NINETEEN CWA DAGGER AWARD-WINNING SHORT STORIES FROM THE BEST OF THE BEST IN CRIME FICTION Maxim Jakubowski has edited all the great names in crime fiction and stories from his anthologies have won the CWA Dagger six times. Now he has collected 19 Dagger award-winning stories in one volume, making it the first retrospective deep dive into the CWA's archive of Dagger Award winners. Bringing together the greatest crime fictions authors such as Ian Rankin, Jeffery Deaver, John Connolly, Denise Mina, John Harvey and many more. Edgy, twisted and disturbing, Daggers Drawn is a visceral and thrilling collection showcasing the very best modern crime fiction has to offer. Contributors include: Ian Rankin Jeffery Deaver John Connolly John Harvey Denise Mina Julian Rathbone Martin Edwards Peter Lovesey Lauren Henderson Stella Duffy Peter O'Donnell (writing as Madeleine Brent) Danuta Reah Cath Staincliffe Margaret Murphy L.C. Tyler Phil Lovesey Larry Beinhart Richard Lange Jerry Sykes

For its British population, the India that swelters in the late spring of 1857 is a place of amateur theatricals, horseracing and flirtations under the aegis of the omnipotent East India company. But a brutal awakening lies in store for the complacent British: one May night, after thirty years of abuse, the East India Company's native soldiers rise up against their British officers. Thus begins the most savage episode in our imperial history. Caught up in the violence is pretty Sophie Hardcastle, a young wife and mother newly arrived from England. As she searches for her infant son, missing in the chaos, Sophie finds herself bearing witness to atrocities on both sides. Moving, sombre and thrilling, Rathbone's tale is told on a grand scale, ranging from the Cannings in Government House to the heroism of the humblest soldiers and peasants. It is as exhilarating as any Victorian adventure story, and yet, with its unflinching examination of religious fanaticism and the horrors of war, THE MUTINY also carries a powerful message for the modern world.

On the Sussex Downs in 1066, the psychotic William and his gang of European mercenaries began the process which fragmented a civilisation. Walt, the last of King Harold's bodyguard, the one who survived Hastings, wanders across Asia Minor in the company of Quint, an intellectual renegade monk. On the way he unfolds the events that led up to the battle which affected the destinies of every English man and woman. With rare skill, Rathbone vividly recreates a civilisation that stubbornly remains alive in the collective memory to this day, and so identifies the roots of the still-held belief that every English person is born free and should stay free. Tender romance, savage war, courtly intrigue and some wry humour combine to make THE LAST ENGLISH KING an exhilarating roller-coaster ride into our past.