The 2026 Fingerprint Shortlist

 

Capital Crime today announced the shortlists for its annual Fingerprint Awards, which champion the very best in crime writing from across the globe, as voted for by readers.

Authors both new and established are represented across the categories, which are Crime Novel of the Year, True Crime Book of the Year, Thriller of the Year, Historical Crime Novel of the Year, Debut Novel of the Year, Audiobook of the Year and Genre-Busting Book of the Year.

The shortlists of five have been selected by the festival’s board members, from a longlist carefully curated by the Tastemakers Committee - a panel of leading independent bloggers and reviewers - who have championed their standout titles across each category. Each selected book had to be first published in English between 1 January and 31 December 2025 to qualify. No fees were charged for selection.

Readers can vote for their preferred winners in each category on the Capital Crime website by Saturday 30th May. The winners will be revealed at the Fingerprint Awards on the evening of Thursday 18th June as part of the Capital Crime festival in London at the Royal Leonardo Hotel, in the shadow of St Paul’s. This year’s Fingerprint Awards ceremony, attended by Capital Crime ticket holders, authors, nominees and leading figures from the publishing industry will be hosted by acclaimed radio and TV broadcaster, and host of The Bookshelf Podcast, Ryan Tubridy.

Leading the overall Crime Book of the Year shortlist are two 2025 Fingerprint winners, M.W. Craven, for The Final Vow, and Vaseem Khan, for Quantum of Menace, featuring the famous Quartermaster from the Bond series. Sunday Times bestseller Sarah Pinborough is shortlisted for We Live Here Now; and they are joined by Liam McIlvanney and Tariq Ashkanani, authors of The Good Father and The Midnight King respectively.

For the Thriller Book of the Year, Lisa Jewell’s Sunday Times bestselling Don’t Let Him In and Virdee creator A.A. Dhand’s The Chemist are up against Human Remains by Jo Callaghan, The Man Made of Smoke by Alex North and Some of Us Are Liars by Fiona Cummins.

Tackling topics as diverse as Lord Byron, the final days of the British Raj, and the Canadian Gold Rush, the shortlist for Historical Crime Book of the Year sees Anthony Horowitz’s Marble Hall Murders, the latest in his bestselling, BBC adapted Magpie Murders series, up against CWA Dagger-winner Abir Mukherjee, for his latest Wyndham and Banerjee mystery The Burning Grounds. Also shortlisted is The Art of a Lie by Laura Shepherd-Robinson; The Rush by Beth Lewis and Dangerous by Essie Fox.

Broadcasters Chris Chibnall and Steph McGovern are both shortlisted for the Debut Crime Novel of the Year, for Death at the White Hart and Deadline, respectively; and are up against Oscar nominated Icelandic screenwriter Jón Atli Jónasson for Broken; Nina Bhadreshwar for The Day of the Roaring and Kelly Mullen for This is Not a Game.

The Genre-Busting Book of the Year shortlist, set up to recognise a book that defies traditional boundaries of crime fiction, and may feature elements of sci-fi, romance or other genres of fiction, sees Kill Them With Kindness by Will Carver and Little Red Death by A.K. Benedict up against Blood Like Ours by Stuart Neville, Small Fires by Ronnie Turner and Manhattan Down by Michael Cordy.

The True Crime Book of the Year shortlist features several books exploring the states of nations through crime, as well as writing intended to recentre the focus on the victims rather than the killers,  including Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, a memoir by Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s most outspoken victim; and A Flower Travelled in My Blood by Haley Cohen Gilliland, chronicling the harrowing events of Argentina’s Dirty War, which saw hundreds of pregnant women kidnapped and disappeared. They are up against Story of a Murder by prize-winning social historian Hallie Rubenhold, focusing on Cora Crippen, the murdered wife of the infamous Doctor Crippen, and the women who brought him to justice; Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers by Caroline Fraser, which explores whether lead exposure was connected to the explosion of serial killers in the Pacific Northwest in the 1970s and 1980s; and A History of Modern Britain in Twenty Murders by Professor David Wilson, the UK’s leading criminologist.

The Audiobook of the Year sees second nominations for both Lisa Jewell and Sarah Pinborough for, respectively, Don’t Let Him In, narrated by Richard Armitage and Joanne Frogatt, and We Live Here Now, narrated by Helen Baxendale and Jamie Glover. They are up against S. A. Cosby’s King of Ashes, narrated by Adam Lazarre-White; Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney, narrated by Richard Armitage and Tuppence Middleton; and Artificial Wisdom by Thomas R. Weaver, narrated by Steven Pacey.

In addition, two further categories will be selected solely by the Capital Crime Advisory Board; the Industry Award of the Year – recognising the best marketing campaign, editorial work, or publishing strategy; and the Thalia Proctor Lifetime Achievement Award – marking an outstanding contribution to the crime writing industry.

The shortlist is as follows - 

Audiobook of the Year

 Don’t Let Him In by Lisa Jewell 

King of Ashes by  S A Cosby

We Live Here Now by Sarah Pinborough 

Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney

Artificial Wisdom by Thomas R. Weaver

True Crime Book of the Year

Story of a Murder by Hallie Rubenhold 

Nobody’s Girl by Virginia Roberts-Guiffre 

Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers by Caroline Fraser 

A History of Modern Britain in Twenty Murders by Prof. David Wilson 

A Flower Travelled in My Blood by Haley Cohen Gilliland 

Debut Crime Book

Broken by Jón Atli Jónasson

Deadline by  Steph McGovern 

Death at the White Hart by Chris Chibnall

The Day of the Roaring by Nina Bhadreshwar

This is Not A Game by Kelly Mullen

Genre-Busting Book

Kill Them with Kindness by Will Carver 

Little Red Death by A. K. Benedict Book

Blood Like Ours by Stuart Neville

Small Fires by Ronnie Turner

Manhattan Down by Michael Cordy 

Historical Crime Book of the Year

The Art of A Lie by Laura Shepherd-Robinson 

The Rush by Beth Lewis 

Dangerous by Essie Fox

Burning Grounds by Abir Mukherjee

Marble Hall Murders by Anthony Horowitz

Thriller Book of the Year

The Chemist by A A Dhand

Don’t Let Him In by Lisa Jewell 

Human Remains by Jo Callaghan 

The Man Made of Smoke by Alex North

Some of Us Are Liars by Fiona Cummins 

Overall Crime Book of the Year

The Midnight King by Tariq Ashkanani

The Final Vow by M W Craven

Quantum of Menace by Vaseem Khan

The Good Father by Liam McIlveney

We Live Here Now by Sarah Pinborough

Congratulations to all the nominate authors.  The winner will be announced on Thursday 18^th June 2026 during the Capital Crime Festival.

Agatha Award Nominees announced

 

The Agatha Award nominees: Malice Domestic. Awards will be announced at Malice Domestic 38, April 24-26, 2026 in Bethesda, MD. 

Congratulations to all the nominated authors.

Bad Apples: Crime Fiction's Enemies and Anti-Heroes

 

The theme for the 33rd St Hilda's Crime Fiction Weekend has been announced

Tickets are now on sale to the general public from 5th January 2026 and the link can be found here.

This is always a wonderful weekend do join us!

2020 Anthony Award Nominees

Bouchercon, the world mystery convention, is pleased to announce the nominees for its prestigious Anthony Award. Awards voting will take place during Virtual Bouchercon, October 16–7, 2020, and the awards will be presented as part of an online ceremony on October 17.

BEST NOVEL
Your House Will Pay, by Steph Cha (Ecco)

They All Fall Down, by Rachel Howzell Hall (Forge)

Lady in the Lake, by Laura Lippman (William Morrow)

The Murder List, by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Forge)

Miami Midnight, by Alex Segura (Polis Books)

BEST FIRST NOVEL

The Ninja Daughter, by Tori Eldridge (Agora Books)

Miracle Creek, by Angie Kim (Sarah Crichton Books)

One Night Gone, by Tara Laskowski (Graydon House)

Three-Fifths, by John Vercher (Agora Books)

American Spy, by Lauren Wilkinson (Random House)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL**

The Unrepentant, by E.A. Aymar (Down & Out Books)

Murder Knocks Twice, by Susanna Calkins (Minotaur)

The Pearl Dagger, by L.A. Chandlar (Kensington)

Scot & Soda, by Catriona McPherson (Midnight Ink)

The Alchemist’s Illusion, by Gigi Pandian (Midnight Ink)

Drowned Under, by Wendall Thomas (Poisoned Pen Press)

The Naming Game, by Gabriel Valjan (Winter Goose Press)

BEST CRITICAL NON-FICTION WORK

Hitchcock and the Censors, by John Billheimer (University Press of Kentucky)

The Hooded Gunman: An Illustrated History of the Collins Crime Club, by John Curran (Collins Crime Club)

The Mutual Admiration Society: How Dorothy L. Sayers and her Oxford Circle Remade the World for Women, by Mo Moulton (Basic Books)

The Trail of Lizzie Borden: A True Story, by Cara Robertson (Simon & Schuster)

The Five: The Untold Stories of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper, by Hallie Rubenhold (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

BEST SHORT STORY

“Turistas,” by Hector Acosta (appearing in ¡Pa’que Tu Lo Sepas!: Stories to Benefit the People of Puerto Rico)

“Unforgiven,” by Hilary Davidson (appearing in Murder a-Go-Gos: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Music of the Go-Go's)

“The Red Zone,” by Alex Segura (appearing in ¡Pa’que Tu Lo Sepas!: Stories to Benefit the People of Puerto Rico)

“Better Days,” by Art Taylor (appearing in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, May/June 2019)

“Hard Return,” by Art Taylor (appearing in Crime Travel)

BEST ANTHOLOGY OR COLLECTION

The Eyes of Texas: Private Investigators from the Panhandle to the Piney Woods, edited by Michael Bracken (Down & Out Books)

¡Pa’que Tu Lo Sepas!: Stories to Benefit the People of Puerto Rico, edited by Angel Luis Colón (Down & Out Books)

Crime Travel, edited by Barb Goffman (Wildside Press)

Malice Domestic 14: Mystery Most Edible, edited by Verena Rose, Rita Owen, and Shawn Reilly Simmons (Wildside Press)

Murder A-Go-Go’s: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Music of the Go-Go's, edited by Holly West (Down & Out Books)

BEST YOUNG ADULT**

Seven Ways to Get Rid of Harry, by Jen Conley (Down & Out Books)

Catfishing on CatNet, by Naomi Kritzer (Tor Teen)

Killing November, by Adriana Mather (Knopf Books for Young Readers)

Patron Saints of Nothing, by Randy Ribay (Kokila)

The Deceivers, by Kristen Simmons (Tor Teen)

Wild and Crooked, by Leah Thomas (Bloomsbury YA)

** This year, there are two categories with more than five nominees. This is the result of a tie for fifth place. When this occurs, according to Bouchercon standing rules, all of the authors who have tied become nominees. 

Congratulations to all the nominated authors

Murder One Ireland's International Crime Writing Festival 1-3 November 2019

Friday 1st November

The Gutter Bookshop 10th Birthday Celebrations @ The Gutter Bookshop

Join Bob Johnston and the Murder One team to celebrate Bob’s 10 years in Temple Bar – an informal evening of chat with some criminally good speeches – rub shoulders with your writer friends and colleagues to celebrate with one of Dublin’s landmark independent bookshops!

The Gutter Bookshop  

Friday 1 November, 6.30pm | Free entry

Booking essential

Saturday 2nd November

Things that Go Bump in the Night: CJ Tudor & Stuart Turton in conversation

with Sinéad Crowley

If you loved The Chalk Man and The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, this is the event for you.  Taking crime fiction in new directions, two incredible authors discuss inspiration, outstanding debuts and spine tingling goings on with bestselling crime author, RTE’s Sinéad Crowley. C.J. Tudor’s debut novel, The Chalk Man, was published by Penguin in January 2018 and was a Sunday Times Bestseller. Her second novel, The Taking of Annie Thorne, was published in February 2019. Stuart Turton’s The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle won the Books Are My Bag Readers Award for Best Novel and the Costa First Novel Award 2018.

Smock Alley Main Space
Saturday 2 November
11.00am -12.00 pm | €12/€10

Destination Murder: Alex Barclay and Lucy Foley with WC Ryan

From a luxury inn on a remote west coast peninsula in Ireland, to a Scottish hunting lodge, these dark stories are told by two of crimes leading female voices. Chaired by WC Ryan, author of House of Ghosts, a man who knows a thing or two about dangerous, lonely places. Lucy Foley’s departure to the dark side is her fourth bestseller, and Alex Barclay, the first lady of Irish crime, brings us her first Irish set standalone in a gripping event that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Smock Alley Main Space
Saturday 2 November
12.30pm-1.30pm | €12/€10

Untold Stories: The Five. Hallie Rubenhold with Joseph O’Connor

Polly, Annie, Elizabeth, Catherine and Mary-Jane are famous for the same thing, though

they never met. They came from Fleet Street, Knightsbridge, Wolverhampton, Sweden and Wales. They wrote ballads, ran coffee houses, lived on country estates, they breathed ink-dust from printing presses and escaped people-traffickers. What they had in common was the year of their murders – 1888 – and their murderer, the man known as Jack the Ripper. Historian Hallie Rubenhold talks to Joseph O’Connor and sets the record straight, giving these women back their stories. Set just ten years previously, in his latest novel Shadowplay, O’Connor reveals the hidden stories of Bram Stoker’s life. Enter the dark world of Victorian London with two eminent authors.

Smock Alley Main Space
Saturday 2 November
2.00pm-3.00pm | €12/€10

Sam Blake’s Fresh Blood Meet three stunning debut authors: Holly Jackson, Catherine Kirwan and James Delargy

Three completely different stories, three completely different books but one passion. Find out how these authors got their break and what made the difference for them. How did they get their ideas and how long did it take to go from idea to bookshelf? From ingenious premise, to writing what you know, do good girls really get away with murder?

Smock Alley Main Space
Saturday 2 November                                                                               

3.30pm-4.30pm | €12/€10

Past Crimes: Jess Kidd, Henrietta McKervey and Paddy Hirsch with Declan Burke

From Things in Jars to Violet Hill, London’s only female detective, via Hudson’s Kill and the Irish gangs of New York, three novelists use the past as a backdrop to their page-turning adventures of deception, danger – and detection. Declan Burke, previously Dublin City of Literature’s Writer in Residence is an award winning author whose latest book is due soon from No Alibi’s Press.

Smock Alley Main Space
Saturday 2 November
5.00pm-6.00pm | €12/€10

Martina Cole in conversation with Breda Brown

Martina Cole’s first novel Dangerous Lady caused a sensation when it was published, and launched one of the bestselling fiction writers of her generation. Twenty-seven years later, Martina has gone on to have more No.1 original fiction bestsellers than any other author. She won the British Book Award for Crime Thriller of the Year with The Take, which then went on to be a hit TV series for Sky 1.  Her new novel No Mercy was published by Headline in October.

Smock Alley Main Space
Saturday 2 November
7.00pm-8.00pm | €12/€10

Sunday 3rd November

All About Agatha: John Curran and Andrew Wilson with Anna Carey

John Curran is one of the world’s leading experts on Agatha Christie and author of Agatha Christie’s Complete Secret Notebooks; Andrew Wilson brings her to life as the protagonist in his fiendishly plotted 1920’s mysteries – as AJ Finn put it, ‘Andrew Wilson’s Christie novels do Dame Agatha proud’. The latest, Death in a Desert Land takes Christie to 1928 Baghdad. Journalist and author Anna Carey discusses the living legend that is Agatha Christie, one of the world’s greatest crime writers with two authors whose lives she has influenced.

Smock Alley Main Space
Sunday 3 November
11.00am-12.00pm | €12/€10

Steve Cavanagh in Conversation with Andrea Carter

Multi award winning author of the phenomenal international bestseller Thirteen, Steve Cavanagh is back this year with Twisted. Barrister turned bestselling crime writer Andrea Carter discusses life, the law and stunning plot twists with one of Ireland’s most brilliant writers.

Smock Alley Main Space
Sunday 3 November
12.30pm-1.30pm | €12/€10

Watching the Detectives: John Banville, Jane Casey and Roz Watkins with

Brian Cliff

Creating brilliant detectives is never easy, especially when so many great writers have left their mark on history. Mutli award winning authors John Banville (Benjamin Black), Jane Casey and Roz Watkins reveal who their fictional favourites are and why, and how they make their own characters stand out.  Brian Cliff is an Assistant Professor of English at Trinity College, Dublin. His most recent book is Irish Crime Fiction (2018), and he has published essays on authors including Emma Donoghue, John Connolly, Tana French, Paul Muldoon, and Deirdre Madden.

Smock Alley Main Space
Sunday 3 November
2.00pm-3.00pm | €12/€10

Staring Death in the Eye: Unnatural Causes, Pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd in conversation with Paul Carson

As the UK’s leading forensic pathologist, Dr Richard Shepherd has faced serial killers, natural disaster, ‘perfect murders’and freak accidents, all in the pursuit of the truth. And while he’s been involved in some of the most high-profile cases of recent times, it’s often the less well-known encounters that prove the most perplexing, intriguing and even bizarre. In or out of the public eye, his evidence has put killers behind bars, freed the innocent and turned open-and-shut cases on their heads. In his bestselling memoir, Richard Shepherd gives a unique insight into a remarkable profession, and above all a powerful and reassuring testament to lives cut short. In conversation with international bestselling crime writer Dr Paul Carson, Shepherd will take you into his world where he stares death in the eye.

Smock Alley Main Space
Sunday 3 November
3.30pm-4.30pm | €12/€10

The Killer Pitch with Literary Agent Simon Trewin

Sam Blake chats to Simon Trewin about what catches an agent’s eye, famous hits and misses and his top ten tips for writing a killer pitch. Giving examples of pitches that worked, find out how to make your book irresistible to a literary agent.

Smock Alley Main Space
Sunday 3 November
5.00pm-6.00pm | €12/€10

CrimeHawks: Three Must-Reads Before You Die

Rick O’Shea quizzes bestselling authors Catherine Ryan Howard, Louise Phillips and Liz Nugent on the three books they each recommend as lifetime must reads, bring your notebooks!

Smock Alley Main Space
Sunday 3 November
6.30pm-7.30pm | €12/€10

More information and how to buy tickets can be found here.

Newsy stuff

Italian author Giorgio Faletti's first two books Io uccido (I Kill) and Io Sono Dio (I am God) have been bought in a two booked deal by Constable. The English rights were bought for an undisclosed 5 figure sum. I Kill which has sold over 5 million copies has been translated into 25 different languages and will be published in June 2010. I am God which will be published in 2011 has so far sold over 700,000 copies. Faletti is a former lawyer, advertising agent and race car drive based in Italy. I Kill was previously published in the United States in June 2008.

Dead Simple the Roy Grace series by Peter James has been sold to a Macedonian publisher. The first book in the series it brings the number of translations of the crimes series up to 32 different languages. The newest edition to the series Dead Like You will be published by Macmillan in the UK in June 2010. Peter James is a best-selling and much published author whose distinguished writing career was initially with mysteries that had an element of the supernatural, most recently he has been a writer of mainstream thriller. He is also the winner of numerous international awards. The film and television rights to the Roy Grace series have been optioned by ITV.

Transworld has acquired a the UK and Commonwealth rights to the historical novel The Confessions of Mrs Lightfoot, with some advice for Women in General by Hallie Rubenhold which is the first in a trilogy. Set in the 18th century it features Henrietta Lightfoot a courtesan, adventuress, spy and former murderess. Billed as a female Flashman the series is set in one of the most interesting and striking periods in history. The Confessions of Mrs Lightfoot, with some advice for Women in General will be published in the Spring of 2011. The author is an authority on 18th Century history.