Juliet Dillon Clark takes First Place at The BookFest Awards for Bad Lie

Juliet Dillon Clark won First Place at The BookFest Awards Fall 2026 for her thriller Bad Lie in the Fiction – Thriller – Crime & Legal category. The honor adds recognition for the Salt Lake City author and her golf-themed crime novel as The BookFest continues to spotlight literary work.

Why it matters: - The award gives Juliet Dillon Clark national recognition for Bad Lie in a competitive thriller category. - The BookFest uses its awards to spotlight authors and creative work that it sees as shaping contemporary literature. - The win may help raise the profile of Bad Lie with readers who follow crime fiction, thrillers, and golf-centered stories.

What happened: - Juliet Dillon Clark won First Place at The BookFest Awards Fall 2026 for the book Bad Lie. - The book was honored in the Fiction – Thriller – Crime & Legal category. - The BookFest announced the result on Nov. 4, 2026. - The announcement said readers can find more information and the list of winners on the Awards Page.

The details: - Bad Lie opens with a Masters win, a damaging lie, and a chain of consequences that follow the main character. - Clark said she wanted to write the golf mystery she could not find on the shelf, blending a green jacket, a gambling debt, and a killer who knows what the jacket is worth. - Desireé Duffy, founder of The BookFest, said authors and creatives deserve recognition for the stories they help shape and the empathy literature can create. - Duffy also said the competition was fierce and called Clark's win a stellar accomplishment. - Clark writes the Lindsay Carter thrillers and describes them as “literary puzzles with people.” - Clark said the character Lindsay Carter was inspired in part by a close friend who worked Malibu patrol for the L.A. County sheriff. - Clark is the founder of Superbrand Publishing. - Clark lives in Salt Lake City, writes at sunrise, holds a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, and said she is great at hiking and terrible at golf.

Between the lines: - The BookFest is positioning its awards as both a literary honor and a way to reinforce its broader mission around reading, writing, and storytelling. - The category placement suggests Bad Lie is being recognized not just as a thriller, but as a niche crime story with a sports angle. - Clark's own golf joke and the book's premise create a clear marketing hook for the title. - The award may help the book stand out in a crowded thriller market where genre differentiation matters.

What's next: - Readers can visit the Awards Page to see the full list of winners. - Clark's author platform may get a lift as she continues writing the Lindsay Carter series and promoting Bad Lie. - The BookFest will continue its biannual virtual programming in spring and fall, alongside its awards recognition.