron	Nobody Walks	Finalist	[22]
	Patrick Hoffman	The White Van	Finalist	[22]
	Malcolm Mackay	The Night the Rich Men Burned	Finalist	[22]
	Peter Swanson	The Kind Worth Killing	Finalist	[22]
2016	Don Winslow	The Cartel	Winner	[23]
	Lee Child	Make Me	Finalist	[24]
	Mick Herron	Real Tigers	Finalist	[24]
	Adrian McKinty	Rain Dogs	Finalist	[24]
	Daniel Silva	The English Spy	Finalist	[24]
2017	Mick Herron	Spook Street	Winner
	Megan Abbott	You Will Know Me	Finalist
	J S Carol	The Killing Game	Finalist
	Jules Grant	We Go Around in the Night and Are Consumed by Fire	Finalist
	John Hart	Redemption Road	Finalist
	William Ryan	The Constant Soldier	Finalist
2018	Attica Locke	Bluebird, Bluebird	Winner
	Mick Herron	London Rules	Finalist	[25]
	Emily Koch	If I Die Before I Wake	Finalist	[25]
	Colette McBeth	An Act of Silence	Finalist	[25]
	C.J. Tudor	The Chalk Man	Finalist	[25]
	Don Winslow	The Force	Finalist	[26][25]
2019	Holly Watt	To The Lions	Winner
	Megan Abbott	Give Me Your Hand	Finalist	[27]
	Dan Fesperman	Safe Houses	Finalist
	Luke Jennings	Killing Eve, No Tomorrow	Finalist
	Stephen Mack Jones	Lives Laid Away	Finalist
	Tim Willocks	Memo From Turner	Finalist

2020s

Ian Fleming Steel Dagger winners and finalists, 2020-present^[1]

Year	Author	Title	Result	Ref.
2020	Lou Berney	November Road	Winner	[28][29]
	Tom Chatfield	This is Gomorrah	Finalist	[30][31][32]
	A. A. Dhand	One Way Out	Finalist	[30][31]
	Eva Dolan	Between Two Evils	Finalist	[30][31]
	David Koepp	Cold Storage	Finalist	[30][31]
	Alex North	The Whisper Man	Finalist	[30][31][33]
2021	Michael Robotham	When She Was Good	Winner	[34][35][36]
	Robert Galbraith	Troubled Blood	Finalist	[37][38][36]
	Catherine Ryan Howard	The Nothing Man	Finalist	[37][38][36]
	Stuart Turton	The Devil and the Dark Water	Finalist	[37][38][36]
	Ruth Ware	One by One	Finalist	[37][38][36]
	Chris Whitaker	We Begin at the End	Finalist	[37][38][36]
2022	M. W. Craven	Dead Ground	Winner	[39]
	Linwood Barclay	Find You First	Finalist	[40][41]
	Sharon Bolton	The Pact	Finalist	[40][41]
	Steve Cavanagh	The Devil's Advocate	Finalist	[40][41]
	S. A. Cosby	Razorblade Tears	Finalist	[40][41]
	Laura Lippman	Dream Girl	Finalist	[40][41]
2023	John Brownlow	Agent Seventeen	Winner	[42]
	Linwood Barclay	Take Your Breath Away	Finalist	[43]
	M. W. Craven	The Botanist	Finalist
	Robert Galbraith	The Ink Black Heart	Finalist
	Ava Glass	The Chase	Finalist
	Alan Parks	May God Forgive	Finalist
2024	Jordan Harper	Everybody Knows	Winner	[44]
	S. A. Cosby	All the Sinners Bleed	Finalist	[45]
	Eli Cranor	Ozark Dogs	Finalist
	Kōtarō Isaka	The Mantis	Finalist
	Femi Kayode	Gas Light	Finalist
	T. J. Newman	Drowning	Finalist