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| Image by Bethany Maines |
The Short Mystery Fiction Society is a group of writers, readers, editors, publishers, and others dedicated to the promotion and celebration of mystery and crime short stories. Since 1998, the SMFS has awarded the annual Derringers to outstanding published stories and people who've greatly advanced or supported the form. The inaugural Best Anthology Derringer was presented in 2025.
Society members were allowed two submissions. The anthologies that received the most submissions are the finalists. The winning anthology will be determined via member vote in April and announced May 1. Derringer Award medals will be presented in October at Bouchercon in Calgary, Alberta.
The finalists for the 2026 Best Anthology Derringer Award are
Edited by John Connor
Historically, it would be tricky to define exactly when the concept of the Female Private Investigator first appeared in fiction. But The Female Detective and Revelations of a Lady Detective —both published in 1864, independent of each other—proves that it was a genre whose time had come. And while Miss Gladden may be the first by all of 5 months, it’s Mrs. Paschal who is more the not-so-frail ground breaker —and it should be noted that Conan Doyle was only 5 when these ladies hit the streets.
So what better way to present the modern female investigator than by gathering 15 top class authors and letting them tell you all about the exploits of their creations.
Edited by James M. Jackson
Prepare for twists, reversals, and surprises in Gone Fishin’: Crime Takes a Holiday, The Eighth Guppy Anthology from the 1,100-member Guppy Chapter of Sisters in Crime. The fun starts with the play-on-words subtitle. “Crime Takes a Holiday.” Crime doesn’t enjoy a bit of time off from skulduggery. Oh no. In these twenty-three stories, Crime Steals, Disrupts, Upends, Wrecks, Destroys and/or Shatters a Holiday.
Join the characters as they travel to pristine northern waters and festering southern bayous, rent a creepy house in Maine, take a Galapagos cruise, enjoy sandy beaches and mountain wildernesses, visit exotic locales across the world, or staycation. The stories feature a wide variety of crime fiction, including murder mysteries, psychological thrillers, and cozy capers.
Hollywood is a place full of dreamers—from the wide-eyed actor hoping to land the role of a lifetime to the hard-working writer trying to sell that breakout script. The lowly production assistant eager to finance their first movie to the craft services worker aspiring to be the next Spielberg.
Whoever they are, these people have one thing in common—they are desperate to bring their dreams to fruition, hustling for opportunity, and willing to do anything to get to the next rung on the ladder. Legal or not.
In Hollywood Kills, you'll find shocking short fiction about the dark underbelly of show business—written by those who know it firsthand.
They’ll take you deep inside their cutthroat world, with sixteen stories featuring a producer, sitcom writer, character actor, entertainment lawyer, sound mixer, background actor, aspiring actor, stuntman, casting director, soap opera star, true crime writer, editor, director, production assistant, set caterer, and screenwriting team.
It's a close-up look at the dark side of ambition with an all-star cast of schemers, dreamers, killers, and con artists…and their stories will stick with you long after the credits roll.
Edited by Judy Penz Sheluk
Desire or desperation, revenge or retribution—how far would you go to realize a dream? The twenty-two authors in this collection explore the possibilities, with predictably unpredictable results.
Edited by Curtis Ippolito
Our world is changing dramatically before our eyes.
Increased average global temperatures have wreaked havoc on ecosystems, economies, and people’s lives. Fires rage. Flood waters rise. Storms and heat waves are occurring out-of-season and are becoming increasingly more dangerous and more frequent.
Neighborhoods are being destroyed. People are losing their lives and livelihoods. Still, some politicians, some pundits, and some corporate oligarchs continue to deny reality and refuse to take responsibility and necessary action to mitigate this existential crisis.
Those who did the least to cause this crisis will suffer the most from its consequences.
In On Fire and Under Water, the new crime fiction anthology from Rock and a Hard Place Press, we explore the intersection of climate change and crime, through the lens of fifteen short stories from some of today’s best crime fiction writers. Edited by Anthony Award-winning author Curtis Ippolito and the editorial team at RHP Press, the stories contained within this anthology peel back the curtain on the ways in which climate change impacts real people in their most desperate hour.
Some say the world will end in fire. Some say flood. In On Fire and Under Water, you get both.
Fight or Flight ... what choices will these characters make? Contract killer, serial killer, killer for hire ... or are they everyday people in bad circumstances? Is the ghost in the house out to harm me ... or am I supposed to help them resolve their death?
These 25 stories are filled with everyday people, private investigators, police personnel, husbands and wives, and others who solve crimes and mysteries their own way. A blend of historical, contemporary, paranormal, serious, and humorous, where each story features an Arizona setting.
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Also, our volunteer judges are currently evaluating 495 story submissions to determine the finalists in four categories. Finalist will be announced April 1. The winners will be determined via member vote in April and announced May 1. Derringer Award medals will be presented in October at Bouchercon in Calgary, Alberta.
The story categories are
- Best Flash Story (Up to 1,000 words)
- Best Short Story (1,001 to 4,000 words)
- Best Long Story (4,001 to 8,000 words)
- Best Novelette (8,001 to 20,000 words)
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