Tuesday, January 20, 2026

2026 Edgar Allan Poe Award Nominations: Mystery Writers of America


Mystery Writers of America announced the 2026 Edgar Allan Poe Award Nominations
The 80th Annual Edgar® Awards will be celebrated on April 29, 2026, at the Marriott Marquis Times Square Hotel. 

BEST NOVEL 
The Big Empty by Robert Crais (Penguin Random House – G.P. Putnam’s Sons) 
Fagin the Thief by Allison Epstein (Penguin Random House – Doubleday) 
The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami (Penguin Random House – Pantheon Books) 
Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy (Macmillan Publishers – Flatiron Books) 
Hard Town by Adam Plantinga (Hachette Book Group – Grand Central Publishing) 
The Inheritance by Trisha Sakhlecha (Penguin Random House – Pamela Dorman Books) 
Presumed Guilty by Scott Turow (Hachette Book Group – Grand Central Publishing) 

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR 
Killer Potential by Hannah Deitch (HarperCollins – William Morrow) 
All the Other Mothers Hate Me by Sarah Harman (Penguin Random House – G.P. Putnam’s Sons) 
Dead Money by Jakob Kerr (Penguin Random House – Bantam Books) 
Johnny Careless by Kevin Wade (Macmillan Publishers – Celadon Books) 
History Lessons by Zoe B. Wallbrook (Soho Press – Soho Crime) 

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL 
Listen by Sacha Bronwasser (Penguin Random House – Penguin Books) 
The Sideways Life of Denny Voss by Holly Kennedy (Amazon Publishing – Lake Union) 
Broke Road by Matthew Spencer (Amazon Publishing – Thomas & Mercer) 
The Backwater by Vikki Wakefield (Sourcebooks – Poisoned Pen Press) 
One Death at a Time by Abbi Waxman (Penguin Random House – Berkley) 

BEST FACT CRIME 
They Poisoned the World: Life and Death in the Age of Forever Chemicals by Mariah Blake (Penguin Random House – Crown) 
Blood and the Badge: The Mafia, Two Killer Cops, and a Scandal That Shocked the Nation by Michael Cannell (Macmillan Publishers – Minotaur Books) 
Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers by Caroline Fraser (Penguin Random House – Penguin Press) 
Out of the Woods: A Girl, a Killer, and a Lifelong Struggle to Find the Way Home by Gregg Olsen (Amazon Publishing – Thomas & Mercer) 
Story of a Murder: The Wives, the Mistress, and Dr. Crippen by Hallie Rubenhold (Penguin Random House – Dutton) 

BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL 
V is for Venom: Agatha Christie’s Chemicals of Death by Kathryn Harkup (Bloomsbury – Sigma) 
The Kingdom of Cain: Finding God in the Literature of Darkness by Andrew Klavan (HarperCollins Christian Publishing – Zondervan) 
Edgar Allan Poe: A Life by Richard Kopley (University of Virginia Press) 
Cooler Than Cool: The Life and Work of Elmore Leonard by C.M. Kushins (HarperCollins Publishers – Mariner Books) 
Criss-Cross: The Making of Hitchcock’s Dazzling, Subversive Masterpiece Strangers on a Train by Stephen Rebello (Hachette Book Group – Running Press) 

 BEST SHORT STORY 
 “Reading at Night,” The Strand Magazine by Graham Greene (The Strand Magazine) 
“The One That Got Away,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine – January-February 2025 by Charlaine Harris (Must Read Books Publishing) 
“Orphan X: A Mysterious Profile,” by Gregg Hurwitz (Penzler Publishers – Mysterious Press) 
“Lucky Heart,” Blood on the Bayou – Case Closed by Tim Maleeny (Down & Out Books) 
“The Kill Clause,” Amazon Original Stories by Lisa Unger (Amazon Publishing) 
“Julius Katz Draws a Straight Flush,” Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine – September-October 2025 by Dave Zeltserman (Must Read Books Publishing) 

BEST JUVENILE 
Montgomery Bonbon: Murder at the Museum by Alasdair Beckett-King (Candlewick Press) 
What Happened Then by Erin Soderberg Downing (Scholastic Press) 
A Study in Secrets by Debbi Michiko Florence (Simon & Schuster – Aladdin) 
Blood in the Water by Tiffany D. Jackson (Scholastic Press) 
The Midwatch Institute for Wayward Girls by Judith Rossell (Penguin Young Readers – Dial) 
Mystery James Digs Her Own Grave by Ally Russell (Random House Children’s Books – Delacorte Press) 

BEST YOUNG ADULT 
Under the Same Stars by Libba Bray (Macmillan Publishers – Farrar, Straus and Giroux BFYR) 
Catch Your Death by Ravena Guron (Sourcebooks – Sourcebooks Fire) 
This is Where We Die by Cindy R.X. He (Sourcebooks – Sourcebooks Fire) 
The Scammer by Tiffany D. Jackson (HarperCollins Children’s Books – Quill Tree Books) 
Codebreaker by Jay Martel (St. Martin’s Publishing Group – Wednesday Books) 

 BEST TELEVISION EPISODE TELEPLAY 
 “End of the Line” – Ballard, Written by Michael Alaimo & Kendall Sherwood (Amazon/Fabel) 
“Pilot” – Paradise, Written by Dan Fogelman (Hulu) 
“Episode 101” – The Lowdown, Written by Sterlin Harjo (FX on Hulu) 
“These Girls” – Long Bright River, Written by Nikki Toscano & Liz Moore (Peacock) 
“Ye’iitsoh (Big Monster)” – Dark Winds, Written by John Wirth & Steven Paul Judd (AMC) 

 * * * * * * 
OTHER AWARDS 

 ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD – Endowed by the family of Robert L. Fish. 
 “A Textbook Example,” Sacramento Noir by Luis Avalos (Akashic Books) 
“How It Happened,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, July-August 2025 by Billie Kay Fern (Must Read Books Publishing) 
“Baggage,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, January-February 2025 by Rick Marcou (Must Read Books Publishing) 
“Bloodsurf,” Hollywood Kills by Tiffany D. Plunkett (Level Best Books – Level Short) 
“Grand Theft Auto in the Heart of Screenland,” Hollywood Kills by Robert Rotstein (Level Best Books – Level Short) 

THE SIMON & SCHUSTER MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD – Presented on behalf of Simon & Schuster. 
Five Found Dead by Sulari Gentill (Sourcebooks – Poisoned Pen Press) 
Savvy Summers and the Sweet Potato Crimes by Sandra Jackson-Opoku (Macmillan Publishers – Minotaur Books) 
No Comfort for the Dead by R.P. O’Donnell (Crooked Lane Books) 
All This Could Be Yours by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Macmillan Publishers – Minotaur Books) 
Last Dance Before Dawn by Katharine Schellman (Macmillan Publishers – Minotaur Books) 

THE G.P. PUTNAM’S SONS SUE GRAFTON MEMORIAL AWARD – Presented on behalf of G.P. Putnam’s Sons. 
Cold as Hell by Kelley Armstrong (Macmillan Publishers – Minotaur Books) 
Rage: A Novel by Linda Castillo (Macmillan Publishers – Minotaur Books) 
Fallen Star by Lee Goldberg (Amazon Publishing – Thomas & Mercer) 
The Red Letter by Daniel G. Miller (Sourcebooks – Poisoned Pen Press) Gone in the Night by Joanna Schaffhausen (Macmillan Publishers – Minotaur Books) 

THE LILIAN JACKSON BRAUN MEMORIAL AWARD – Endowed by the estate of Lilian Jackson Braun. 
Mrs. Christie at the Mystery Guild Library by Amandah Chapman (Penguin Random House – Berkley) 
A Senior Citizen’s Guide to Life on the Run by Gwen Florio (Severn House) 
The Marigold Cottages Murder Collective by Jo Nichols (Macmillan Publishers – Minotaur Books) Murder Two Doors Down by Chuck Storla (Crooked Lane Books) 
Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping (On a Dead Man) by Jesse Q. Sutanto (Penguin Random House – Berkley)

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