Tell Me What I Am

"In the UK, the most prestigious thriller prize is probably the Gold Dagger, issued by the Crime Writers Association (CWA), and awarded “for the best crime novel by an author of any nationality, originally written in English and first published in the UK”. The first Gold Dagger was awarded in 1960 for The Night of Wenceslas by Lionel Davidson, one of my favourite thriller writers (the award actually ran from 1955, but was known as the ‘Crossed Red Herring Award’). The 2024 Gold Dagger was awarded to Tell Me What I Am by Una Mannion, another US author, but who is based in Ireland (Her debut novel, A Crooked Tree, was a bestseller in Ireland). “Haunting and beautifully written, this is a story of a young woman navigating the complexities of a traumatic and unknown past,” the judges of the prize wrote about the winning book. “Mannion deftly explores the impact of crime on all those affected, and will leave readers questioning what it means to be family, and how far they might go for someone they love.” This is really an exploration of domestic violence and control, using elements of the thriller genre to move the story forward."