gervase_fen | Daggerology III

So here are the shortlists, courtesy of the ITV3 tie-in site:

Gold:
This Dark Road to Mercy by Wiley Cash
Keep your Friends Close by Paula Daly
The First Rule of Survival by Paul Mendelson
How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny

Steel (Thriller) :
Apple Tree Yard by Louise Doughty
An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris
I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes
Natchez Burning by Greg Iles

John Creasey (New Blood):
The Strangler Vine by M J Carter
The Axeman's Jazz by Ray Celestin
The Devil in the Marshalsea by Antonia Hodgson
The Silent Wife by ASA Harrison

Notes :
Natchez Burning has 864 pages, so I'd better start that one sooner rather than later.
Robert Harris is the only nominee who will be at the ceremony in another capacity, being inducted into the 'International Crime Writing Hall of Fame'
A third of the finalists could have qualified for the Historical Dagger
Terry Hayes and Paul Mendelson were also entered by their publishers in the New Blood category, so six of the twelve finalists are debutantes, and two (Wiley Cash and Paula Daly) have nominations for their sophomore efforts.

Ruminations:
Sorry to say goodbye to The Verdict, because unless there's an upturn in the remaining two thirds of the nominee that I am reading at the moment then I'd say it should still be in the running. I stalled on The Devil in Marshalsea, so will pick that one up again further down the line. I've also 'bounced off' (to borrow