Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Readers' Choice Award
Winner will be announced at the 2026 Killer Nashville Awards Dinner on August 22, 2026 in Nashville, Tennessee
Has your book made it to the Readers’ Choice Award nominees list? Promote it on your website and social media using our Killer Nashville Readers’ Choice Award image!
THE 2026 NOMINEES
Novel Threat / Traci Abramson
Victim #8 / Traci Abramson
Reconnect / Traci Abramson
Royal Intrigue / Traci Abramson
Shadows of Trust / Traci Abramson
Empty Boxes / Robin Acton
Chasing Shadows / A.C. Adams
Nest of Thieves / Jules Adrienn
Love at First Spark / Helen Aitken
e-llegal Treasures / C.V. Alba
Amish Country Killer / Mary Alford
Flashes of a Dying Hour / Lynda Allen
The Bleeding Woods / Brittany Amara
Barracuda Bay / Carmen Amato
Traitor in the Lake / Carol Amorosi
Ghosts in the Glades / Staci Andrea
Touch of the Elegrian / Cheryl Arko
Haunted by a Broken Oath / Dee Armstrong
Blame It On Paris / Helen B. Aitken
The Woke and the Dead / Mark Bacon
Without a Shadow of Doubt / Kathleen Bailey
The Guilty Sleep / Jeremy Baker
The Vatican Deal / Michael Balter
Vacations Can Be Murder: A True Crime Lover's Travel Guide to New England / Dawn Barclay
Shanghai Sunset The Great Adventures of Breeze Lee (Book 1) / Sharon Barnes
The Dragon's Lair / Sharon Barnes
Deadly When Disturbed / D. M. Barr
Better Off Dead: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Elton John and Bernie Taupin (Volume 1) / D. M. Barr
She Had To Die / Rebecca Barrett
Deep Orange Cover: The Allegiance / Joel Barrows
The Enemy Within / Julie Bates
Beneath The Rings Joe / Battaglia
Welcome to Cottonmouth / Jay S. Bell
SWIPE / R.G. Belsky
Swimming With Manatees / Bill Bennett
Killer Cache / Michelle Bennington
Pearl Bound / Natalie Bergman
Fighting Words: Bruisers, Brawlers, & Bad Intentions / Scott Blackburn, edt.
The Price of Freedom / Michael C. Bland
What If It's True / D. M. Bourgeois
The Terror of Roan / Jodi Bowersox
Time Agents: Alterations / Jodi Bowersox
The Girl Goes Home / Dorian Box
Deadly Exploits / Janet Boydell
The Last Hamilton / Jenn Bregman
Whatever It Takes / Alan Brenham
Mirror Image (Bennett Auction Series) / Kay Brooks
Cut Them Down / T.G. Brown
The Forbidden Heiress / Gledé Browne Kabongo
Line of Succession / David Bruns
The Peeper / John Bukowski
Bad Pennies / John Bukowski
Whiz Kid: A Novel / Joel Burcat
Snake Wife / Samantha Burgess-Smith
The Villain's Journey-How to Create Villains Readers Love to Hate / Debbie Burke
Chase Harlem / Elise Burke Brown
The Pilgrim: A Tale of the 3M Detective Agency / Thomas Burns
Cult! A Natalie McMasters Mystery / Thomas Burns
For Every Evil Under The Sun / Alexandra Burt, V.P. Chandler, Laura Oles
Shot Full of Love / Charnel Burton
Deadly Secrets at Ballyford Castle / Ellen Butler
Devil in the Dunes / Wendy Byard
Questioner / Steve C. Posner
Tough Fluff - Fluff and Flowers Mystery 1 / Sheryl C.D. Ickes
Deadly Fortune / Jared Cade
The Not So Frail Detective Agency / Sandra J. Cady
DoubleHelix / JL Calder
How to Fake a Haunting / Christa Carmen
The Cost of Peace for Gods and Men / T.H. Casperson
Well-Behaved Children Seldom Make History / Chris Chan
Sherlock Poems: The Complete Adventures of Sherlock Holmes in Verse / Chris Chan
Junior: A Son of the Gulf Cartel / Mike Chavarria
Everyone in the Group Chat Dies / L. M. Chilton
Streets of Nashville / Michael Cody
Midnight Somewhere / Johnny Compton
The Thanjavur Incident / David Cornish
Broken Things / Diane Corso
A Spy Inside the Castle / MB Courtenay
Proof / Jon Cowan
Bye Bye Blackbird / Elizabeth Crowens
The Demonologists' Legacy / K. Scott Culpepper
Jigsaw Man / Bill Cusano
The Old Cranberry Ladies Garden Club: The Widow Murderess / Bill Cusano
Night Flight / Anne Da Vigo
Downstate / Jeffery Deaver
Super Natural Crimes Unit: NYPD / Keith R. A. DeCandido
Deadly Route / Karen DeVanie, Anne Varner
Unbroken Circle / C. S. Devereaux
Knights in Manhattan / Kay DiBianca
Karma Never Sleeps / R John Dingle
Wings of Madness / R John Dingle
Colorado K-9 Rescue / Kathleen Donnelly
Every Fall / Angela Douglas
Sins in Black / Dita Dow
Devil's Hand / Lori B. Duff
A Dead Draw / Robert Dugoni
Welcome to Murder Week / Karen Dukess
Hungerstone / Kat Dunn
The Warbler / Sarah Beth Durst
Broken Alliance / David E Graham
Wildwood Exit / Joel E. Turner
Alibis collection / Kjersti Egerdahl, edt.
Murder in the Mix / Carolyn Eichhorn
Ebola: A Microbial Mystery / Millicent Eidson
Kaua'i Storm / Tori Eldridge
Last Seen / J.T. Ellison
The Sins We Inherit / Carlo Emanuele
Meet the Kellys: The True Story of Machine Gun Kelly and his Moll Kathryn Thorne / Chris Enss
After Pearl / Stephen Eoannou
Whisper of Treasure and Lies / Trish Esden
Boiling Point / Ley Esses
Do Not Resuscitate / Scott Eveloff
The Substance of Fear / Richard F. McGonegal
SERAPH / Cheryl Fallin
Dead Cold / Lisa Fantino
Winning Hand / Mike Faricy
The Secret of the Angel Who Died at Midnight / Rosy Fenwicke
Exposure of Obsession / Lila Ferrari
Memories of a Hunter's Moon / M. Flagg
Soldiers of Babylon / Dan Flanigan
Incident at Cougar Creek / Mary Flodin
Those Who Chose Evil / Kate Flora
Nearly Legal / Kate Francis
Photograph / Brian Freeman
Shaw Connolly Lives to Tell / Gillian French
The Golden Age of Magic / Luanne G. Smith
Fleet Landing / Wendy Gee
The Summer Guests / Tess Gerritsen
Twisted Tales / James Glass
Eight Pieces of Eight / Rick Glaze
Only Way Out / Tod Goldberg
The End of the World As We Know It / Christopher Golden, Brian Keene
With Our Bellies Full and the Fire Dying / Debra H. Goldstein
Eye of the Storm / Charles Gomez
Cold Case in Cook County / David Goodlett
Parts Unknown / Karen S. Gordon
The Silent Trumpet / Bill Gormley
Diamond in the Ruf / Cindy Goyette
Shifting Tides / J. Reid Graham
Doppelgänger Jumper / Judy Lyn Gregg
Cabal / Sean Hagerty
Maiden Voyage / Bradley Harper
The Haunting of Emily Grace / Elena Hartwell
Murder in Maplewood / Jade Hawthorne
Splintered Justice / Kim Hays
Bump and Run / Richard Helms
Waylaid on Whidbey Island / Laurie Herlich
No Mercy for the Innocent / Nancy Herriman
The Ruby Cradle / James L Hill
The Moth and Other Tantalizing Tales / James L Hill
A Walk in the Dark / Roy M. Hiller
Nether Land: High School Temptation, Insurance Haze, Stolen Resolution, and Murder / Kem Hinton
Island Endgame / Rebecca Hodge
Friends Helping Friends / Patrick Hoffman
Intentionally / D. W. Hogan
The Thunder Head / Dwight Holing
Wizard of Most Wicked Ways / Charlie N. Holmberg
Meringues, Matrimony and Murder / Polly Holmes
There Will Be Pirates / Stacey Horan
The Killing Fields of East New York / Stacy Horn
Her Burning Lies / Pamela Fagan Hutchins
Chaos From the Cosmos / Pål A. Hvistendahl
Blood on the Wire / Candace Irving
Gone Fishin': Crime Takes a Holiday / James M. Jackson, Ed.
The Real Dreamwalker Presents: El Nino / Ashlyn Jacobs
A Walking Shadow / Teel James Glenn
No Easy Way Back / Josh Jensen
The Miner's Myth / Russell Johnson
Dark Honor / Kay Johnson
Spare the Rod / Russell Jones
The Diva of Mud Flats / Jonni Jordyn
Speak Her Name: Stories From a Life in True Crime / Mary Jumbelic
86 The Chef / Adam K. Watson
Don't Tell Me How to Die / Marshall Karp
Death By Mistake: A Josiah Reynolds Mystery / Abigail Keam
Killer Tracks / Mary Keliikoa
Raven / Robert T. Kelley
The Fact Checker / Austin Kelley
The Nascent Bloom: Book 1 Caught / Evie Kelley
Erie Ending / Christy J. Kendall
A Suitable Spy / Arthur Kerns
The Moorwitch / Jessica Khoury
Snake-Eater / T. Kingfisher
Bonedale / Patrick Kitson
Corvus / Marko Kloos
Murder on the Green / Christine Knapp
Murder at First Light / Christine Knapp
Minus One / Mark Kolody
Chasing Justice / Rena Koontz
Shroud of Ice / Sharon Krasny
Smoked by Scotch / Lucy Lakestone
Beach Blanket Bedlam / John Lamb
Terror in Desert Skies / Kathryn Lane
Chilled to the Bone / B.D. Lawrence
Nightshade / Lynessa Layne
Revenge on Ice / Linda LeBlanc
Butterfly Pinned / Leslie Liautaud
Women Like Us / Katia Lief
Beyond the Gates: An HOA Mystery / Linda Lovely
Rule One / Michael Lucker
A Dagger of Lightning / Meredith Lyons
Cops & Robbers / Justin M. Kiska
Darkness on Magnolia Lake / Kerry Malone
Unstoppable / Michael Maloof
Murder with a Glass of Malvasia / Alexander Marriott
The Black Friars / Aaron McAfee
Bullets In The Water / Conor McAnally
Where Evil Waits / Dianne McCartney
The Twilight Town: A Dallas '63 Novel / Terrence McCauley
The Room at the End of the Hall / Susan McCormick
Frailty of Fact Liz / McCoy Hamilton
Not Good People / Audra McElyea
Hang on St. Christopher / Adrian McKinty
El Guapo Lives! / M. K. McQueenie
Earthbound: The Obstacles to Human Space Exploration and the Promise of Artificial Intelligence / Dennis Meredith
The Wedding Planner's Secret / Teresa Michael
Her Dark Christmas / Addison Michael
The Summit Society / Lisa Miller
The Education of Asa Paxton: Coming of Age in the Heart of Dixie / Gary Minder
The Second Son / Paula Minydzak
Imber / Deborah Mistina
Needle and Bone / Tonya Mitchell
Parrot Prose: A Coral Shores Veterinary Mystery / DL Mitchell
Untied Lines: A Mick Nassau Key West Mystery / DL Mitchell
Dying Cry: A Timber Creek K-9 Mystery / Margaret Mizushima
The Forbidden Strain / Brian Montross
Giant Steps / Patrick H. Moore
A Love this Grim / Elora Morgan
Too Cursed to Kiss / J. Morgyn White
Earth Mover / J.C. Murphey
The Murderer's Girl / K.L. Murphy
Villain in the Vineyard / Judy L. Murray
Eight Minutes: A Novel / Gregory N Whitis
The Shattered King / Charlie N. Holmberg
The Fatal Saving Grace: An Ed Earl Burch Novel / Jim Nesbitt
Psycho-logist / Diana Nuri
Pudding Heroes: The Rising Child / Steven Ochs
Grabtown / Sarah P. Blanchard
The Conjurer's Wife / Sarah Penner
Hard Town / Adam Plantinga
Eerie Basin / Ivy Pochoda
The Cézanne Chihuahua / D.R. Ransdell
The Seven Gates of Guinee / Martha Reed
Dead Man's Hand: Aces & Eights Collected Short Stories II / Martha Reed
The At tic, A Flip or Flop Mystery / Lynda Rees
Red Moscow / R. C. Reid
Treasures in Time / Susan Reiss
Proscription / JJ Renek
Mrs. Oliver's Twist / Saralyn Richard
The Last Beach Town / Deb Richardson-Moore
Remote: The Six / Eric Rickstad
After the Ocean / Lauren Rico
Voices of the Elysian Fields / Michael Rigg
Murder in Fifth Position / Lori Robbins
Crimson Thaw / Bruce Robert Coffin
The Perfect Divorce / Jeneva Rose
S'more Love: A Sentient Food Billionaire Why Choose Romance / K. Rose
Down to the Bone / Caitlin Rother
Murder May I / Cathy Rueter
Wyoming Double Jeopardy / Juno Rushdan
Big Sky Slayer / Juno Rushdan
Dead Weight / Richard Rybicki
Water Grave / Mitchell S. Karnes
The Women Who Stand Between / Jeannee Sacken
All’s Faire In Love And Murder / Cindy Sample
It's Not Even Past / Anna Scotti
Airplane, Atlanta & an Assassin / Mary Seifert
Deadly Vision / T.D. Severin
The Burial Tide / Neil Sharpson
A Change In Destiny: Dark Suspicions / Janet Shawgo
My Sister's Quilt / Janet Shawgo
Damage Control / Kirsten Shuford
Transplant / Deborah Siminou
Missing Mom / Lynn Slaughter
Her Final Gamble / Mary V. Slinkard
The Unfavored Children's Club / BJ Sloan
Malice / Sharon Smith
Beyond the Enemy / BK Spencer
Broke Road / Matthew Spencer
Count My Lies / Sophie Stava
Gold Miner's Daughter / Rick Steeby
The White Feather Murders / Laraine Stephens
No Good Time A Nick Donahue Adventure / Cathi Stoler
Midnight for Justice (Warren & Carmichael Legal Thrillers) / Charlotte Stuart
In$urance Blues (A John Smith Mystery) / Charlotte Stuart
Unicorns Can Be Deadly (A Discount Detective Mystery / Charlotte Stuart
Raven's Legacy (A Jonah St. Clair Mystery) / Charlotte Stuart
Descartes' Shadow / Don Stuart
Dirty Hazel and the Cat Woman / Dana Summers
A Great Reckoning / Dale T. Phillips
The Lost Hours / Lynn Tavernier
Speak with the Dead / E. C. Taylor
The Faker's Guide to Survival / Caroline Taylor
Hypocrisy / A.J. Thibault
The Battle of the Smokehouse (Book II of the Kentucky Blood Series) / Ashley Thomas Sheikh
Honeysuckle and Bone / Trisha Tobias
HAVOC: Trouble on the Trail / Cam Torrens
The First to Die / Suzanne Trauth
Boss Brooks: A True Story of Fraud, Family and Forgiveness from Tennessee to Texas / Kathy Turner
The Cold Winter: Battle of Niagara Falls / Chris Underwood
The Kill Clause / Lisa Unger
Digital Soul / Vincent Valkier
The Scrolls of Time / Joss Walker
Tourist Season / Brynne Weaver
The Wretched and Undone / J. E. Weiner
Justice For The Forgotten / R. Weir
Risky Pursuit / Nancy G. West
The Violence of Sound / Jeff Wheeler
The Alchemy of Fate / Jeff Wheeler
Seven For a Secret Never To Be Told / Derek Wheeless
Allure of Elegance / R. F. Whong
The Bone Witcher of Knob Mountain / Becki Willis
Whispers of the Unseen Watcher / Adam Wilson
The Fire Diamond / CB Wilson
Seams Like the Perfect Crime / Lois Winston
The Butcher And The Liar / SL Woeppel
All That Lies Beneath / D.L. Wood
The Book of Christmas Joy / Darrow Woods
Night Watcher / Daphne Woolsoncroft
Omniviolence / Jones Worthington
Deadly Odds 8.0 / Allen Wyler
Two Birds, One Stone / Janet Yeager
Killing Me Slothly / Melissa Yi
2026 Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Readers’ Choice Award
Every year Killer Nashville receives hundreds of submissions for our Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award competition for best books of the previous year. It takes several rounds of judging by industry professionals to determine the winner(s). However, the Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Readers’ Choice Award is different. This is your chance to vote for YOUR Top 10 favorites! You may vote for up to 10 titles, but you can only vote once. Spread the word and encourage other fans to vote! Voting is open until midnight Friday, July 31st, 2026.
“Killer Nashville was a runaway favorite among our readers, earning more votes than any other event on our list and attracting writers, agents, editors, fans of crime and thriller literature, and forensic experts from across the country every year.”
“When The Devil’s Bible won the Killer Nashville Silver Falchion, I was overwhelmed with gratitude. Having a group of your peers affirm your work gives you the kind of confidence boosts that lasts—even in those darker times of self-doubt when it’s just you and your computer.”
“I started writing at the age of sixty-three, so I was anxious to hit the ground running as an author. The Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award has clearly advanced my career and I encourage others to reach for their dreams and to seek the recognition this award bestows. Keep writing! ”