2020 Edgar Nominations

Mystery Writers of America announced the nominees for the 2020 Edgar Allan Poe Awards on January 22. The award honors the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction and television published or produced in 2019.

The Edgar® Awards will be presented on April 30 in New York City.

BEST NOVEL

  • Fake Like Me by Barbara Bourland (Hachette Book Group – Grand Central Publishing)
  • The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
  • The River by Peter Heller (Penguin Random House – Alfred A. Knopf)
  • Smoke and Ashes by Abir Mukherjee (Pegasus Books)
  • Good Girl, Bad Girl by Michael Robotham (Simon & Schuster – Scribner)

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR

  • My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing (Penguin Random House – Berkley)
  • Miracle Creek by Angie Kim (Farrar Straus and Giroux)
  • The Good Detective by John McMahon (Penguin Random House – G.P. Putnam’s Sons)
  • The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott (Penguin Random House – Alfred A. Knopf)
  • Three-Fifths by John Vercher (Polis Books – Agora Books)
  • American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson (Penguin Random House – Random House)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

  • Dread of Winter by Susan Alice Bickford (Kensington Publishing)
  • Freedom Road by William Lashner (Amazon Publishing – Thomas & Mercer)
  • Blood Relations by Jonathan Moore (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt – Mariner Books)
  • February’s Son by Alan Parks (Europa Editions – World Noir)
  • The Hotel Neversink by Adam O’Fallon Price (Tin House Books)
  • The Bird Boys by Lisa Sandlin (Cinco Puntos Press)

BEST FACT CRIME

  • The Ghosts of Eden Park: The Bootleg King, the Women Who Pursued Him, and the Murder that Shocked Jazz-Age America by Karen Abbott (Penguin Random House – Crown)
  • The Less People Know About Us: A Mystery of Betrayal, Family Secrets, and Stolen Identity by Axton Betz-Hamilton (Hachette Book Group – Grand Central Publishing)
  • American Predator: The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st Century by Maureen Callahan (Penguin Random House – Viking)
  • Norco ’80: The True Story of the Most Spectacular Bank Robbery in American History by Peter Houlahan (Counterpoint Press)
  • Indecent Advances: A Hidden History of True Crime and Prejudice Before Stonewall by James Polchin (Counterpoint Press)

BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL

  • Hitchcock and the Censors by John Billheimer (University Press of Kentucky)
  • Beyond the Thirty-Nine Steps: A Life of John Buchan by Ursula Buchan (Bloomsbury Publishing)
  • The Hooded Gunman: An Illustrated History of Collins Crime Club by John Curran (Collins Crime Club)
  • Medieval Crime Fiction: A Critical Overview by Anne McKendry (McFarland)
  • The Mutual Admiration Society: How Dorothy L. Sayers and her Oxford Circle  Remade the World for Women by Mo Moulton (Hachette Book Group – Basic Books)

BEST SHORT STORY

  • “Turistas,” from Paque Tu Lo Sepas by Hector Acosta (Down & Out Books)
  • “One of These Nights,” from Cutting Edge: New Stories of Mystery and Crime by Women Writers by Livia Llewellyn (Akashic Books)
  • “The Passenger,” from Sydney Noir by Kirsten Tranter (Akashic Books)
  • “Home at Last,” from Die Behind the Wheel: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Music of Steely Dan by Sam Wiebe (Down & Out Books)
  • “Brother’s Keeper,” from Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine by Dave Zeltserman (Dell Magazine)

BEST JUVENILE

  • The Collected Works of Gretchen Oyster by Cary Fagan (Penguin Random House Canada – Tundra Books
  • Eventown by Corey Ann Haydu (HarperCollins Children’s Books – Katherine Tegen Books)
  • The Whispers by Greg Howard (Penguin Young Readers – G.P. Putnam’s Sons BFYR)
  • All the Greys on Greene Street by Laura Tucker (Penguin Young Readers – Viking BFYR)
  • Me and Sam-Sam Handle the Apocalypse by Susan Vaught (Simon & Schuster Children’s Books – Paula Wiseman Books)

BEST YOUNG ADULT

  • Catfishing on CatNet by Naomi Kritzer (Tom Doherty Associates – Tor Teen)
  • Killing November by Adriana Mather (Random House Children’s Books – Alfred A. Knopf BFYR)
  • Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay (Penguin Young Readers – Kokila)
  • The Deceivers by Kristen Simmons (Tom Doherty Associates – Tor Teen)
  • Wild and Crooked by Leah Thomas (Bloomsbury Publishing)

BEST TELEVISION EPISODE TELEPLAY

  • “Season 5, Episode 3” – Line of Duty, Teleplay by Jed Mercurio (Acorn TV)
  • “Season 5, Episode 4” – Line of Duty, Teleplay by Jed Mercurio (Acorn TV)
  • “Episode 1” – Dublin Murders, Teleplay by Sarah Phelps (STARZ)
  • “Episode 1” – Manhunt, Teleplay by Ed Whitmore (Acorn TV)
  • “Episode 1” – Wisting, Teleplay by Katherine Valen Zeiner & Trygve Allister Diesen (Sundance Now)

ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD

  • “There’s a Riot Goin’ On,” from Milwaukee Noir by Derrick Harriell (Akashic Books)

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THE SIMON & SCHUSTER MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD

  • The Night Visitors by Carol Goodman (HarperCollins – William Morrow)
  • One Night Gone by Tara Laskowski (Harlequin – Graydon House)
  • Strangers at the Gate by Catriona McPherson (Minotaur Books)
  • Where the Missing Go by Emma Rowley (Kensington Publishing)
  • The Murder List by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Tom Doherty Associates – Forge Books)

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THE G.P. PUTNAM’S SONS SUE GRAFTON MEMORIAL AWARD

  • Shamed by Linda Castillo (Minotaur Books)
  • Borrowed Time by Tracy Clark ( Kensington Publishing)
  • The Missing Ones by Edwin Hill (Kensington Publishing)
  • The Satapur Moonstone by Sujata Massey (Soho Crime)
  • The Alchemist’s Illusion by Gigi Pandian (Midnight Ink)
  • Girl Gone Missing by Marcie R. Rendon (Cincos Puntos Press)