Libba Bray, Caroline Fraser Among 2026 Edgar Allan Poe Award Winners — See the Full List!
Libba Bray, Caroline Fraser Among 2026 Edgar Allan Poe Award Winners — See the Full List!
Carly Tagen-Dye, Lizz SchumerThu, April 30, 2026 at 2:32 PM UTC
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The covers of 'Under the Same Stars' by Libba Bray, 'Murderland' by Caroline Fraser and 'Blood in the Water' by Tiffany D. JacksonCredit: Square Fish; Penguin Press; Scholastic Press -
The Mystery Writers of America have announced the winners of the 2026 Edgar Allan Poe Awards
The annual honor recognized the best mystery fiction, nonfiction and television writing produced in 2025
See the full list of winners here
The winners of the 2026 Edgar Allan Poe Awards have been announced!At the 80th annual Edgar Awards Banquet held in New York City on April 29, the Mystery Writers of America bestowed the annual literary prize, which honored the best mystery fiction, nonfiction and television produced in 2025.The MWA presented additional honors to follow the category awards. Billie Kay Fern's short story “How it Happened,” published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, won the Robert L. Fish Memorial Award, while Hank Phillippi Ryan's novel All This Could Be Yours took home the Simon & Schuster Mary Higgins Clark Award.Joanna Schaffhausen's novel Gone in the Night won the G.P. Putnam's Sons Sue Grafton Memorial Award, while Gwen Florio's A Senior Citizen's Guide to Life on the Run won the Lilian Jackson Braun Memorial Award.
The MWA also announced a series of special awards in January 2026, to honor individual achievement and contributions within the mystery genre. Authors Donna Andrews and Lee Child were announced as the 2026 Grand Masters. California's Book Passage bookstore took home the Raven Award, and Kensington Publishing editor-in-chief John Scognamiglio won the Ellery Queen Award.See the full list of category winners below:Best NovelThe Big Empty by Robert CraisBest First Novel by an American AuthorDead Money by Jakob Kerr
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The cover of 'The Backwater' by Vikki WakefieldCredit: Poisoned Pen Press
Best Paperback OriginalThe Backwater by Vikki WakefieldBest Fact CrimeMurderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers by Caroline Fraser
Best Critical/BiographicalEdgar Allan Poe: A Life by Richard KopleyBest Short Story“Julius Katz Draws a Straight Flush” by Dave Zeltserman
The cover of 'Edgar Allan Poe: A Life' by Richard KopleyCredit: University of Virginia Press
Best JuvenileBlood in the Water by Tiffany D. JacksonBest Young AdultUnder the Same Stars by Libba BrayBest Television Episode Teleplay“Pilot” — Paradise, written by Dan Fogelman
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