The Lefty Awards

The Left Coast Crime “Lefty” Awards are fan awards chosen by registered members of the Left Coast Crime conventions since 1996. Nominations for awards to be presented at each annual convention are made by people registered for that convention and also the immediately prior convention. A ballot listing the official nominees is given to each registrant when they check in at the convention, and final voting takes place at the convention. The ballots are tabulated and that year’s Lefty Awards are presented at the Awards Banquet.

Left Coast Crime 2027 —The Big Chile Rides Again — will be presenting four Lefty Awards at the convention in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Registrants of the Left Coast Crime Conventions in Santa Fe and San Francisco will be able to nominate three titles in each category. The 2027 Lefty Awards will be voted on at the convention and presented at the Awards Banquet on Saturday, April 3, 2027 at the Eldorado Hotel.

Nomination forms will be emailed to all eligible LCC registrants in late December 2026. Only nominations received by January 8, 2027, will be tabulated. The Lefty Award nominees will be announced on January 11, 2027. Final voting will be by paper ballot at the convention in San Francisco.

To be eligible for the 2027 Lefty Awards, the mystery/crime/thriller novels must have been published for the first time in the United States or Canada during 2026, in book or ebook format. (If published in other countries before 2026, a book is still eligible if it meets the US or Canadian publication requirement.)

Triage note: Debut books go into the Debut Mystery Novel category, regardless of other factors. Funny books that are not debuts, go into the Humorous Mystery Novel category, even if historical. Historicals set before 1970 go into the Historical Mystery Novel category. Anything else goes into the final Best Mystery Novel category.

Questions about the Lefty Awards? Email Awards Co-Chairs Lucinda Surber and Stan Ulrich

History of the Left Coast Crime Awards