Bouchercon Bounty

During last night’s opening ceremonies at Bouchercon 2026 in Calgary, Alberta, Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine revealed the winners of its latest Barry Awards for excellence in mystery and thriller fiction.

Best Mystery: King of Ashes, by S.A. Cosby (Flatiron)

Also nominated: The Impossible Thing, by Belinda Bauer (Atlantic Monthly); Crooks, by Lou Berney (Morrow); The Black Wolf, by Louise Penny (Minotaur); The White Crow, by Michael Robotham (Scribner); and Presumed Guilty, by Scott Turow (Grand Central)

Best First Mystery: The Vanishing Place, by Zoë Rankin (Berkley)

Also nominated: Leverage, by Amran Gowani (Atria); All the Other Mothers Hate Me, by Sarah Harman (Putnam); Dead Money, by Jakob Kerr (Bantam); Stillwater, by Tanya Scott (Atlantic Monthly); and Julie Chan Is Dead, by Liann Zhang (Atria)

Best Paperback Original Mystery: The Dentist, by Tim Sullivan (Atlantic Crime)

Also nominated: Crimson Thaw, by Bruce Robert Coffin (Severn River); Splintered Justice, by Kim Hays (Seventh Street); Making a Killing, by Cara Hunter (Morrow); If Two Are Dead, by Rick Mofina (Mira); and Wolf Six, by Alex Shaw (Boldwood)

Best Thriller: Midnight Black, by Mark Greaney (Berkley)

Also nominated: Witness 8, by Steve Cavanagh (Atria); The Oligarch’s Daughter, by Joseph Finder (Harper); Clown Town, by Mick Herron (Soho Crime); Head Cases, by John McMahon (Minotaur); and The Mailman, by Andrew Welsh-Huggins (Mysterious Press)

The Barry Awards, established in 1997, are named in honor of Barry Gardner, a longtime DP “fan reviewer.”

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Those same ceremonies brought news of which works have won the 2026 Shamus Awards, presented by the Private Eye Writers of America.

Best P.I. Hardcover: The Big Empty, by Robert Crais (Putnam)

Also nominated: Photograph, by Brian Freeman (Blackstone); Hatchet Girls, by Joe R. Lansdale (Little, Brown); Gray Dawn, by Walter Mosley (Little, Brown); and Mirage City, by Lev AC Rosen (Minotaur)

Best First P.I. Novel: Where the Bones Lie, by Nick Kolakowski (Datura)

Also nominated: Chase Harlem, by Elise Burke Brown (Rising Action); Miles in Time, by Lee Matthew Goldberg (Wise Wolf); Shadow of the Eternal Watcher, by Josh Mendoza (Inkshares); and The Witch’s Orchard, by Archer Sullivan (Minotaur)

Best Original Paperback P.I. Novel: Midnight Streets, by Phil Lecomber (Titan)

Also nominated: The Hook and the Eye, by Raymond Benson (Ian Fleming); Sunday or the Highway, by Cindy Fazzi (Thomas & Mercer); City Lights, by Claire M. Johnson (Level Best); and Catch Me on a Blue Day, by M.E. Proctor (Shotgun Honey)

Best P.I. Short Story: “The Roosevelt Affair,” by Adam Meyer (from Crimeucopia: A Coterie of Dicks; Murderous Ink Press)

Also nominated: “The One Cry,” by F.H. Batacan (from Accidents Happen, by F.H. Batacan; Soho Crime); “Dr. Bones,” by Libby Cudmore (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine [EQMM], May/June); “Hours on the Phone,” by Gregory Fallis (EQMM, July/August); and “The Shadows,” by Charles John Harper (EQMM, May/June)

(Hat tip to The Gumshoe Site.)

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Meanwhile, the shortlists have been announced for this year’s Irish Book Awards. There are 19 categories of contenders, but below are the novels vying to be named as Crime Fiction Book of the Year.

• The Truth About Ruby Cooper, by Liz Nugent (Sandycove)
• Everything She Didn’t Say, by Jane Casey (Hemlock Press)
• One of Us Is Guilty, by Steve Cavanagh (Headline)
• Such a Nice Girl, by Andrea Mara (Bantam)
• In Glass Houses, by Edel Coffey (Sphere)
• The Keeper, by Tana French (Viking)
• Never to Be Found, by Jo Spain (Zaffre)
• If These Walls Could Talk, by Michelle McDonagh (Hachette
Books Ireland)

All of the 2026 Irish Book Award recipients are to be declared during a ceremony in the Convention Centre Dublin on Tuesday, December 1.

(Hat tip to In Reference to Murder.)