The Crime Writers’ Association

The Margery Allingham Short Mystery Competition

Every year since 2014, the CWA and the Margery Allingham Society have jointly held an international competition for a short story of up to 3,500 words.

Our mission is to find the best unpublished short mystery, and not only that, but one which fits into Golden Age crime writer Margery Allingham’s definition of what makes a great mystery story.

The Mystery remains box-shaped, at once a prison and a refuge. Its four walls are, roughly, a Crime, a Mystery, an Enquiry and a Conclusion with an Element of Satisfaction in it. Margery Allingham

2025 longlist

Title Author
The Human Imperative Michael Bird
Desmond Astonishes Stacy Brown
Best Served Cold Ajay Chowdury
The Treasure Hunter Jane Corry
Only Forward Hayley Dunning
You Think You Know Someone Leigh Gorelik
Unsupervised Dead Women Helen Gray
Dinosaur Emma Johnson
Tinkerbell Is Dead Linda Mather
Your Time’s Up Laila Murphy
An Ideal Murder Emma O’Driscoll
A Woman of No Consequence Laure Van Rensberg

Dates for your diary



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