About the CWC Awards of Excellence
Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence were established in 1984 and are presented annually by the CWC. The Awards are for CRIME WRITING and are not restricted to mystery writing. Crime-writing encompasses far more than the traditional whodunit. The crime genre includes crime, detective, espionage, mystery, suspense, and thriller writing, as well as fictional or factual accounts of criminal doings and crime-themed literary works.
The Awards are presented annually and are open to permanent residents of Canada and Canadian citizens living abroad.
The categories for the 2026 Awards are:
- The Peter Robinson Award for Best Crime Novel with a $1000 prize
- Best Crime First Novel, sponsored by Melodie Campbell with a $1000 prize
- Best Crime Novel Set in Canada sponsored by Shaftesbury with a $500 prize
- The Whodunit Award for Best Traditional Mystery sponsored by Jane Doe with a $500 prize
- Best Crime Short Story with a $200 prize
- The Best French Language Crime Book sponsored by Carrick Publishing with a $500 prize
- Best Juvenile/YA Crime Book sponsored by Superior Shores Press with a $250 prize
- The Brass Knuckles Award for Best Nonfiction Crime Book sponsored by David Reid Simpson Law Firm (Hamilton) with a $300 prize
- Best Unpublished Crime Novel manuscript written by an unpublished author sponsored by ECW Press with a $500 prize
2026 Category Note: The Best Crime Novella category is not available for submissions this year. It will return for the 2027 awards cycle, which will accept novellas published in both 2025 and 2026.
SUBMISSION RULES SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY
For more information about the annual awards, please contact us at awards@crimewriterscanada.com
To view the current press release for the awards, click here.
THE 2026 AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE SHORTLISTS
The Peter Robinson Award for Best Crime Novel
With a $1000 prize
Sue Hincenbergs, The Retirement Plan, HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Jen Sookfong Lee, The Hunger We Pass Down, McClelland & Stewart
Tamara L. Miller, Into the Fall, Thomas and Mercer
Louise Penny, The Black Wolf, Minotaur Books
Eddy Boudel Tan, The Tiger and the Cosmonaut, Viking Canada
Best Crime First Novel
Sponsored by Melodie Campbell with a $1000 prize
Ray Critch, The Beltane Massacre, Breakwater Books
Jan Field, Yesterday’s Lies, La Cloche Publishing
Joel Nedecky, The Broken Detective, Run Amok Crime
David L. Tucker, A Painting to Die For, Otter & Osprey Press
A.L. Wahdel, Too Dark For the Light, Butterfly 80 Publishing
Best Crime Novel Set in Canada
Sponsored by Shaftesbury with a $500 prize
Lis Angus, That Other Family, Next Chapter
Angela Douglas, Every Fall, EOB Publishing
Uzma Jalaluddin, Detective Aunty, HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
C.S. Porter, Salt on Her Tongue, Vagrant Press
Chevy Stevens, The Hitchhikers, St. Martin’s Press
The Whodunit Award for Best Traditional Mystery
Sponsored by Jane Doe with a $500 prize
Shelley Adina, The Engineer’s Nemesis, Moonshell Books
Mel Anastasiou, Stella Ryman and the Search for Thelma Hu, Pulp Literature Press
Alice Fitzpatrick, A Dark Death, Stonehouse Publishing
Laury Silvers, Some Justice: A Ghazi Ammar Medieval Mystery, Independently Published
Iona Whishaw, The Cost of a Hostage, TouchWood Editions
Best Crime Short Story
Sponsored by Crime Writers of Canada with a $200 prize
Lis Angus, Under the Circumstances, A Capital Mystery Anthology, Ottawa Press and Publishing
Madeleine Harris Callway, The Lost Diner, Pulp Literature, Issue 47, Summer 2025
Barbara Fradkin, Cold Shock, A Capital Mystery Anthology, Ottawa Press and Publishing
Billie Livingston, The Headache, Dark Yonder, Issue 11, Nov. 2025
Sylvia Maultash Warsh, Polly Wants a Freaking Cracker, Malice Domestic: Murder Most Humorous, Wildside Press
Best French Language Crime Book
Sponsored by Carrick Publishing with a $500 prize
Chrystine Brouillet, Le regard des autres, Druide
André Jacques, Jeux d’ombres, Druide
Steve Laflamme, La mémoire du labyrinthe, Libre Expression
Maureen Martineau, Une nuit d’été à Littlebrook, Héliotrope
Martin Michaud, Delta Zéro, Libre Expression
Best Juvenile / YA Crime Book
Sponsored by Superior Shores Press with a $250 prize
Charis Cotter The Mystery of the Haunted Dancehall, Tundra Books
Vicki Grant, Death by Whoopee Cushion, Tundra Books
Claire Hatcher-Smith, The Mizzy Mysteries: A Skeleton in the Closet, Tundra Books
Tanya Lloyd Kyi, The City of Lost Cats, Tundra Books
John Lekich, Bark Twice for Murder, Orca Book Publishers
The Brass Knuckles Award for Best Nonfiction Crime Book
Sponsored by David Reid Simpson Law Firm (Hamilton) with a $300 prize
Robert Cree with Therese Greenwood, The Many Names of Robert Cree: How a First Nations Chief, Brought Ancient Wisdom to Big Business and Prosperity to His People, ECW Press
John L. Hill, Acts of Darkness: Notorious Criminals, Their Defenders, Prosecutors, and Jailers, Durvile & UpRoute
Kathleen Lippa, Arctic Predator: The Crimes of Edward Horne Against Children in Canada’s North, Dundurn Press
Lorna Poplak, On the Lam: Great (and Not So Great) Escapes from Prison, Dundurn Press
Julian Sher & Lisa Fitterman, Hitman: The Untold Story of Canada’s Deadliest Assassin, HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Best Unpublished Crime Novel manuscript written by an unpublished author
Sponsored by ECW Press with a $500 prize
Anne Burlakoff, Val's Story
William Hall, The Less You Know
Francis K. Lalumière, Lens Flare
Barbara Stokes, Death Scent
Isabelle Zimmermann, Blistered
Winners Announced: May 29th, 2026
CWC would like the thank our sponsors for their support, as well as the publishers and authors without whom there would be no Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence.
