FINGERPRINT AWARD WINNERS 2026

The Capital Crime Festival  (London, UK) announced the winners of its annual Fingerprint Awards, which champion the very best in crime writing from the past year across the globe, as voted for by readers. The shortlists were selected by the festival’s board members from a longlist curated by the Tastemakers Committee, a panel of leading independent bloggers and reviewers, who championed their standout titles across each category. 

 
Audiobook of the Year

• Don’t Let Him In by Lisa Jewell 

True Crime Book of the Year

• Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abue and Fighting for Justice by Virginia Roberts-Guiffre 

Debut Crime Book

• Deadline by  Steph McGovern 
  

Genre-Busting Book

• Kill Them with Kindness by Will Carver 

Historical Crime Book of the Year

• Burning Grounds by Abir Mukherjee

Thriller Book of the Year

• Don't Let Him In by Lisa Jewell.   

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• Overall Crime Book of the Year

• The Final Vow by M W Craven

Go here for the Shortlists

FINGERPRINT AWARDS SHORTLISTS: Capital Crime Festival

The Capital Crime Festival  (London, UK) announced the shortlists for its annual Fingerprint Awards, which champion the very best in crime writing from the past year across the globe, as voted for by readers. The shortlists were selected by the festival’s board members from a longlist curated by the Tastemakers Committee, a panel of leading independent bloggers and reviewers, who championed their standout titles across each category. 

Readers can now vote for their preferred winners in each category on the Capital Crime website through Saturday, May 30th. The winners will be revealed at the Fingerprint Awards on the evening of Thursday, June 18th as part of the Capital Crime event in London at the Royal Leonardo Hotel. Congrats to this year's finalists!

 
Audiobook of the Year

• Don’t Let Him In by Lisa Jewell 

• King of Ashes by  S A Cosby

• We Live Here Now by Sarah Pinborough 

• Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney

• Artificial Wisdom by Thomas R. Weaver

True Crime Book of the Year

• Story of a Murder by Hallie Rubenhold 

• Nobody’s Girl by Virginia Roberts-Guiffre 

• Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers by Caroline Fraser 

• A History of Modern Britain in Twenty Murders by Prof. David Wilson 

• A Flower Travelled in My Blood by Haley Cohen Gilliland  

Debut Crime Book

• Broken by Jón Atli Jónasson

• Deadline by  Steph McGovern 

• Death at the White Hart by Chris Chibnall

• The Day of the Roaring by Nina Bhadreshwar

• This is Not A Game by Kelly Mullen

Genre-Busting Book

• Kill Them with Kindness by Will Carver 

• Little Red Death by A. K. Benedict Book

• Blood Like Ours by Stuart Neville

• Small Fires by Ronnie Turner

• Manhattan Down by Michael Cordy  

Historical Crime Book of the Year

• The Art of A Lie by Laura Shepherd-Robinson 

• The Rush by Beth Lewis 

• Dangerous by Essie Fox

• Burning Grounds by Abir Mukherjee

• Marble Hall Murders by Anthony Horowitz 

Thriller Book of the Year

• The Chemist by A A Dhand

• Don’t Let Him In by Lisa Jewell 

• Human Remains by Jo Callaghan 

• The Man Made of Smoke by Alex North

• Some of Us Are Liars by Fiona Cummins

Overall Crime Book of the Year

• The Midnight King by Tariq Ashkanani

• The Final Vow by M W Craven

• Quantum of Menace by Vaseem Khan

• The Good Father by Liam McIlveney

• We Live Here Now by Sarah Pinborough

Fingerprint Award Shortlists: Capital Crime Festival

London’s Capital Crime Festival announced the Shortlists for the Fingerprint Awards. Here are two categories of interest to mystery readers.

Overall Best Crime Book of the Year:
• Murder on Lake Garda, by Tom Hindle (Century)
• All the Colours of the Dark, by Chris Whitaker (Orion)
• Midnight and Blue, by Ian Rankin (Orion)
• The Mercy Chair, by M.W. Craven (Constable)
• Nightwatching, by Tracey Sierra (Viking)

Thriller Book of the Year:
• One Perfect Couple, by Ruth Ware (Simon & Schuster UK)
• A Violent Heart, by David Fennell (Zaffre)
• The Woman on the Ledge, by Ruth Mancini (Century)
• Hunted, by Abir Mukherjee (Harvill Secker)
• The Missing Family, by Tim Weaver (Michael Joseph)

The full 2025 Fingerprint Award are here. 

Readers can vote at this link from now through Saturday, May 31. 

Winners will be announced at the Capital Crime Festival in London on Thursday, June 12.

HT: The Rap Sheet

FINGERPRINT AWARD WINNERS 2024: Capital Crime Festival

Capital Crime Festival, London, UK, announced the 2024 Fingerprint Award Winners last weekend. Congratulations to all!

Overall Best Crime Book of the Year:
None of This Is True, by Lisa Jewell (Century)

Thriller Book of the Year:
The Only Suspect, by Louise Candlish (Simon & Schuster UK)

Historical Crime Book of the Year:
The House of Whispers, by Anna Mazzola (Orion)

Genre-Busting Book of the Year:
Killing Jericho, by William Hussey (Zaffre)

Debut Crime Book of the Year:
Death of a Bookseller, by Alice Slater (Hodder & Stoughton)

True Crime Book of the Year: No Ordinary Day: Espionage, Betrayal, Terrorism and Corruption—the Truth Behind the Murder of WPC Yvonne Fletcher, by Matt Johnson (Ad Lib)

Audiobook of the Year: Over My Dead Body, by Maz Evans, narrated by Maz Evans (Headline)

Thalia Procter Lifetime Achievement Award: Lynda La Plante 

CAPITAL CRIME FINGERPRINT AWARD WINNERS

Capital Crime Fingerprint Awards were announced Thursday night at Capital Crime 2023 in London. Congratulations to all..

Crime Novel of the Year 

Elly Griffiths for Bleeding Heart Yard

Thriller Book of the Year

Gillian McAllister for Wrong Place Wrong Time

Historical Crime Book of the Year

Tom Hindle for A Fatal Crossing

Genre-Busting Book of the Year

Erin Keely for The Skeleton Key

Debut Book of the Year

Nita Prose for The Maid

Audiobook of the Year

Adele Parks, narrated by Kristin Atherton for One Last Secret

The Thalia Proctor Lifetime Achievement Award for her invaluable contribution to fiction publishing

Jane Wood

Publishing Campaign of the Year 2023

Viking BooksUK for The Bullet that Missed by Richard Osman.

The Fingerprint Awards: Capital Crime Festival

Capital Crime Festival in London announced the festival's inaugural Fingerprint Awards. Congratulations to all.

Crime Book of the Year:
The Sanatorium, by Sarah Pearse (Transworld)

Also nominated: 1979, by Val McDermid (Little, Brown); The Appeal, by Janice Hallett (Viper); Girls Who Lie, by Eva Björg Ægisdottir (Orenda); and Slough House, by Mick Herron (John Murray Press)

Thriller Book of the Year:
Razorblade Tears, by S.A. Cosby (Headline)

Also nominated: A Slow Fire Burning, by Paula Hawkins (Transworld); Dead Ground, by M.W. Craven (Little, Brown); The Night She Disappeared, by Lisa Jewell (Cornerstone); and Last Thing to Burn, by Will Dean (Hodder & Stoughton)

Historical Crime Book of the Year:
The Shape of Darkness, by Laura Purcell (Bloomsbury)

Also nominated: A Net for Small Fishes, by Lucy Jago (Bloomsbury); Daughters of Night, by Laura-Shepherd Robinson (Pan Macmillan); The Shadows of Men, by Abir Mukherjee (Vintage); and A Comedy of Terrors, by Lindsay Davis (Hodder & Stoughton)

Debut Book of the Year:
Girl A, by Abigail Dean (HarperCollins)

Also nominated: Greenwich Park, by Katherine Faulkner (Bloomsbury); Welcome to Cooper, by Tariq Ashkanani (Thomas & Mercer); How to Kidnap the Rich, by Rahul Raina (Little, Brown); and Edge of the Grave, by Robbie Morrison (Pan Macmillan)

Genre-Busting Book of the Year:
The Burning Girls, by C.J. Tudor Penguin)

Also nominated: The Other Black Girl, by Zakiya Dalila Harris (Bloomsbury); How to Kill Your Family, by Bella Mackie (HarperCollins); Eight Detectives, by Alex Pavesi (Penguin); and What Abigail Did That Summer, by Ben Aaronovitch (Orion)

Audiobook of the Year: The Girl Who Died, by Ragnar Jónasson, narrated by Amanda Redman (Orenda)

Also nominated: People Like Her, by Ellery Lloyd (Pan Macmillan); True Crime Story, by Joseph Knox (Transworld); A Line to Kill, by Anthony Horowitz (Cornerstone); and I Know What I Saw, by Imran Mahmood (Bloomsbury)

Industry Award of the Year: HarperCollins for Girl A, by Abigail Dean

Lifetime Achievement Award (Posthumous): Thalia Proctor

Books eligible for the Fingerprints were all published in Great Britain in 2021.

HT: The Rap Sheet