Autumn 2026 Crime Fiction Awards: Winners, Shortlists, and Longlists

# What this roundup covers This brief collects the award announcements and shortlists published around September 2026 for several English-language and translated crime-fiction prizes. It lists winners where announced and compiles the shortlists and longlists included in the original posts.

# Major winners Frances Crawford's A Bad, Bad Place (Bantam) won both the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize and the McIlvanney Prize (Scottish Crime Novel of the Year). That dual win is noted as a first for these Bloody Scotland awards.

The Savage Noble Death of Babs Dionne (Putnam) the 2026 Dashiell Hammett Prize winner for literary excellence in crime writing. Other nominees for that prize included titles by Megan Abbott, Kelsey Cox, Robert Crais, and Domenic Stansberry.

Award (Mystery category) named A Violent Masterpiece by Jordan Harper (Mulholland Books) the winner. Finalists in that category included works by Justin Halpern, Michael Idov, Thomas Perry, and Gary Phillips.

# Petrona Award shortlist (Scandinavian crime in translation) The Petrona shortlist, announced September 24, 2026, contains seven translated Scandinavian crime novels published in the UK in the prior calendar year. Titles and translators listed in the shortlist are:

• One True Word — Snæbjörn Arngrímsson, tr. Larissa Kyzer (Pushkin Vertigo, Iceland)
• Murder Tide — Stella Blómkvist, tr. Quentin Bates (Corylus Books, Iceland)
• Broken — Jón Atli Jónasson, tr. Quentin Bates (Corylus Books, Iceland)
• Into Thin Air — Ørjan N Karlsson, tr. Ian Giles (Orenda Books, Norway)
• Water — John Ajvide Lindqvist, tr. Michael Meigs (Amazon Crossing, Sweden)
• Ice — Satu Rämö, tr. Kristian London (Zaffre, Finland)
• The Winter Job — Antti Tuomainen, tr. David Hackston (Orenda Books, Finland)

# Ngaio Marsh Award longlist (Best Novel) Zealand entries. Titles on the longlist include works by Tom Baragwanath, Michael Bennett, Chris Blake, Jeffrey Buchanan, Deborah Challinor, Amanda Hampson, Jill Johnson, Liam McIlvanney, Geoff Parkes, Zoe Rankin, Fiona Sussman, and Jennifer Trevelyan. The finalists for Best First Novel and Best Kids/YA were to be announced later.

# Why this matters to readers and buyers

# Quick next steps for readers

• If you follow a prize-specific list, pick the winner or shortlist relevant to your region or preferred subgenre.
• For translated crime fiction, consult the Petrona shortlist for Scandinavian translations to watch for the October 22 announcement.