Davitt Awards 2026 shortlists announced
Sisters in Crime has announced the shortlists for the 2026 Davitt Awards for the best crime books by Australian women.
The shortlisted titles in each category are:
Adult novels
- At Cafe 64 (Shaeden Barry, Echo Publishing)
- Learned Behaviours (Zeynab Gamieldien, Ultimo Press)
- Unbury the Dead (Fiona Hardy, Affirm Press)
- Mad Mabel (Sally Hepworth, Macmillan)
- The Bluff (Joanna Jenkins, Allen & Unwin)
- Melaleuca (Angie Faye Martin, HQ Fiction) (debut)
Nonfiction
- Groomed (Sonia Orchard, Affirm Press)
- Outrageous Fortunes: The Adventures of Mary Fortune, Crime-writer, and Her Criminal Son George (Lucy Sussex & Megan Brown, La Trobe University Press)
- The Red House (Kate Wild, Allen & Unwin)
YA
- What Have They Done to Liza McLean? (Amy Doak, Penguin Random House Australia)
- A Murder Is Going Down (Kate Emery, Allen & Unwin Children’s)
- We Saw What You Started (Carla Salmon, Pan Australia) (debut)
Children’s
- Run (Sarah Armstrong, Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing)
- True South (Gisela Ervin-Ward, MidnightSun Publishing) (debut)
- The Girl and the Ghost (Jacqueline Harvey, Penguin Random House Australia)
- The Wicked Ship (Oceanforged #1) (Amelia Mellor, Affirm Kids).
Judges’ chair Ruth Wykes said, “The shortlist showcases everything that’s exciting about Australian women crime writers in 2026. These stories are beautifully written. They are highly original and thought-provoking and reflect many of the challenges, conflicts, and often the things we love best, about contemporary Australian culture”.
Winners of each category award – along with recipients of additional awards for best debut and the readers’ choice award – will be announced at a gala dinner at Stamford Plaza in Melbourne on 12 September, presented by Dervla McTiernan and hosted by Louise Milligan.
Last year’s winners include To the River (Vikki Wakefield, Text), The Lasting Harm: Witnessing the Trial of Ghislaine Maxwell (Lucia Osborne-Crowley, Allen & Uunwin), Into the Mouth of the Wolf (Erin Gough, HGCP), The Midwatch (Judith Rossell, HGCP), What I Would Do to You (Georgia Harper, Vintage) and What Happened to Nina? (Dervla McTiernan, HarperCollins).
More information about the awards is available on the Sisters in Crime website.
Category: Awards Local news
