Edgar Awards announce 2026 winners

Mystery fiction has a lot of awards, but the Edgars are one of the few that still feel like a genre-wide roll call. They matter because they hit every layer of crime writing at once — novels, debut books, nonfiction, short stories, kids’ books, even TV. The 2026 winners were announced on April 29 at the Marriott Marquis Times Square in New York, and the list landed with a mix of old hands, newer voices, and one very familiar detective duo back on top. (mysterywriters.org) ### What happened? Mystery Writers of America handed out the 2026 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, which honor mystery, crime, and thriller work published or produced in 2025. The headline winner was Robert Crais, who took Best Novel for *The Big Empty*. Other major winners included Jakob Kerr for(mysterywriters.org)Original, and Caroline Fraser for Best Fact Crime. (mysterywriters.org) ### Why is Robert Crais the big name here? Best Novel is the marquee category, and Crais won it for *The Big Empty*, his 20th book featuring Los Angeles investigators Elvis Cole and Joe Pike. That detail matters — this was not a one-off breakout, but a long-running series proving it still(mysterywriters.org)s win also reads like overdue recognition for one of the genre’s most durable names. (kirkusreviews.com) ### Who else won the major book prizes? Jakob Kerr won Best First Novel by an American Author for *Dead Money*. Vikki Wakefield won Best Paperback Original for *The Backwater*. Caroline Fraser took Best Fact Crime for *Murderland: Crime and Bl(kirkusreviews.com)hat spread tells you the Edgars are not just rewarding commercial suspense — they’re also rewarding literary criticism, history, and true crime. (mysterywriters.org) ### What about younger readers? The youth categories were stacked with recognizable names, and the winners were Tiffany D. Jackson for Best Juvenile with *Blood in the Water* and Libba Bray for Best Young Adult with *Under the Same Stars*. That matters because the Edgars have increasingly(mysterywriters.org)ers is being built — not just in adult thrillers, but in school and library markets too. (mysterywriters.org) ### Did TV make the list too? Yes — Dan Fogelman won Best Television Episode Teleplay for the “Pilot” episode of *Paradise*, which streams on Hulu. The Edgars have long included screenwriting, but the category is a reminder that crime storytelling now moves across formats more fluidly tha(mysterywriters.org)detective novel and a magazine short story, and that feels normal now. (mysterywriters.org) ### What were the other notable awards? The Robert L. Fish Memorial Award went to Billie Kay Fern for “How It Happened.” Hank Phillippi Ryan won the Mary Higgins Clark Award for *All This Could Be Yours*. Joanna Schaffhausen took the Sue Grafton Memorial Award for *Gone in the Night*, and(mysterywriters.org)en’s Guide to Life on the Run*. These side categories can look niche, but they often become the booksellers’ and librarians’ cheat sheet for what to hand readers next. (mysterywriters.org) ### Were there lifetime honors too? Yes — and those had been announced earlier, in January. Donna Andrews and Lee Child were named Grand Masters, Book Passage received the Raven Award, and Kensington editor John Scognamiglio received the Ellery Queen Award. Basically, the 2026 Edgars did (mysterywriters.org)ger lineage of crime-writing institutions and careers. (mysterywriters.org) ### So why does this list matter? Because the Edgars are one of the genre’s strongest sorting mechanisms. They tell readers what stood out in 2025, they give publishers and bookstores a fresh marketing hook, and they show where crime writing is broadening — across TV, nonfiction, YA, (mysterywriters.org) winners list says the crime genre is still being driven by both franchise veterans and sharp new arrivals. (mysterywriters.org)