Basking in Edgars Glory

Last evening finally brought the announcements, in New York City, of which authors, books, and short stories have won the 2026 Edgar Allan Poe Awards. These prizes honor “the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction, and television published or produced in 2025.”

Best Novel:
The Big Empty, by Robert Crais (Putnam)

Also nominated: Fagin the Thief, by Allison Epstein (Doubleday); The Dream Hotel, by Laila Lalami (Pantheon); Wild Dark Shore, by Charlotte McConaghy (Flatiron); Hard Town, by Adam Plantinga (Grand Central); The Inheritance, by Trisha Sakhlecha (Pamela Dorman); and Presumed Guilty, by Scott Turow (Grand Central)

Best First Novel by an American Author: Dead Money, by Jakob Kerr (Bantam)

Also nominated: Killer Potential, by Hannah Deitch (Morrow); All the Other Mothers Hate Me, by Sarah Harman (Putnam); Johnny Careless, by Kevin Wade (Celadon); and History Lessons, by Zoe B. Wallbrook (Soho Crime)

Best Paperback Original:
The Backwater, by Vikki Wakefield (Poisoned Pen Press)

Also nominated: Listen, by Sacha Bronwasser (Penguin); The Sideways Life of Denny Voss, by Holly Kennedy (Lake Union); Broke Road, by Matthew Spencer (Thomas & Mercer); and One Death at a Time, by Abbi Waxman (Berkley)

Best Fact Crime:
Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers, by Caroline Fraser (Penguin Press)

Also nominated: 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); Out of the Woods: A Girl, a Killer, and a Lifelong Struggle to Find the Way Home, by Gregg Olsen (Thomas & Mercer); and Story of a Murder: The Wives, the Mistress, and Dr. Crippen, by Hallie Rubenhold (Dutton)

Best Critical/Biographical:
Edgar Allan Poe: A Life, by Richard Kopley (University of Virginia Press)

Also nominated: V Is for Venom: Agatha Christie’s Chemicals of Death, by Kathryn Harkup (Sigma); The Kingdom of Cain: Finding God in the Literature of Darkness, by Andrew Klavan (Zondervan); Cooler Than Cool: The Life and Work of Elmore Leonard, by C.M. Kushins (Mariner); and Criss-Cross: The Making of Hitchcock’s Dazzling, Subversive Masterpiece Strangers on a Train, by Stephen Rebello (Running Press)

Best Short Story:
“Julius Katz Draws a Straight Flush,” by Dave Zeltserman (Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, September-October 2025)

Also nominated: “Reading at Night,” by Graham Greene (The Strand Magazine, August 2025); “The One That Got Away,” by Charlaine Harris (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine [EQMM], January-February 2025); “Orphan X: A Mysterious Profile,” by Gregg Hurwitz (Mysterious Press); “Lucky Heart,” by Tim Maleeny (from Blood on the Bayou: Case Closed, edited by Don Bruns; Down & Out); and “The Kill Clause,” by Lisa Unger (Amazon Original Stories)

Best Juvenile: Blood in the Water, by Tiffany D. Jackson (Scholastic Press)

Also nominated: 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); The Midwatch Institute for Wayward Girls, by Judith Rossell (Dial); and 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 Books for Young Readers)

Also nominated: 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); and Codebreaker, by Jay Martel (Wednesday)

Best Television Episode Teleplay:
“Pilot,” Paradise, written by Dan Fogelman (Hulu)

Also nominated: “End of the Line,” Ballard, written by Michael Alaimo and Kendall Sherwood (Amazon/Fabel); “Episode 101,” The Lowdown, written by Sterlin Harjo (FX on Hulu); “These Girls,” Long Bright River, written by Nikki Toscano and Liz Moore (Peacock); and “Ye’iitsoh (Big Monster),” Dark Winds, written by John Wirth and Steven Paul Judd (AMC)

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ADDITIONAL AWARDS

Robert L. Fish Memorial Award:
“How It Happened,” by Billie Kay Fern (EQMM, July-August 2025)

Also nominated: “A Textbook Example,” by Luis Avalos (from Sacramento Noir, edited by John Freeman; Akashic); “Baggage,” by Rick Marcou (EQMM, January-February 2025); “Bloodsurf,” by Tiffany D. Plunkett (from Hollywood Kills, edited by Adam Meyer and Alan Orloff; Level Short); and “Grand Theft Auto in the Heart of Screenland,” by Robert Rotstein (from Hollywood Kills)

The Simon & Schuster Mary Higgins Clark Award:
All This Could Be Yours, by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Minotaur)

Also nominated: Five Found Dead, by Sulari Gentill (Poisoned Pen Press); Savvy Summers and the Sweet Potato Crimes, by Sandra Jackson-Opoku (Minotaur); No Comfort for the Dead, by R.P. O’Donnell (Crooked Lane); and Last Dance Before Dawn, by Katharine Schellman (Minotaur)

The G.P. Putnam’s Sons Sue Grafton Memorial Award:
Gone in the Night, by Joanna Schaffhausen (Minotaur)

Also nominated: Cold as Hell, by Kelley Armstrong (Minotaur); Rage, by Linda Castillo (Minotaur); Fallen Star, by Lee Goldberg (Thomas & Mercer); and The Red Letter, by Daniel G. Miller (Poisoned Pen Press)

The Lilian Jackson Braun Memorial Award: A Senior Citizen’s Guide to Life on the Run, by Gwen Florio (Severn House)

Also nominated: Mrs. Christie at the Mystery Guild Library, by Amandah Chapman (Berkley); The Marigold Cottages Murder Collective, by Jo Nichols (Minotaur); Murder Two Doors Down, by Chuck Storla (Crooked Lane); and Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping (On a Dead Man), by Jesse Q. Sutanto (Berkley)

In addition, Donna Andrews and Lee Child were named as this year’s Grand Master winners. The 2026 Raven Award went to Corte Madera, California, bookshop and café Book Passage, and John Scognamiglio, the editor-in-chief of Kensington Books, was selected to receive the Ellery Queen Award.

READ MORE: “State of the Crime Novel, Part 1: Routines, Problem-Solving, and Faithful Companions” and “State of the Crime Novel, Part 2: Issues and Recommendations,” by Molly Odintz (CrimeReads).