MWA Announces the 2026 Edgar Award Nominations

The Mystery Writers of America has announced the nominees for the 2026 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, honoring the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction and television published or produced in the previous year, 2025. The 80th Annual Edgar® Awards, which also celebrates the 217th anniversary of the birth of Edgar Allan Poe, will be celebrated on April 29th, 2026.

___________________________________

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)

___________________________________

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 (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

___________________________________

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

___________________________________

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)

___________________________________

SPECIAL AWARDS

___________________________________

 

GRAND MASTER

Donna Andrews

Lee Child

 

ELLERY QUEEN AWARD

John Scognamiglio, Kensington Books

 

RAVEN AWARD

Book Passage, Corte Madera CA