The Kiss of Death Chapter of RWA is happy to announce the 2026 Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense Contest will open February 14, 2026.  

The Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense is named for Daphne du Maurier, the author of Rebecca, a suspense novel with romantic and gothic overtones and a precursor to today’s romantic suspense. The writing contest is for published and unpublished authors of mystery, suspense, and thrillers with or without romantic subplots.

The contest provides helpful feedback by trained judges. Winning or placing in the competition adds a boost to the entrant’s writing career. There are two divisions within the contest: Published and Unpublished. Entries should be received between February 14, 2026 – March 31, 2026. Finalists for each division will be announced in May [Unpublished] and June [Published]. Winners are traditionally announced during the Awards Ceremony at the Death by Chocolate Party held annually during the RWA® National Conference in July. 

In 2021, we held a YouTube livestream of the Awards Ceremony. You can watch the recording here.

Categories

• Short Romantic Mystery/Suspense: works with a central romance that have a word count of 40k-65k.
• Historical Romantic Mystery/Suspense: works over 65,000 words with a central romance set in a time that predates the end of World War II.
• Mainstream Mystery/Suspense: works over 65,000 words where the mystery/suspense is the main plot.
• Paranormal (PTTF) Romantic Mystery/Suspense: works over 65,000 words with a central romance and in which paranormal, fantasy, time travel, and/or futuristic Relements play a significant role.
• Long Romantic Mystery/Suspense: works with a central romance that have a word count of 65k and above.
• Novella Mystery/Suspense: works between 25,000 and 40,000 words where the mystery/suspense is the main plot. The novella may have other elements, such as romance, paranormal, historical, or contemporary.

Division Specific

*Announcement*

As many of you have noticed, there has been an ongoing website issue that is taking longer to fix than anticipated. On February 14th, 2026 AT 5:00PM PST  the Daphne du Maurier Chair, and the Kiss of Death Treasurer will implement an alternative entry process. We are also extending the entry deadline until March 31, 2026. Finalists will be announced in May 2026, and Winners will be announced  in Albuquerque, New Mexico during the awards ceremony held at our Death by Chocolate Event The week of July 12, 2026. (Exact time and date TBD)

We do appreciate all of our potential entrants, and their excitement to enter the contest, as we were once in that same position. This process is being done to allow us to move forward while the website issue is being worked on, that way we can open the contest and proceed as planned.

Remember to read the Updated Rules [Published & Unpublished]

Step 1: Fill out the Google Entry Form [Published & Unpublished].

Step 2: Pay the invoice you will be sent via PayPal. You do not have to have a PayPal account to pay an invoice. International Entries may see a delay in invoicing. Communication will be provided by the Treasurer.

Step 3: A member of the contest committee will reach out to you for your entry submission file.

If you have any questions feel free to email either the Contest Chair at KODContest@gmail.com or Treasurer at KOD144Treasurer@gmail.com. 

The Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense – 2025 Finalists 

PUBLISHED DIVISION:

COZY MYSTERY SUSPENSE FINALISTS

Charlie’s Secrets — Lorena McCourtney

The Burning of Rosemont Abbey — Naomi Stephens

Ghost Appeal — Louisa West

HISTORICAL & PARANORMAL ROMANTIC MYSTERY/SUSPENSE FINALISTS

Charlotte and the Seductive Spymaster — Grace Calloway

With Winter Comes Darkness — Robbi Neal

A Hope Unburied— Kimberley Woodhouse

LONG ROMANTIC SUSPENSE FINALISTS

Don’t Look Back —Rachel Grant

Stolen Beauty —Isabel Jolie

Locked Down— Lori Matthews

MAINSTREAM FINALISTS

The Third Estate Secrets of the Manor — D R Berlin 

Shady Justice — Rena Koontz

Cold Vengeance—Nancy Mehl

NOVELLA & SHORT ROMANTIC SUSPENSE FINALISTS

Tracking the Missing — Sami A. Abrams

Raider Unleashed— Lori Matthews

Wyoming Undercover Escape — Juno Rushdan

We asked our 2023 finalists what their favorite writing craft books were, and asked our published finalists to share writing advice. You can read their answers by clicking HERE.