Mystery Writers of America 2026 Edgar Allan Poe Award Winners

 

Mystery Writers of America 2026 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, honouring the best in mystery fiction, nonfiction and television published or produced in 2025. 
 
BEST NOVEL

The Big Empty by Robert Crais (Penguin Random House – G.P. Putnam’s Sons)
 
BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR

Dead Money by Jakob Kerr (Penguin Random House – Bantam Books)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

The Backwater by Vikki Wakefield (Sourcebooks – Poisoned Pen Press)

 BEST FACT CRIME:

Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers by Caroline Fraser (Penguin Random House – Penguin Press)

BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL

Edgar Allan Poe: A Life by Richard Kopley (University of Virginia Press)

 BEST SHORT STORY

“Julius Katz Draws a Straight Flush,” Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine – September-October 2025 by Dave Zeltserman (Must Read Books Publishing)

 BEST JUVENILE

Blood in the Water by Tiffany D. Jackson (Scholastic Press)

BEST YOUNG ADULT

Under the Same Stars by Libba Bray (Macmillan Publishers – Farrar, Straus and Giroux BFYR)

BEST TELEVISION EPISODE TELEPLAY

 “Pilot” – Paradise, Written by Dan Fogelman (Hulu)

 OTHER AWARDS 

ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD – Endowed by the family of Robert L. Fish. “How It Happened,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, July-August 2025 by Billie Kay Fern (Must Read Books Publishing)

 THE SIMON & SCHUSTER MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD – Presented on behalf of Simon & Schuster. 

 All This Could Be Yours by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Macmillan Publishers – Minotaur Books)

 THE G.P. PUTNAM’S SONS SUE GRAFTON MEMORIAL AWARD – Presented on behalf of G.P. Putnam’s Sons.

 Gone in the Night by Joanna Schaffhausen (Macmillan Publishers – Minotaur Books)

 THE LILIAN JACKSON BRAUN MEMORIAL AWARD – Endowed by the estate of Lilian Jackson Braun.

 A Senior Citizen’s Guide to Life on the Run by Gwen Florio (Severn House)

 SPECIAL AWARDS -- PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED ON JANUARY 13, 2026

GRAND MASTER

Donna Andrews

Lee Child

RAVEN AWARD

Book Passage, Corte Madera CA

ELLERY QUEEN AWARD

John Scognamiglio, Kensington Books

Congratulations to all the winners.

Mystery Writers of America Announces 2026 Edgar Allan Poe Award Nominations

 

Mystery Writers of America is proud to announce, as we celebrate the 217th anniversary of the birth of Edgar Allan Poe, the nominees for the 2026 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, honouring the best in mystery fiction, nonfiction and television published or produced in 2025. The 80th Annual Edgar® Awards will be celebrated on April 29, 2026, at the Marriott Marquis Times Square Hotel.

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 (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 (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)

OTHER AWARDS

ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD – Endowed by the family of Robert L. Fish.

“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 – Presented on behalf of Simon & Schuster.

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 – Presented on behalf of G.P. Putnam’s Sons.

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 – Endowed by the estate of Lilian Jackson Braun.

 Mrs. Christie at the Mystery Guild Library by Amanda 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

PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED ON JANUARY 13, 2026

GRAND MASTER

 Donna Andrews

Lee Child

RAVEN AWARD

 Book Passage, Corte Madera CA

ELLERY QUEEN AWARD

John Scognamiglio, Kensington Books

* * * * * *

Congratulations to all the nominated authors.

MWA 2026 Grand Masters, Raven, & Ellery Queen Award Recipients

 

Mystery Writers of America (MWA) announced the recipients of its special awards. The board chose Donna Andrews and Lee Child as the 2026 Grand Masters, the 2026 Raven Award recipient is Book Passage, and John Scognamiglio of Kensington Books will receive the Ellery Queen Award. They will accept their awards at the 80th Annual Edgar Awards Ceremony, which will be held April 29, 2026, at the Marriott Marquis Times Square in New York City.

 “Donna Andrews has given us more than fifty novels, proving the cozy subgenre is more relevant than ever. In addition to her significant literary accomplishments, she has given back to the community in so many ways, by mentoring aspiring mystery writers, and serving as the MWA EVP. I’m thrilled to see Donna named as MWA Grand Master,” said MWA Executive Vice President James L’Etoile. “And Lee Child’s contributions to the genre are unparalleled. Aside from his thirty critically acclaimed novels featuring the iconic Jack Reacher, Lee Child is considered one of the most thoughtful and generous members of the mystery community. Writer, mentor, and Past President of MWA, he is a role model, and most deserving of being named MWA Grand Master.”

 MWA’s Grand Master Award represents the pinnacle of achievement in mystery writing and was established to acknowledge important contributions to this genre, as well as for a body of work that is both significant and of consistent high quality.

 The Raven Award recognizes outstanding achievement in the mystery field outside the realm of creative writing. For 2026, Mystery Writers of America selected Book Passage in Corte Madera, CA.

 “Book Passage is honoured and thrilled to receive the Raven Award from the Mystery Writers of America. Many of the 10,000 or more author events that we’ve had over the years have featured mystery writers. During the last 30 years or so, many of these writers have given of their time to participate in our annual Mystery Writers Conference and have helped nurture new writers towards successful careers,” Book Passage founder and president Elaine Petrocelli said. “We’ve found mystery writers to be resourceful, fearless, and ingenious in describing the problems of the world. More than that, they know how to keep their portrayal of the dark side of humanity on the written page. In person, they are wonderful, personable, and a pleasure to be around.” 

 The Ellery Queen Award was established in 1983 to honour “outstanding writing teams and outstanding people in the mystery-publishing industry.” This year the Board chose to honour John Scognamiglio of Kensington Books, who began his career 40 years ago as a file clerk in the Contracts Department at Simon & Schuster in 1986 while still a sophomore at New York University. He later moved to where he always wanted to be—editorial—and from 1989 to 1992, Scognamiglio worked as an assistant editor for S&S’s mass-market division, Pocket Books. In February 1992, he joined Kensington Publishing as an editor, and he became Editor-in-Chief in 2005. He launched his own imprint, John Scognamiglio Books, at Kensington in 2017.  Among his authors are New York Times bestsellers Lisa Jackson, Joanne Fluke, Ellen Marie Wiseman and Leslie Meier. 

The Edgar Awards, or “Edgars,” as they are commonly known, are named after MWA’s patron saint Edgar Allan Poe and are presented to authors of distinguished work in various categories. MWA is the premier organization for mystery writers, professionals allied to the crime-writing field, aspiring crime writers, and those who are devoted to the genre. The organization encompasses some 3,000 members including authors of fiction and nonfiction books, screen and television writers, as well as publishers, editors, and literary agents. For more information on Mystery Writers of America, please visit the website: www.mysterywriters.org.

MWA 2024 Grand Master and Ellery Queen Award Recipients

 Mystery Writers of America (MWA) announced the recipients of its special awards.  

Katherine Hall Page and R.L. Stine as the 2024 Grand Masters 

Michaela Hamilton of Kensington Publishing will receive the Ellery Queen Award. 

Awards will be given at the 78th Annual Edgar Awards Ceremony, which will be held May 1, 2024, at the Marriott Marquis Times Square in New York City.

“Mystery Writers of America is delighted to announce the recipients of our 2024 special awards. Our Grand Masters, Katherine Hall Page and R.L. Stine, have given so much to our genre—not just through their writing, but also through their generosity to other writers, their hard-working professionalism, and their boundless enthusiasm for the written word,” said MWA Executive Vice President Donna Andrews.

MWA’s Grand Master Award represents the pinnacle of achievement in mystery writing and was established to acknowledge important contributions to this genre, as well as for a body of work that is both significant and of consistent high quality. 

On being notified of the honor, Katherine Hall Page said, “I joined MWA in 1989, over a third of a century ago. In so doing I immediately felt a part of a supportive community and formed deep, long lasting friendships. And membership has also bestowed a link to MWA’s extraordinary past, beginning in 1945. The first Grand Master was Agatha Christie in 1955. I am stunned to be standing in her—and all the other’s—shoes. Thank you MWA for the thrill of a lifetime.”

Page wrote her first mystery, The Body in the Belfry, while living in France for year during her husband’s sabbatical from MIT. It was the 1991 Agatha Award winner for Best First Mystery Novel. The 15th in the series, The Body in the Snowdrift, won the 2006 Agatha Award for Best Mystery Novel. Page was also awarded the 2001 Agatha for Best Short Story for “The Would-Be Widower” in the Malice Domestic X collection and received three more Agatha nominations, including one for her series cookbook, Have Faith in Your Kitchen, in the nonfiction category, making her the first author to be nominated or win in four different Agatha categories. She was an Edgar nominee for her juvenile mystery, Christie & Company Down East.  The Body in the Lighthouse (2003) was one of three nominees for The Simon & Schuster Mary Higgins Clark Award. The Body in the Boudoir was a finalist in the 2013 Maine Literary Awards. Page received the 2016 Lifetime Achievement Award from Malice Domestic and Crime Master for her work from the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance. The Body in the Web is out now from William Morrow in hardcover, paperback, large print, E-book, and audio editions. 

R.L. Stine is one of the best-selling children’s authors in history. Goosebumps, which recently celebrated its 30th anniversary, has more than 400 million books in print in 32 languages. An all-new New York Times bestselling Goosebumps series, House of Shivers, debuted in September 2023, with two more books to be published in 2024.

The Goosebumps series made Stine a worldwide publishing celebrity (and Jeopardy answer). His other popular children’s book series include Fear Street, (recently revived as a feature film trilogy), The Garbage Pail Kids, Mostly Ghostly, The Nightmare Room, and Rotten School. Other titles include It's The First Day of School Forever, A Midsummer Night's Scream, Young Scrooge, Stinetinglers, and three picture books, with Marc Brown—The Little Shop of Monsters, Mary McScary, and Why Did the Monster Cross the Road (2023).

On learning of the honor, Stine said, “Tony Hillerman. Elmore Leonard. Mickey Spillane. Ruth Rendell: Those were the MWA Grand Masters when I first started attending the Edgar Awards over 30 years ago. If you had told me then I’d be on that list someday, would I have believed you? I don’t think so. I’m surprised and truly honored.” 

The Ellery Queen Award was established in 1983 to honor “outstanding writing teams and outstanding people in the mystery-publishing industry.” This year the Board chose to honor Michaela Hamilton, executive editor at Kensington and editor in chief of Citadel, which she joined after a 25-year career in publishing. Her importance in the discovery of new writers and emphasis on publishing traditional mysteries, thrillers, and suspense novels cannot be underestimated. 

On learning she would receive the Ellery Queen Award, Hamilton said, “As a lifelong mystery fan, as well as a longtime supporter of MWA, I couldn’t be more tickled by this amazing recognition. When I think about previous recipients of the Ellery Queen Award, I feel quite humble. I’m just a bookworm who was lucky enough to spend the last 50-plus years working with authors I adore on books I love. Long live suspense fiction!” 

Hamilton acquires and edits commercial fiction and nonfiction including thrillers, true crime, and cozy mysteries. She has worked with authors including John Gilstrap, Gregg Olsen, M. William Phelps, Caitlin Rother, Barbara Allan, John Lutz, Lynn Cahoon, Nancy Coco, Rick Reed, and Leo J. Maloney. Her lifelong love of suspense fiction began in childhood, when she skipped the Nancy Drew mystery series in favor of Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer novels, which she read clandestinely after finding her father’s copies in the bathroom. She likes her thrillers violent, her cozies amusing, and her beer well chilled. 

Previous Ellery Queen Award winners include The Strand Magazine, Juliet Grames, Reagan Arthur, Kelley Ragland, Linda Landrigan, Neil Nyren, Charles Ardai, and Janet Hutchings. 

“Michaela Hamilton has worked with dozens of new and seasoned writers over the decades,” Andrews said, “not only making Kensington a powerhouse in the mystery and thriller field, but also giving genre lovers hundreds of books—and thousands of hours of reading pleasure.”

The 2020 MALICE DOMESTIC AGATHA AWARDS NOMINEES

 

The Agatha Awards will be presented as part of the MORE THAN MALICE Festival, so if you would like to vote for the winner and watch the awards presentation, please join them for this exciting event - July 14-17, 2021. Registration can be found here.

Best Contemporary Novel

Gift of the Magpie by Donna Andrews (Minotaur)

Murder in the Bayou Boneyard by Ellen Byron (Crooked Lane Books)

From Beer to Eternity by Sherry Harris (Kensington)

All the Devils are Here by Louise Penny (Minotaur)

The Lucky One by Lori Rader-Day (William Morris)

Best Historical Novel

The Last Mrs. Summers by Rhys Bowen (Berkeley)

Fate of a Flapper by Susanna Calkins (Griffin)

A Lady's Guide to Mischief and Murder by Dianne Freeman (Kensington)

Taken Too Soon by Edith Maxwell (Beyond the Page Publishing)

The Turning Tide by Catriona McPherson (Quercus)

Best First Novel

A Spell for Trouble by Esme Addison (Crooked Lane Books)

Winter Witness by Tina deBelgarde (Level Best Books)

Derailed by Mary Keliikoa (Epicenter Press, Inc.)

Murder at the Mena House by Erica Ruth Neubauer (Kensington)

Murder Most Sweet by Laura Jensen Walker (Kensington)

Best Short Story

"Dear Emily Etiquette" by Barb Goffman (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine Sep/Oct)

"The Red Herrings at Killington Inn" by Shawn Reilly Simmons Masthead: Best New England Crime Stories (Level Best Books)

"The Boy Detective & The Summer of ‘74" by Art Taylor (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine Jan/Feb)

"Elysian Fields" by Gabriel Valjan California Schemin’: The 2020 Bouchercon Anthology (Wildside Press)

"The 25 Year Engagement" by James Ziskin In League with Sherlock Holmes: Stories Inspired by the Sherlock Holmes Canon (Pegasus Crime) 

Best Non-Fiction

Sometimes You Have to Lie: The Life and Times of Louise Fitzhugh,

Renegade Author of Harriet the Spy by Leslie Brody (Seal Press)

American Sherlock: Murder, Forensics, and the Birth of American CSI by Kate Winkler Dawson (G. P. Putnam)

Howdunit: A Masterclass in Crime Writing by Members of the Detection Club by Martin Edwards (Collins Crime Club)

Phantom Lady: Hollywood Producer Joan Harrison, the Forgotten Woman Behind Hitchcock by Christina Lane (Chicago Review Press)

H. R. F. Keating: A Life of Crime by Sheila Mitchell (Level Best Books)

Best Children's/YA

Mystery Midnight at the Barclay Hotel by Fleur Bradley (Viking Books for Young Readers)

Premeditated Myrtle by Elizabeth C. Bunce (Algonquin Young Readers)

Saltwater Secrets by Cindy Callaghan (Aladdin)

From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks (Katherine Teagen Books) 

Holly Hernandez and the Death of Disco by Richard Narvaez (Piñata Books) 

Congratulations to all of the nominated authors.

Left Coast Crime 2018 Award Nominations Announced

Left Coast Crime 2018, “Crime on the Comstock,” will be giving out four Lefty awards at the 28th annual LCC convention, to be held in Reno in March: humorous, historical, debut, and best. The awards will be voted on at the convention and presented at a banquet on Saturday 24^th March 2018 at the Nugget Casino Resort in Reno/Sparks, Nevada. The award nominees have been selected by this and last years’ convention registrants. The nomination period has just concluded, and LCC is delighted to announce the Lefty nominees for books published in 2017:

Lefty for Best Humorous Mystery Novel.

The nominees are:
Gone Gull by Donna Andrews (Minotaur Books)
A Cajun Christmas Killing by Ellen Byron (Crooked Lane Books)

Dying on the Vine by Marla Cooper (Minotaur Books) 

The Art of Vanishing by Cynthia Kuhn (Henery Press)
Dying for a Diamond by Cindy Sample (Cindy Sample Books)

Lefty for Best Historical Mystery Novel (Bruce Alexander Memorial) for books covering events before 1960. 

The nominees are:
In Farleigh Field by Rhys Bowen (Lake Union Publishing)

The Woman in the Camphor Trunk by Jennifer Kincheloe (Seventh Street Books)
Dangerous To Know by Renee Patrick (Forge)
The Proud Sinner by Priscilla Royal (Poisoned Pen Press)
Season of Blood by Jeri Westerson (Severn House Publishers)

Lefty for Best Debut Mystery Novel.

The nominees are:
A Short Time To Die by Susan Alice Bickford (Kensington)
Hollywood Homicide by Kellye Garrett (Midnight Ink) 

Lost Luggage by Wendall Thomas (Poisoned Pen Press)
A Head in Cambodia by Nancy Tingley (Swallow Press)
Protocol by Kathleen Valenti (Henery Press)

Lefty for Best Mystery Novel (not in other categories).

The nominees are:
Blood Truth by Matt Coyle (Oceanview Publishing)
Sulfur Springs by William Kent Krueger (Atria Books) 

Glass Houses by Louise Penny (Minotaur Books)
An Unsettling Crime for Samuel Craddock by Terry Shames (Seventh Street Books)
Cast the First Stone by James W. Ziskin (Seventh Street Books)

The Left Coast Crime Convention is an annual event sponsored by mystery fans, both readers and authors. Usually held in the western half of North America, LCC’s intent is to host an event where readers, authors, critics, librarians, publishers, and other fans can gather in convivial surroundings to pursue their mutual interests. Lefty Awards have been given since 1996.

2017 Lefty Award Nominees

The Lefty awards will be voted on at the convention and presented at a banquet on Saturday, March 18, at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort. Congratulations to all the nominees.

Lefty for Best Humorous Mystery Novel.

This year’s nominees are:

Die Like an Eagle by Donna Andrews (Minotaur Books)

Body on the Bayou by Ellen Byron (Crooked Lane Books)

Fields Where They Lay by Timothy Hallinan (Soho Crime)

The CEO Came DOA by Heather Haven (Wives of Bath Press)

Floodgate by Johnny Shaw (Thomas & Mercer)

A Disguise To Die For by Diane Vallere (Berkley Prime Crime)

Lefty for Best Historical Mystery Novel (Bruce Alexander Memorial) for books covering events before 1960. 

This year’s nominees are:

Crowned and Dangerous by Rhys Bowen (Berkley Prime Crime)

A Death Along the River Fleet by Susanna Calkins (Minotaur Books)

The Murder of Mary Russell by Laurie R. King (Bantam Books)

The Reek of Red Herrings by Catriona McPherson (Minotaur Books)

What Gold Buys by Ann Parker (Poisoned Pen Press)

Lefty for Best Debut Mystery Novel. 

The nominees are

Cleaning Up Finn by Sarah M. Chen (All Due Respect Books)

Terror in Taffeta by Marla Cooper (Minotaur Books)

Murder in G Major by Alexia Gordon (Henery Press)

Decanting a Murder by Nadine Nettmann (Midnight Ink)

Design for Dying by Renee Patrick (Forge)

Lefty for Best Mystery Novel (not in other categories).

The nominees are

Dark Fissures by Matt Coyle (Oceanview Publishing)

Michelangelo’s Ghost by Gigi Pandian (Henery Press)

A Great Reckoning by Louise Penny (Minotaur Books)

The Necessary Murder of Nonie Blake by Terry Shames (Seventh Street Books)

Heart of Stone by James W. Ziskin (Seventh Street Books)

The Left Coast Crime Convention is an annual event sponsored by mystery fans, both readers and authors. Usually held in the western half of North America, LCC’s intent is to host an event where readers, authors, critics, librarians, publishers, and other fans can gather in convivial surroundings to pursue their mutual interests.  Lefty Awards have been given since 1996.

The 27th annual Left Coast Crime Convention will take place in Honolulu, Hawaii, March 16–19, 2017. Faye Kellerman and Jonathan Kellerman will be honoured with Left Coast Crime Lifetime Achievement Awards. This year’s Guests of Honor are authors DanaStabenow (American Guest of Honor) and Colin Cotterill (International Guest of Honor).

Author Laurie R. King will serve as Toastmaster. 

2016 Left Coast Crime “Lefty” Awards winners

Left Coast Crime 2016, “The Great Cactus Caper,” awarded four Lefty awards on Saturday 27 February 2016 at the 26th annual LCC convention, held this year in Phoenix. The full list of nominations can be found here.

Lefty for Best Humorous Mystery Novel (given since 1996)

Lord of the Wings by Donna Andrews (Minotaur Books)

Lefty for Best Historical Mystery Novel (Bruce Alexander Memorial, first given in 2004) for books covering events before 1960.

Malice at the Palace by Rhys Bowen (Berkley Prime Crime)

Lefty for Best LCC Regional Mystery Novel set in the LCC Geographic Region (Mountain Time Zone and all time zones westward to Hawaii)

The Accidental Alchemist by Gigi Pandian (Midnight Ink)

Lefty for Best World Mystery Novel (set outside LCC Geographic Region)

The Nature of the Beast by Louise Penny (Minotaur Books)

The Left Coast Crime Convention is an annual event sponsored by fans of mystery literature for fans of mystery literature, including both readers and authors. Usually held in the western half of North America, LCC’s intent is to provide an event where mystery fans can gather in convivial surroundings to pursue their mutual interests.