TheCWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger is an annual award given by the BritishCrime Writers' Association for best thriller of the year. The award is sponsored by the estate ofIan 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.
| 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 |
| 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 |