Title: Daggers Drawn
Author: Various [edited by Maxim Jakubowski]
Publisher: Titan Books
Synopsis:
NINETEEN CWA DAGGER AWARD-WINNING SHORT STORIES FROM THE BEST OF THE BEST IN CRIME FICTION
The first retrospective of the CWA’s Dagger Award winners, brings together some of the greatest names in crime fiction to deliver a cutthroat collection of serial killers, grizzled detectives, drug dealers and master forgers.
Observe as a Senior Curator at the Tate Gallery constructs the perfect crime in Ian Rankin’s “Herbert in Motion”. Watch an unlikely romance sour into a deadly obsession in Stella Duffy’s “Martha Grace”. Face parents who discover their child has committed the unthinkable in Denise Mina’s “Nemo Me Impune Lacessit”. And in Jeffery Deaver’s “The Weekender” an intense hostage situation hits its peak in the most unlikely conclusion.
Keep your secrets close, and your daggers drawn.
My review:
Daggers Drawn is a great collection of crime/thriller true stories with enough variety and twists to keep things very interesting! There are stories about thefts gone wrong, a novice trying to ‘get into’ the art of serial killing, art forgeries and book binders using very creepy materials…
I don’t want to give too much away about the stories themselves but I really enjoyed this skilful mix of shorts, all of which have won the prestigious Crime Writer’s Association awards including the Short Story Dagger award. Maxim Jakubowski has done a great job of compiling these stories and they flow well from one to the other. They’re always surprising and often quite creepy too, with some leaving me feeling particularly unsettled! They all have an element of surprise to them too.
I’d definitely recommend this great collection for anyone who is a crime fiction fan – whether they traditionally read shorts or not, I’m sure they’d enjoy this intriguing array of stories!
Rating: 4/5
Many thanks to the publisher, Titan Books, for providing a copy of this novel on which I chose to write an honest and unbiased review.