Fingered for Favor

Organizers of this year’s Capital Crime festival in London, England, have announced their finalists for the 2026 Fingerprint Awards. These prizes are said to “champion the very best in crime writing from the past year across the globe, as voted for by readers.”



There are seven categories of contenders for the Fingerprints, but below are three of the most interesting.

Overall Crime Book of the Year:
• The Midnight King, by Tariq Ashkanani (Viper)
• The Final Vow, by M.W. Craven (Constable)
• Quantum of Menace, by Vaseem Khan (Zaffre)
• The Good Father, by Liam Liam McIlvanney (Zaffre)
• We Live Here Now, by Sarah Pinborough (Orion)

Debut Crime Book:
• Broken, by Jón Atli Jónasson (Corylus)
• Deadline, by Steph McGovern (Macmillan)
• Death at the White Hart, by Chris Chibnall (Michael Joseph)
• The Day of the Roaring, by Nina Bhadreshwar (Hemlock Press)
• This Is Not a Game, by Kelly Mullen (Century)

True Crime Book of the Year:
• Story of a Murder: The Wives, the Mistress, and Dr. Crippen, by Hallie Rubenhold (Doubleday)
• Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice, by Virginia Roberts-Guiffre (Doubleday)
• Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers,
by Caroline Fraser (Fleet)
• A History of Modern Britain in Twenty Murders, by Professor
David Wilson (Sphere)
• A Flower Traveled in My Blood: The Incredible True Story of the Grandmothers Who Fought to Find a Stolen Generation of Children, by Haley Cohen Gilliland (Avid Reader Press)

Click right here to see the shortlists of nominees in all seven Fingerprint Award divisions for 2026. Between now and Saturday, May 30, readers are invited to vote online for their favorites. The winners will be revealed during a special presentation on Capital Crime’s opening night, Thursday, June 18.