Anthony Award nominees
CROOKS
by Lou Berney
William Morrow & Company
King of Ashes
by S.A. Cosby
Flatiron Books: Pine and Cedar
The Black Wolf
by Louise Penny
Minotaur Books
Death of an Ex
by Delia Pitts
Minotaur Books
All This Could Be Yours
by Hank Phillippi Ryan
Minotaur Books
WHISKEY BUSINESS
by Adrian Andover
Chestnut Avenue Press
MASK OF THE DEER WOMAN
by Laurie L. Dove
Berkley Books
THE RETIREMENT PLAN
by Sue Hincenbergs
William Morrow & Company
VOICeS OF THE ELYSIAN FIELDS
by Michael Rigg
Level Best Books
HISTORY LESSONS
by Zoe B. Wallbrook
Soho Crime
JULIE CHAN IS DEAD
by Liann Zhang
Atria Books
TRICKS OF FORTUNE
by Lina Chern
Bantam
EDGE
by Tracey Clark
Thomas & Mercer
CRIMSON THAW
by Bruce Robert Coffin
Severn River Publishing
RIVER OF LIES
by James L’Etoile
Oceanview Publishing
THIS VIOLENT HEART
by Heather Levy
Montlake
Six-Armed Robbery
by Ashley-Ruth M. Bernier, in Donna Andrews Presents Malice Domestic: Mystery Most Humorous, Wildside Press
AITA for Using My Husband's Hobby to Teach Him a Lesson
by Mindy Carlson, in Myopic Duplicity: Do the Ends Ever Justify the Means?, Kindle/Audible
Hollywood Prometheus
by Christa Faust, in Crime Ink: Iconic: An Anthology of Crime Fiction Inspired by Queer Icons, Bywater Books
Brotherly Love
by Cheryl A. Head, in Every Day a Little Death: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Stephen Sondheim, Level Short
Finding Jimmy Baldwin
by Cheryl A. Head, in Crime Ink: Iconic: An Anthology of Crime Fiction Inspired by Queer Icons, Bywater Books
The Skies Are Red
by Richie Narvaez, in On Fire and Under Water: A Climate Change Crime Fiction Anthology, Rock and a Hard Place Press
WEll-behaved children seldom make history
by Chris Chan
Level Best Books
Miles in time
by Lee Matthew Goldberg
Wise Wolf Books
THE SCAMMER
by Tiffany D. Jackson
Quill Tree Books
Death in the cards
by Mia P. Manansala
Delacorte Press
Risky pursuit
by Nancy G. West
Fire & Ice Young Adult Books
vacations can be murder: a true crime lover's travel guide to New England
by Dawn M. Barclay
Level Tru
L.A. Coroner: thomas noguchi and death in Hollywood
by Anne Soon Choi
Third State Books
MURDErland: crime and bloodlust in the time of serial killers
by Caroline Fraser
Penguin Press
THE SEcret history of the rape kit: a truce crime story
by Pagan Kennedy
Vintage
Bone Valley: A trust story of injustince and redempiton in the heart of Florida
by Gilbert King
Flatiron Books
Whatever kills the pain
by C.W. Blackwell
Rock and a Hard Place Press
Blood on the bayou: case closed: bouchercon anthology
Don Bruns (ed.)
Down & Out Books
CRIME INK: iconic: an anthology of crime fiction inspired by queer icons
John Copenhaver (ed.) and Salem West (ed.)
Bywater Books
on fire and under water: a climate change crime fiction anthology
Curtis Ippolito et al.
Rock and a Hard Place Press
hollywood kills: an anthology
Adam Meyer (ed.) and Alan Orloff (ed.)
Level Short
The categories are:
- Best Hardcover Novel
- Best Paperback Original/E-Book/ Audiobook Original Novel
- Best Short Story
- Best First Novel
- Best Juvenile or YA
- Best Critical or Nonfiction Work
- Best Anthology or Collection
Voting for the awards will happen at Bouchercon 2026 in October. You must be in attendance to be eligible to vote on the final ballot. The awards will be presented at a live ceremony on Saturday, October 24, 2026.
Congratulations to all the nominees!
