Boston, Massachusetts Mar 18, 2026 (Issuewire.com) - The Chanticleer International Book Awards (CIBAs) has announced that Leta Serafim's acclaimed novel The Nameless Dead is now a CIBA Official Division Finalist!
The Nameless Dead is among a short list of titles chosen as finalists for the CIBA 2025 mystery genre division, the Mystery & Mayhem (“M&M”) Book Awards. Serafim’s book and those of the other finalists are now in competition for the 2025 M&M First Place and Grand Prize Winners.
“I’m delighted that my novel The Nameless Dead has been chosen as a CIBA finalist,” comments author Leta Serafim. “This novel was especially important to me as a topical and timely mystery that is also a celebration of everything I love about Greece. Thank you to the CIBAs for this honor!”
The awards for the First Place Category and Grand Prize Division Winners will be announced at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 18, 2026, in Bellingham, Washington, which will be sponsored by the 2026 Chanticleer Authors Conference. All finalists will also be recognized at the ceremony.
The M&M Book Awards seek out “the best books featuring mystery and mayhem, amateur sleuthing, light suspense, travel mystery, classic mystery,” and more. Serafim’s award as a finalist is another in the string of honors for The Nameless Dead from the series that include a spotlight on 2025 M&M Semi-Finalists, the M&M Short List, the M&M Long List, and now the 2025 M&M Book Awards Finalists.
Combining enthralling suspense with the exotic beauty of the Greek isles, The Nameless Dead is the critically acclaimed new title from mystery writer Leta Serafim, and the fifth book in her popular Greek Islands Mysteries series, in which a young Syrian woman is found dead in an abandoned migrant camp on the Greek island of Chios. As Patronas pursues the killer from an island migrant camp into the shadows of Turkey, he gains a deeper understanding of the hardships of the migrants’ world, leading to the discovery of an evil beyond his expectation. Suspenseful, heart-pounding, and moving, The Nameless Dead is a mystery not to be missed.
The Nameless Dead is available in paperback ($16.95) and eBook ($6.99), and on sale at major bookstores and book sites including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Bookshop.org. It has received rave reviews from Kirkus, Booklife, The Independent Book Review, Indies Today, Clarion Reviews, Blue Ink, and more, and is the winner of the Literary Titan Gold Book Award. Serafim’s Greek Islands Mysteries have also received a Silver Falcon Award, a shortlist honor for the Eric Hoffer Awards, and starred reviews in Publishers Weekly and The Library Journal.
Praise for The Nameless Dead
“An engaging and thought-provoking read... An engrossing mystery that illuminates contemporary immigration issues through traditional crime fiction.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Satisfying breakthroughs happen against the odds when the struggling officers each begin to take their work a little too personally... The vivid, fascinating setting also stands out, with Greek language, culture, cuisine, and landscapes woven beautifully into every chapter.”
—Booklife
“The Nameless Dead is a riveting whodunit rich in compelling characters. This modern detective novel comes with great emotional depth and humanity.”
—Philip Zozzaro, The Independent Book Review
“With gorgeous, lyrical prose that captures the stark beauty and harsh realities of the Aegean, Leta Serafim has crafted a work that is sure to keep mystery fans on the edge of their seats from cover to cover... Plenty of proof that crime fiction can be both thrilling and thought-provoking.”
—K.C. Finn, Indies Today
About Leta Serafim
Acclaimed writer, novelist, and playwright Leta Serafim was a journalist at the Los Angeles Times Washington Bureau before moving to Greece, where she taught art and illustrated books. On her return to the U.S., she wrote for The Boston Globe before turning to fiction, writing the Greek Islands Mystery series that has captivated readers worldwide. She is also the author of the historical novel To Look on Death No More, the children's book Molly Saw a Bear, and the new play Requiem, a two-act drama about Russian poet Anna Akhmatova. She teaches creative writing in the Boston area and continues to spend her summers in Greece. Learn more about her at www.LetaSerafim.net, or at GoodReads, Facebook, Instagram, or Amazon. Learn more about Coffeetown Press at www.Coffeetownpress.com.
About The Mystery & Mayhem Book Awards
The Mystery & Mayhem Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Light-Hearted and Cozy Mysteries and is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (The CIBAs). See this year’s finalists here.
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