The Mystery Writers of America has announced the nominees for the 2026 Edgar Awards, which honors the best in mystery fiction, nonfiction and television published or produced in 2025.

The winners will be announced on April 29th at the New York Marriott Marquis Times Square Hotel.

For more information on The Edgars, or the Mystery Writers of America, please click here.
 

2026 Nominees

BEST NOVEL

• THE BIG EMPTY by Robert Crais (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)
• FAGIN THE THIEF by Allison Epstein (Doubleday)
• THE DREAM HOTEL by Laila Lalami (Pantheon)
• WILD DARK SHORE by Charlotte McConaghy (Flatiron Books)
• HARD TOWN by Adam Plantinga (Grand Central Publishing)
• THE INHERITANCE by Trisha Sakhlecha (Pamela Dorman Books)
• PRESUMED GUILTY by Scott Turow (Grand Central Publishing)

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR

• KILLER POTENTIAL by Hannah Deitch (William Morrow)
• ALL THE OTHER MOTHERS HATE ME by Sarah Harman (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)
• DEAD MONEY by Jakob Kerr (Bantam)
• JOHNNY CARELESS by Kevin Wade (Celadon Books)
• HISTORY LESSONS by Zoe B. Wallbrook (Soho Crime)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

• LISTEN by Sacha Bronwasser (Penguin Books)
• THE SIDEWAYS LIFE OF DENNY VOSS by Holly Kennedy (Lake Union Publishing)
• BROKE ROAD by Matthew Spencer (Thomas & Mercer)
• THE BACKWATER by Vikki Wakefield (Poisoned Pen Press)
• ONE DEATH AT A TIME by Abbi Waxman (Berkley)

BEST FACT CRIME

• THEY POISONED THE WORLD: Life and Death in the Age of Forever Chemicals, by Mariah Blake (Crown)
• BLOOD AND THE BADGE: The Mafia, Two Killer Cops, and a Scandal That Shocked the Nation, by Michael Cannell (Minotaur Books)
• MURDERLAND: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers, by Caroline Fraser (Penguin Press)
• OUT OF THE WOODS: A Girl, a Killer, and a Lifelong Struggle to Find the Way Home, by Gregg Olsen (Thomas & Mercer)
• STORY OF A MURDER: The Wives, the Mistress, and Dr. Crippen, by Hallie Rubenhold (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 (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 (Mariner Books)
• CRISS-CROSS: The Making of Hitchcock’s Dazzling, Subversive Masterpiece Strangers on a Train, by Stephen Rebello (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 (The Mysterious Bookshop)
• “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 (Aladdin)
• BLOOD IN THE WATER by Tiffany D. Jackson (Scholastic Press)
• THE MIDWATCH INSTITUTE FOR WAYWARD GIRLS by Judith Rossell (Dial Books)
• MYSTERY JAMES DIGS HER OWN GRAVE by Ally Russell (Delacorte Press)

BEST YOUNG ADULT

• UNDER THE SAME STARS by Libba Bray (Farrar, Straus and Giroux BFYR)
• CATCH YOUR DEATH by Ravena Guron (Sourcebooks Fire)
• THIS IS WHERE WE DIE by Cindy R.X. He (Sourcebooks Fire)
• THE SCAMMER by Tiffany D. Jackson (Quill Tree Books)
• CODEBREAKER by Jay Martel (Wednesday Books)

BEST TV EPISODE TELEPLAY

• “End of the Line” – “Ballard,” written by Michael Alaimo and 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 and Steven Paul Judd (AMC)

ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD

• “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

• FIVE FOUND DEAD by Sulari Gentill (Poisoned Pen Press)
• SAVVY SUMMERS AND THE SWEET POTATO CRIMES by Sandra Jackson-Opoku (Minotaur Books)
• NO COMFORT FOR THE DEAD by R.P. O’Donnell (Crooked Lane Books)
• ALL THIS COULD BE YOURS by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Minotaur Books)
• LAST DANCE BEFORE DAWN by Katharine Schellman (Minotaur Books)

THE G.P. PUTNAM’S SONS SUE GRAFTON MEMORIAL AWARD

• COLD AS HELL by Kelley Armstrong (Minotaur Books)
• RAGE by Linda Castillo (Minotaur Books)
• FALLEN STAR by Lee Goldberg (Thomas & Mercer)
• THE RED LETTER by Daniel G. Miller (Poisoned Pen Press)
• GONE IN THE NIGHT by Joanna Schaffhausen (Minotaur Books)

THE LILIAN JACKSON BRAUN MEMORIAL AWARD

• MRS. CHRISTIE AT THE MYSTERY GUILD LIBRARY by Amanda Chapman (Berkley)
• A SENIOR CITIZEN'S GUIDE TO LIFE ON THE RUN by Gwen Florio (Severn House)
• THE MARIGOLD COTTAGES MURDER COLLECTIVE by Jo Nichols (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 (Berkley)

GRAND MASTER

• Donna Andrews
• Lee Child

RAVEN AWARD

• Book Passage, Corte Madera CA

ELLERY QUEEN AWARD

• John Scognamiglio, Kensington Books