JOHAN THEORIN has won the 2009 CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger for his debut novel Echoes from the Dead. The award was presented at The Specsavers Crime and Thriller Awards 2009, a prestigious event hosted by comedian Alan Davies at London s Grosvenor House Hotel.

The CWA Dagger Awards are the longest established literary awards in the UK and are internationally recognised as a mark of excellence and achievement. The judges said: This year s shortlisted books all had one thing in common very strongly drawn characters, both major and minor. It was good to see novels which avoided clichéd stereotypes. Settings also were unusually interesting and integral to strong plots. .

Johan Theorin said: Britain is home to most of the greatest mystery writers in the world, from Conan Doyle, Christie and Creasey and up to all the fine writers who are still alive and active today – and as a Swede I couldn t dream of competing with them. But to my big surprise and honour, I guess I have.

Echoes from the Dead is Johan s first novel, his second novel the Darkest Room was published by Transworld in July. Two more novels will be set on the remote island of Oland, the back drop for all of Johan s books. A journalist by profession, Johan lives in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Congratulations to Johan Theorin! He was presented with his Dagger by Martine McCutcheon and I’ve just posted a photo of the pair of them to the CWA web site, together with more information.

Posted on October 23rd, 2009 at 5:13 pm by Roger Cornwell