Clay Stafford of the Killer Nashville International Writers' Conference announced this year's Silver Falchion and Claymore Award Finalists. The Silver Falchion Award is given for the Best Book in each category for the previous year (2025). The Claymore Award is given to a diverse collection of the top unpublished manuscripts submitted in 2026. The winners in each category will be announced at the annual Killer Nashville Awards Dinner taking place on August 22nd at the Embassy Suites Nashville South/Cool Springs Hotel in Franklin, TN.
Best Action/Adventure
The Veiled Mosaic / Christopher Boswell
Cleopatra's Tomb / Mark Bruce
Free Economic Zone / J Reid Graham
Dynamite / James Hamilton
The Peacock Throne / Shaun Singh
The Lost Patrol of Black Virgin Mountain / Rick St John
Best Children's
Leo and the Chess Game of Ashoka / Jaya Agrawl
The Locker of Legends / Nate Searle
Best Comedy (includes comedic P.I. and crime caper)
The Yellow Willie Incident / Kathleen Kaska
How to Keep a Secret in Alabama / Beth Hamer Miles
Stuck in Stowe / Matthew Minson
Best Cozy
A Truth Most Inconvenient / Elizabeth Abram
Reel Danger in the Dunes / Maggie Cleland
The Doll's House / Lucinda Gerlitz
Steeped in Gossip / Cathey Rhamy
Alaskan Falls / Lori Sandrock
A Venetian Moonlight Murder / Jacquie Wilvers
Best Historical
A Proof Against Ghosts / SR Chamberlain
Hollow Whispers of the Wind / Florence Chien
Hero Traitor Spy / Mark Clemens
The Hidebehind: A Folk Hymnal / John Essex
Winterburn / DJ Mattos
The White Diamond / Howard Sewell
Best Investigator (includes procedural, serious P.I., detective, and noir)
In Plain Sight / Jacquelyn Dohoney
Hunting the Archer / John Foley
Victim’s Voice / Henry James Kaye
Reflections in the Mist / Avram Lavinsky
Centaur Standing / Clare Monteschio
Return to Newstead Hills / CJ Prince
Best Juvenile / Y.A.
The Ravenspur Mystery / Judy Broad
Cinch / Mary Lynn Cloghesy
Mr. Larson's Tooth / Stephanie Duquette
Three Against Time / Alan Elliot
An Evil on Stanton Street / Janelle Gabay
Early Decision / A.L. Phillips
Best Literary
Ghost of Bosnia / Micheal Blankenship
It's Always the Boyfriend / CJ Howell
The Unbroken Trail / Robert Jones
Boys of Autumn / Robert Jones
This Land Remembers / B Michael Whitis
Sacred Ghosts / Carol Potenza
Best Mainstream / Commercial
Checkpoint / GK Daffu
The Yeoman of Humboldt County / Brian Heit
Collinwood / Phil Kushner
Hope House/ M Leigh
The Colony / Maria Lynn Barrs
The Lights of Kirrie / Jennifer Rewick
Best Mystery
Exit, Wound / Mark Dillman
The Mystery of the Wolf / David Goodlett
Answers Will Come / Henry James Kaye
All the Buried Secrets / Kim Nuesse
The Holiday Slayer / Janet Shawgo
The End of Us / Elissa Thompson
Best Nonfiction
Rebelle / Wendy Cooper
Count Time / Emmett Tatter
Best Sci-Fi / Fantasy
Origins of the Zodiac: Year of the Dragon / Rebecca Camillo-Amisano
What We Awaken / Peregrine Finn
When the Clock Strikes / Lydia Gullicksen
The Consciousness of Life and Death / WB Henley
The Watcher / Lynn Jerdal
The Castello Della Mente / John Morrison
Best Short Story Collection / Anthology (awarded to individual author or collection editor)
Ten Terrific, Terrifying, and Tantalizing Tales of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, and Action / John Bias
Invincible Summer / Andrew Dunn
A Feel for Other People / S Foster Jones
Ain’t Nothin’ Finer- Tales of Appalachia / Venita Lynn Bonds
Between Breath and Bone / Patricia Thorpe
Best Southern Gothic
The Silence We Inherit / Leigh Bravo
Mississippi Gothic / Elise Burke Brown
A Miracle Past Midnight / Aimee Hardy
The Book Conservator / Shelley Marsh
God Don't Live Here Anymore / Patricia Thorpe
Best Supernatural
Blood on the Ground / Stephanie Duquette
Hearts and Minds / Kat Horowitz
Moon Child / Sable Pena
Dark Noise / Christopher Allan Poe
Daughters of the Last Breath / Patricia Thorpe
The Wayfarer / Whitney Weldon
Best Suspense
Fuck, Marry, Kill / LB Blackburne
Colossus Descending / Steven Brody
Needle of Deception / Denise Jendusa
Queenwood / Meredith Pate
The Eleventh Child / Chas Shutt
Aftermath / Deana Willis
Best Thriller
Fifteen Hours to Redondo / Michael Collins
Blood Cache / Jim Doramus
Blood Cache / Kevin Kuhans
Richmond Rising / Stephen Nathanson
The Whisper Book / Jack Sharman
Ties that Bind / Charles A. Stewart
Best True Crime
The Gravity of Millions / NR Gibson
Down at the Balinese / Matthew Minson
Erased: The Sinister Plot behind the Disappearance of Charles Wilding / Mark O'Donnell
Best Western
A Cowboy in Black and Gold / Matthew Gallagher
Windfall / Rebecca Jarnes
Best Action/Adventure
The Veiled Mosaic / Christopher Boswell
Cleopatra's Tomb / Mark Bruce
Free Economic Zone / J Reid Graham
Dynamite / James Hamilton
The Peacock Throne / Shaun Singh
The Lost Patrol of Black Virgin Mountain / Rick St John
Best Children's
Leo and the Chess Game of Ashoka / Jaya Agrawl
The Locker of Legends / Nate Searle
Best Comedy (includes comedic P.I. and crime caper)
The Yellow Willie Incident / Kathleen Kaska
How to Keep a Secret in Alabama / Beth Hamer Miles
Stuck in Stowe / Matthew Minson
Best Cozy
A Truth Most Inconvenient / Elizabeth Abram
Reel Danger in the Dunes / Maggie Cleland
The Doll's House / Lucinda Gerlitz
Steeped in Gossip / Cathey Rhamy
Alaskan Falls / Lori Sandrock
A Venetian Moonlight Murder / Jacquie Wilvers
Best Historical
A Proof Against Ghosts / SR Chamberlain
Hollow Whispers of the Wind / Florence Chien
Hero Traitor Spy / Mark Clemens
The Hidebehind: A Folk Hymnal / John Essex
Winterburn / DJ Mattos
The White Diamond / Howard Sewell
Best Investigator (includes procedural, serious P.I., detective, and noir)
In Plain Sight / Jacquelyn Dohoney
Hunting the Archer / John Foley
Victim’s Voice / Henry James Kaye
Reflections in the Mist / Avram Lavinsky
Centaur Standing / Clare Monteschio
Return to Newstead Hills / CJ Prince
Best Juvenile / Y.A.
The Ravenspur Mystery / Judy Broad
Cinch / Mary Lynn Cloghesy
Mr. Larson's Tooth / Stephanie Duquette
Three Against Time / Alan Elliot
An Evil on Stanton Street / Janelle Gabay
Early Decision / A.L. Phillips
Best Literary
Ghost of Bosnia / Micheal Blankenship
It's Always the Boyfriend / CJ Howell
The Unbroken Trail / Robert Jones
Boys of Autumn / Robert Jones
This Land Remembers / B Michael Whitis
Sacred Ghosts / Carol Potenza
Best Mainstream / Commercial
Checkpoint / GK Daffu
The Yeoman of Humboldt County / Brian Heit
Collinwood / Phil Kushner
Hope House/ M Leigh
The Colony / Maria Lynn Barrs
The Lights of Kirrie / Jennifer Rewick
Best Mystery
Exit, Wound / Mark Dillman
The Mystery of the Wolf / David Goodlett
Answers Will Come / Henry James Kaye
All the Buried Secrets / Kim Nuesse
The Holiday Slayer / Janet Shawgo
The End of Us / Elissa Thompson
Best Nonfiction
Rebelle / Wendy Cooper
Count Time / Emmett Tatter
Best Sci-Fi / Fantasy
Origins of the Zodiac: Year of the Dragon / Rebecca Camillo-Amisano
What We Awaken / Peregrine Finn
When the Clock Strikes / Lydia Gullicksen
The Consciousness of Life and Death / WB Henley
The Watcher / Lynn Jerdal
The Castello Della Mente / John Morrison
Best Short Story Collection / Anthology (awarded to individual author or collection editor)
Ten Terrific, Terrifying, and Tantalizing Tales of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, and Action / John Bias
Invincible Summer / Andrew Dunn
A Feel for Other People / S Foster Jones
Ain’t Nothin’ Finer- Tales of Appalachia / Venita Lynn Bonds
Between Breath and Bone / Patricia Thorpe
Best Southern Gothic
The Silence We Inherit / Leigh Bravo
Mississippi Gothic / Elise Burke Brown
A Miracle Past Midnight / Aimee Hardy
The Book Conservator / Shelley Marsh
God Don't Live Here Anymore / Patricia Thorpe
Best Supernatural
Blood on the Ground / Stephanie Duquette
Hearts and Minds / Kat Horowitz
Moon Child / Sable Pena
Dark Noise / Christopher Allan Poe
Daughters of the Last Breath / Patricia Thorpe
The Wayfarer / Whitney Weldon
Best Suspense
Fuck, Marry, Kill / LB Blackburne
Colossus Descending / Steven Brody
Needle of Deception / Denise Jendusa
Queenwood / Meredith Pate
The Eleventh Child / Chas Shutt
Aftermath / Deana Willis
Best Thriller
Fifteen Hours to Redondo / Michael Collins
Blood Cache / Jim Doramus
Blood Cache / Kevin Kuhans
Richmond Rising / Stephen Nathanson
The Whisper Book / Jack Sharman
Ties that Bind / Charles A. Stewart
Best True Crime
The Gravity of Millions / NR Gibson
Down at the Balinese / Matthew Minson
Erased: The Sinister Plot behind the Disappearance of Charles Wilding / Mark O'Donnell
Best Western
A Cowboy in Black and Gold / Matthew Gallagher
Windfall / Rebecca Jarnes
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