The CWA Gold Dagger
Subcategory of Crime Writers' Association (UK)
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Latest Winners / Recipients

Year: 2020

winner y separately published work icon Good Girl, Bad Girl Michael Robotham , Sydney : Hachette Australia , 2019 16870604 2019 single work novel thriller

'The girl with no past.

'Six years ago, Evie Cormac was discovered, filthy and half-starved, hiding in a secret room in the aftermath of a shocking crime. Now approaching adulthood, Evie is damaged, self-destructive and has never revealed her true identity.

'The boy who survived.

'Forensic psychologist Cyrus Haven, a man haunted by his own past, is investigating the death of champion figure-skater Jodie Sheehan. When Cyrus is called upon to assess Evie, she threatens to disrupt the case and destroy his ordered life.

'Because Evie has a unique and dangerous gift - she knows when someone is lying. And nobody is telling the truth.

'Good Girl, Bad Girl is an unnerving psychological thriller from one of the greatest crime writers of today, Michael Robotham, bestselling author of The Other Wife and The Secrets She Keeps.'  (Publication summary)

Year: 2017

winner y separately published work icon The Dry Jane Harper , Sydney : Macmillan Australia , 2016 9592721 2016 single work novel detective

'WHO REALLY KILLED THE HADLER FAMILY?

'Luke Hadler turns a gun on his wife and child, then himself. The farming community of Kiewarra is facing life and death choices daily. If one of their own broke under the strain, well ...

'When Federal Police investigator Aaron Falk returns to Kiewarra for the funerals, he is loath to confront the people who rejected him twenty years earlier. But when his investigative skills are called on, the facts of the Hadler case start to make him doubt this murder-suicide charge.

'And as Falk probes deeper into the killings, old wounds are reopened. For Falk and his childhood friend Luke shared a secret ... A secret Falk thought long-buried ... A secret which Luke's death starts to bring to the surface ...' (Publication summary)

Year: 2015

winner y separately published work icon Life or Death Michael Robotham , Sydney : Hachette Australia , 2014 7290630 2014 single work novel crime

'Why would a man escape from prison the day before he's due to be released? Audie Palmer has spent a decade in prison for an armed robbery in which four people died, including two of his gang. Five million dollars has never been recovered and everybody believes that Audie knows where the money is. For ten years he has been beaten, stabbed, throttled and threatened almost daily by fellow inmates and prison guards, who all want to answer this same question, but suddenly Audie vanishes, the day before he's due to be released. Everybody wants to find Audie, but he's not running. Instead he's trying to save a life ...and not just his own.' (Publication summary)

Year: 1986

winner (Non-fiction) y separately published work icon Evil Angels John Bryson , Ringwood : Viking , 1985 Z809307 1985 single work non-fiction (taught in 1 units)

Non-fiction account of the prosecution of Michael and Lindy Chamberlain for the alleged murder of their daughter Azaria at Uluru in 1980.

Works About this Award

Under Cover Susan Wyndham , 2016 single work column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 7-8 May 2016; (p. 27)
Michael Robotham Beats Stephen King to Top Plaudit Writer's Crime Fiction Win Jason Steger , 2015 single work
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 1 October 2015; (p. 11) The Age , 1 October 2015; (p. 9)
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