Steel Dagger Award
Ian Fleming Publications Ltd sponsors the Crime Writers’ Association Ian Fleming Steel Dagger; an annual award for the best thriller published in the UK. The winning author is awarded £2000 and also receives a unique ‘steel dagger’, which is handcrafted and inspired by the weapon used by Special Forces during World War II. Ian Fleming said there was one essential criterion for a good thriller – that ‘one simply has to turn the page’.
2012 Winner Announced!
Congratulations to Charles Cumming, author of A Foreign Country which has won this year’s Crime Writers’ Association Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award!
Master of the modern spy thriller’ Mail on Sunday
‘Powerful’ Mirror
‘Refreshing, plausible and effective… not easy to put down’ The Spectator
Amelia Levene, the first female Chief of MI6, has disappeared without a trace, six weeks before she is due to take on the role. Desperate not only to find her, but to keep her disappearance a secret, Britain’s top intelligence agents turn to one of their own: disgraced MI6 officer Thomas Kell. Tossed out of the Service only months before, Kell is given one final chance to redeem himself – find Amelia Levene at any cost. The trail leads Kell to France and Tunisia, where he uncovers a shocking secret and a conspiracy that could have unimaginable repercussions for Britain and her allies. Only Kell stands in the way of personal and political catastrophe.
2012 Judging panel:
Corinne Turner (Chair) manages intellectual property development and is Managing Director of Ian Fleming Publications Ltd.
Fergus Fleming is a writer and Chairman of Ian Fleming Publications Ltd. He is the nephew of Ian Fleming.
John Dugdale is associate media editor of the Guardian.
Robert Laycock is a film maker and great nephew of Ian Fleming.
David Headley is a bookseller and literary agent.
Natasha Cooper is a crime writer and journalist and regularly speaks at crime-writing conferences and on the radio.
