2024 Edgar Award Nominations

Mystery Writers of America today announced the nominees for the 2024 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, honoring the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction and television published or produced in 2023. The 78th Annual Edgar® Awards will be celebrated on May 1, 2024.

BEST NOVEL

  • Flags on the Bayou by James Lee Burke (Grove Atlantic – Atlantic Monthly Press)
  • All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby (Flatiron Books)
  • The Madwomen of Paris by Jennifer Cody Epstein (Penguin Random House – Ballantine Books)
  • Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll (Simon & Schuster – Simon Element – Marysue Rucci Books)
  • An Honest Man by Michael Koryta (Hachette Book Group – Little, Brown and Company – Mulholland Books)
  • The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger (Simon & Schuster – Atria Books)
  • Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead (Penguin Random House – Doubleday)

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR

  • The Peacock and the Sparrow by I.S. Berry (Simon & Schuster – Atria Books)
  • The Golden Gate by Amy Chua (Macmillan Publishing – Minotaur Books)
  • Small Town Sins by Ken Jaworowski (Macmillan Publishing – Henry Holt and Co.)
  • The Last Russian Doll by Kristen Loesch (Penguin Random House – Berkley)
  • Murder by Degrees by Ritu Mukerji (Simon & Schuster)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

  • Boomtown by A.F. Carter (Penzler Publishers – Mysterious Press)
  • Hide by Tracy Clark (Amazon Publishing – Thomas & Mercer)
  • The Taken Ones by Jess Lourey (Amazon Publishing – Thomas & Mercer)
  • Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto (Penguin Random House – Berkley)
  • Lowdown Road by Scott Von Doviak (Hard Case Crime)

BEST FACT CRIME

  • In Light of All Darkness: Inside the Polly Klaas Kidnapping and the Search for America’s Child by Kim Cross (Hachette Book Group – Grand Central Publishing)
  • Number Go Up: Inside Crypto’s Wild Rise and Staggering Fall by Zeke Faux (Penguin Random House – Crown Currency)
  • Tangled Vines: Power, Privilege, and the Murdaugh Family Murders by John Glatt (Macmillan Publishers – St. Martin’s Press)
  • Crooked: The Roaring ’20s Tale of a Corrupt Attorney General, a Crusading Senator, and the Birth of the American Political Scandal by Nathan Masters (Hachette Book Group – Hachette Books)
  • I Know Who You Are: How an Amateur DNA Sleuth Unmasked the Golden State Killer and Changed Crime Fighting Forever by Barbara Rae-Venter (Penguin Random House – Ballantine Books)
  • The Lost Sons of Omaha: Two Young Men in an American Tragedy by Joe Sexton (Simon & Schuster – Scribner)

BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL                         

  • Perplexing Plots: Popular Storytelling and the Poetics of Murder by David Bordwell (Columbia University Press)
  • Spillane: King of Pulp Fiction by Max Allan Collins & James L. Traylor (Penzler Publishers – Mysterious Press)
  • A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe by Mark Dawidziak (Macmillan Publishing – St. Martin’s Press)
  • Fallen Angel: The Life of Edgar Allan Poe by Robert Morgan (LSU Press)
  • Love Me Fierce in Danger – The Life of James Ellroy by Steven Powell (Bloomsbury Publishing – Bloomsbury Academic)

BEST SHORT STORY

  •  “Hallowed Ground,” by Linda Castillo (Macmillan Publishers – Minotaur Books)
  • “Thriller,” Thriller by Heather Graham (Blackstone Publishing)
  • “Miss Direction,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, September-October 2023 by Rob Osler (Dell Magazines)
  • “The Rise,” Amazon Original Stories by Ian Rankin (Amazon Publishing)
  • “Pigeon Tony’s Last Stand,” Amazon Original Stories by Lisa Scottoline (Amazon Publishing)

BEST JUVENILE

  • Myrtle, Means, and Opportunity by Elizabeth C. Bunce (Hachette Book Group – Workman Publishing – Algonquin Young Readers)
  • The Ghosts of Rancho Espanto by Adrianna Cuevas (Macmillan Publishers – Farrar, Straus and Giroux BFYR)
  • Epic Ellisons: Cosmos Camp by Lamar Giles (HarperCollins Publishers – Versify)
  • The Jules Verne Prophecy by Larry Schwarz & Iva-Marie Palmer (Hachette Book Group – Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
  • What Happened to Rachel Riley? by Claire Swinarski (HarperCollins Publishers – Quill Tree Books)

BEST YOUNG ADULT

  • Girl Forgotten by April Henry (Hachette Book Group – Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
  • Star Splitter by Matthew J. Kirby (Penguin Young Readers – Dutton Books for Young Readers)
  • The Sharp Edge of Silence by Cameron Kelly Rosenblum (HarperCollins Publishers – Quill Tree Books)
  • My Flawless Life by Yvonne Woon (HarperCollins Publishers – Katherine Tegen Books)
  • Just Do This One Thing for Me by Laura Zimmerman (Penguin Young Readers – Dutton Books for Young Readers)

BEST TELEVISION EPISODE TELEPLAY

  •  “Time of the Monkey” – Poker Face, Written by Wyatt Cain & Charlie Peppers (Peacock)
  • “I’m a Pretty Observant Guy” – Will Trent, Written by Liz Heldens (ABC)
  • “Dead Man’s Hand” – Poker Face, Written by Rian Johnson (Peacock)
  • “Hózhó Náhásdlii (Beauty is Restore)” – Dark Winds, Written by Graham Roland & John Wirth (AMC)
  • “Escape from Shit Mountain” – Poker Face, Written by Nora Zuckerman & Lilla Zuckerman (Peacock)

ADDITIONAL AWARDS TO BE PRESENTED

ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD

  •  “Errand for a Neighbor,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, January-February 2023 by Bill Bassman (Dell Magazines)
  • “The Body in Cell Two,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, May-June 2023 by Kate Hohl (Dell Magazines)
  • “The Soiled Dove of Shallow Hollow,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, January-February 2023 by Sean McCluskey (Dell Magazines)
  • “It’s Half Your Fault,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, July-August 2023 by Meghan Leigh Paulk (Dell Magazines)
  • “Two Hours West of Nothing,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, September-October 2023 by Gabriela Stiteler (Dell Magazines)

THE SIMON & SCHUSTER MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD

  • Play the Fool by Lina Chern (Penguin Random House – Bantam)
  • The Bones of the Story by Carol Goodman (HarperCollins Publishers – William Morrow)
  • Of Manners and Murder by Anastasia Hastings (Macmillan Publishers – Minotaur Books)
  • The Three Deaths of Willa Stannard by Kate Robards (Crooked Lane Books)
  • Murder in Postscript by Mary Winters (Penguin Random House – Berkley)

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

  • Hard Rain by Samantha Jayne Allen (Macmillan Publishers – Minotaur Books)
  • An Evil Heart by Linda Castillo (Macmillan Publishers – Minotaur Books)
  • Bad, Bad Seymour Brown by Susan Isaacs (Grove Atlantic – Atlantic Monthly Press)
  • Past Lying by Val McDermid (Grove Atlantic – Atlantic Monthly Press)
  • A Stolen Child by Sarah Stewart Taylor (Macmillan Publishers – Minotaur Books)

THE LILIAN JACKSON BRAUN MEMORIAL AWARD

  • Glory Be by Danielle Arceneaux (Pegasus Books – Pegasus Crime)
  • Misfortune Cookie by Vivien Chien (Macmillan – St. Martin’s Paperbacks)
  • Hot Pot Murder by Jennifer J. Chow (Penguin Random House – Berkley)
  • Murder of an Amish Bridegroom by Patricia Johns (Crooked Lane Books)
  • The Body in the Back Garden by Mark Waddell (Crooked Lane Books)

SPECIAL AWARDS

GRAND MASTER

  • Katherine Hall Page
  • R.L. Stine

ELLERY QUEEN AWARD

  • Michaela Hamilton

Mystery Writers of America’s 2024 Special Awards Include Two Grand Masters

Mystery Writers of America has named two new Grand Masters – Katherine Hall Page and R.L. Stine — plus the winner of the Ellery Queen Award:

2024 GRAND MASTERS

MWA’s Grand Master Award represents the pinnacle of achievement in mystery writing and was established to acknowledge important contributions to this genre, as well as for a body of work that is both significant and of consistent high quality.

Katherine Hall Page

Katherine Hall Page  wrote her first mystery, The Body in the Belfry, while living in France for year during her husband’s sabbatical from MIT. It was the 1991 Agatha Award winner for Best First Mystery Novel. The 15th in the series, The Body in the Snowdrift, won the 2006 Agatha Award for Best Mystery Novel. Page was also awarded the 2001 Agatha for Best Short Story for “The Would-Be Widower” in the Malice Domestic X collection and received three more Agatha nominations, including one for her series cookbook, Have Faith in Your Kitchen, in the nonfiction category, making her the first author to be nominated or win in four different Agatha categories. She was an Edgar nominee for her juvenile mystery, Christie & Company Down East.  The Body in the Lighthouse (2003) was one of three nominees for The Simon & Schuster Mary Higgins Clark Award. 

R.L. Stine

R.L. Stine is one of the best-selling children’s authors in history. Goosebumps, which recently celebrated its 30th anniversary, has more than 400 million books in print in 32 languages. An all-new New York Times bestselling Goosebumps series, House of Shivers, debuted in September 2023, with two more books to be published in 2024.

The Goosebumps series made Stine a worldwide publishing celebrity (and Jeopardy! answer). His other popular children’s book series include Fear Street, (recently revived as a feature film trilogy), The Garbage Pail Kids, Mostly Ghostly, The Nightmare Room, and Rotten School. Other titles include It’s The First Day of School Forever, A Midsummer Night’s Scream, Young Scrooge, Stinetinglers, and three picture books, with Marc Brown—The Little Shop of Monsters, Mary McScary, and Why Did the Monster Cross the Road (2023).

ELLERY QUEEN AWARD

The Ellery Queen Award was established in 1983 to honor “outstanding writing teams and outstanding people in the mystery-publishing industry.”

Michaela Hamilton, executive editor at Kensington and editor in chief of Citadel, which she joined after a 25-year career in publishing. Her importance in the discovery of new writers and emphasis on publishing traditional mysteries, thrillers, and suspense novels cannot be underestimated.Hamilton acquires and edits commercial fiction and nonfiction including thrillers, true crime, and cozy mysteries. 

2023 Edgar Awards

Mystery Writers of America today announced the 2023 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, honoring the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction and television published or produced in 2022.

BEST NOVEL

  • Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka (HarperCollins – William Morrow)

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR

  • Don’t Know Tough by Eli Cranor (Soho Press – Soho Crime)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

  • Or Else by Joe Hart (Amazon Publishing – Thomas & Mercer)

BEST FACT CRIME

  • Tell Me Everything: The Story of a Private Investigation by Erika Krouse (Flatiron Books)

BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL

  • The Life of Crime: Detecting the History of Mysteries and Their Creators by Martin Edwards (HarperCollins – Collins Crime Club)

 BEST SHORT STORY

  • “Red Flag,” Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine by Gregory Fallis (Dell Magazines)

BEST JUVENILE

  • Aggie Morton Mystery Queen: The Seaside Corpse by Marthe Jocelyn (Penguin Random House Canada – Tundra Books)

BEST YOUNG ADULT

  • The Red Palace by June Hur (Macmillan Children’s Books – Feiwel & Friends)

BEST TELEVISION EPISODE TELEPLAY

  •  “Episode 1” – Magpie Murders, Written by Anthony Horowitz (Masterpiece/PBS)

 ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD

  • “Dogs in the Canyon” – Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine by Mark Harrison (Dell Magazines)

* * * * * *

 THE SIMON & SCHUSTER MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD

  • A Dreadful Splendor by B.R. Myers (HarperCollins – William Morrow)

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

  • Hideout by Louisa Luna (Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group – Doubleday)

THE LILIAN JACKSON BRAUN MEMORIAL AWARD

  • Buried in a Good Book by Tamara Berry (Sourcebooks – Poisoned Pen Press)

The following Special Awards were previously announced:

SPECIAL AWARDS

GRAND MASTER

  • Michael Connelly
  • Joanne Fluke

RAVEN AWARD

  • Crime Writers of Color
  • Eddie Muller for Noir Alley and The Film Noir Foundation

ELLERY QUEEN AWARD

  • The Strand Magazine

2023 Edgar Award Nominations

Mystery Writers of America today announced the nominees for the 2023 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, honoring the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction and television published or produced in 2022. The 77th Annual Edgar® Awards will be celebrated on April 27, 2023.

BEST NOVEL

  • Devil House by John Darnielle (Farrar, Straus and Giroux – MCD)
  • Like a Sister by Kellye Garrett (Hachette Book Group – Little, Brown & Co./Mulholland Books)
  • Gangland by Chuck Hogan (Hachette Book Group – Grand Central Publishing)
  • The Devil Takes You Home by Gabino Iglesias (Hachette Book Group – Little, Brown & Co./Mulholland Books)
  • Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka (HarperCollins – William Morrow)
  • The Maid by Nita Prose (Penguin Random House – Ballantine Books)

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR

  • Jackal by Erin E. Adams (Penguin Random House – Bantam)
  • Don’t Know Tough by Eli Cranor (Soho Press – Soho Crime)
  • Shutter by Ramona Emerson (Soho Press – Soho Crime)
  • More Than You’ll Ever Know by Katie Gutierrez (HarperCollins – William Morrow)
  • Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li (Penguin Random House – Tiny Reparations Books)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

  • Quarry’s Blood by Max Allan Collins (Hard Case Crime)
  • On a Quiet Street by Seraphina Nova Glass (Harlequin Trade Publishing – Graydon House
  • Or Else by Joe Hart (Amazon Publishing – Thomas & Mercer)
  • Cleopatra’s Dagger by Carole Lawrence (Amazon Publishing – Thomas & Mercer)
  • A Familiar Stranger by A.R. Torre (Amazon Publishing – Thomas & Mercer)

BEST FACT CRIME

  • Slenderman: Online Obsession, Mental Illness, and the Violent Crime of Two Midwestern Girls by Kathleen Hale (Grove Atlantic – Grove Press)
  • Tell Me Everything: The Story of a Private Investigation by Erika Krouse (Flatiron Books)
  • Trailed: One Woman’s Quest to Solve the Shenandoah Murders by Kathryn Miles (Hachette Book Group – Workman Publishing – Algonquin Books)
  • American Caliph: The True Story of a Muslim Mystic, a Hollywood Epic, and the 1977 Siege of Washington, D.C. by Shahan Mufti (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
  • American Demon: Eliot Ness and the Hunt for America’s Jack the Ripper by Daniel Stashower (Minotaur Books)

BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL

  • The Life of Crime: Detecting the History of Mysteries and Their Creators by Martin Edwards (HarperCollins – Collins Crime Club)
  • The Bloomsbury Handbook to Agatha Christie by Mary Anna Evans & J.C. Bernthal (Bloomsbury – Bloomsbury Academic)
  • The Crime World of Michael Connelly: A Study of His Works and Their Adaptations by David Geherin (McFarland)
  • The Woman Beyond the Attic: The V.C. Andrews Story by Andrew Neiderman (Simon & Schuster – Gallery Books)
  • Agatha Christie: An Elusive Woman by Lucy Worsley (Pegasus Books – Pegasus Crime)

 BEST SHORT STORY

  • “Red Flag,” Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine by Gregory Fallis (Dell Magazines)
  • “Backstory,” Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine by Charles John Harper (Dell Magazines)
  • “Locked-In,” Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine by William Burton McCormick (Dell Magazines)
  • “The Amnesty Box,” Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms by Tim McLoughlin (Akashic Books)
  • “First You Dream, Then You Die,” Black is the Night by Donna Moore (Titan Books)

BEST JUVENILE

  • The Swallowtail Legacy: Wreck at Ada’s Reef by Michael D. Beil (Holiday House – Pixel+Ink)
  • The Area 51 Files by Julie Buxbaum (Random House Children’s Books – Delacorte Press)
  • Aggie Morton Mystery Queen: The Seaside Corpse by Marthe Jocelyn (Penguin Random House Canada – Tundra Books)
  • Adventures on Trains: Murder on the Safari Star by M.G. Leonard & Sam Sedgman (Macmillan Children’s Publishing – Feiwel & Friends)
  • Chester Keene Cracks the Code by Kekla Magoon (Random House Children’s Books – Wendy Lamb Books)

BEST YOUNG ADULT

  • Pretty Dead Queens by Alexa Donne (Random House Children’s Books – Crown BFYR)
  • Frightmares by Eva V. Gibson (Random House Children’s Books – Underlined)
  • The Black Girls Left Standing by Juliana Goodman (Macmillan Children’s Books – Feiwel & Friends)
  • The Red Palace by June Hur (Macmillan Children’s Books – Feiwel & Friends)
  • Lock the Doors by Vincent Ralph (Sourcebooks – Fire)

BEST TELEVISION EPISODE TELEPLAY

  • “One Mighty and Strong” – Under the Banner of Heaven, Written by Brandon Boyce (Hulu/FX)
  • “Episode 1” – Magpie Murders, Written by Anthony Horowitz (Masterpiece/PBS)
  • “Episode 1″ – Karen Pirie, Written by Emer Kenny (BritBox)
  • “When Harry Met Fergus” – Harry Wild, Written by David Logan (Acorn TV)
  • “The Reagan Way” – Blue Bloods, Written by Siobhan Byrne O’Connor (CBS)
  • “Eighteen Wheels A Predator” – Law & Order: SVU, Written by Brianna Yellen & Monet Hurst-Mendoza (NBC Universal)

 ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD

  • “Dogs in the Canyon” – Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine by Mark Harrison (Dell Magazines)

* * * * * *

 THE SIMON & SCHUSTER MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD

  • Because I Could Not Stop for Death by Amanda Flower (Penguin Random House – Berkley)
  • The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill (Sourcebooks – Poisoned Pen Press)
  • The Disinvited Guest by Carol Goodman (HarperCollins – William Morrow)
  • A Dreadful Splendor by B.R. Myers (HarperCollins – William Morrow)
  • Never Name the Dead by D.M. Rowell (Crooked Lane Books)

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

  • Secret Lives by Mark de Castrique (Sourcebooks – Poisoned Pen Press)
  • An Unforgiving Place by Claire Kells (Crooked Lane Books)
  • Hideout by Louisa Luna (Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group – Doubleday)
  • Behind the Lie by Emilya Naymark (Crooked Lane Books)
  • Secrets Typed in Blood by Stephen Spotswood (Knopf Doubleday Publishing – Doubleday)

THE LILIAN JACKSON BRAUN MEMORIAL AWARD

  • The Shadow of Memory by Connie Berry (Crooked Lane Books)
  • Buried in a Good Book by Tamara Berry (Sourcebooks – Poisoned Pen Press)
  • Smile Beach Murder by Alicia Bessette (Penguin Random House – Berkley)
  • Desert Getaway by Michael Craft (Brash Books)
  • The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood (Sourcebooks – Poisoned Pen Press)

The following Special Awards were previously announced:

SPECIAL AWARDS

GRAND MASTER

  • Michael Connelly
  • Joanne Fluke

RAVEN AWARD

  • Crime Writers of Color
  • Eddie Muller for Noir Alley and The Film Noir Foundation

ELLERY QUEEN AWARD

  • The Strand Magazine

MWA’s 2023 Special Edgar Awards Include Two Grand Masters

Mystery Writers of America has named two new Grand Masters – Michael Connelly and Joanne Fluke — plus the winners of several other awards: “MWA Announces 2023 Special Awards – Grand Master, Raven & Ellery Queen Recipients”.

2023 GRAND MASTERS

MWA’s Grand Master Award represents the pinnacle of achievement in mystery writing and was established to acknowledge important contributions to this genre, as well as for a body of work that is both significant and of consistent high quality.

Michael Connelly is the author of 31 novels, including multiple #1 New York Times bestsellers. His books, which include the Harry Bosch series and Lincoln Lawyer series, have sold more than 74 million copies worldwide. Connelly is a former newspaper reporter who has won numerous awards for his journalism and his novels and is the executive producer of both Bosch TV series and The Lincoln Lawyer. He spends his time in California and Florida.

Joanne Fluke launched her series 21 years ago with Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder (2001). Since then, she has written 30 Hannah Swenson Mysteries, the most recent being 2022’s Caramel Pecan Roll Murder. The series also has the distinction of being turned into five hugely successful Murder, She Baked films for the Hallmark Channel. Fluke has also written suspense, thriller, and romance novels under her own name and pseudonyms. Like Hannah Swensen, she was born and raised in a small town in rural Minnesota, but now lives in sunny Southern California.

2023 RAVEN AWARD

The Raven Award recognizes outstanding achievement in the mystery field outside the realm of creative writing. 

Crime Writers of Color (CWoC), “an association of authors seeking to present a strong and united voice for members who self-identify as crime/mystery writers from traditionally underrepresented racial, cultural and ethnic backgrounds,” Speaking for CWoC, cofounders Gigi Pandian, Kellye Garrett, and Walter Mosley wrote, “When we first started talking about the idea that became Crime Writers of Color, we never imagined the small informal group would become such a big and thriving community in just a few years. Our goal was always to create a safe and supportive space for fellow writers of color to network and thrive. So, to know that the group is making a positive impact in the mystery community as a whole is so gratifying, and to be recognized by MWA in our fifth year is such an honor! We thank you on behalf of all our 350-plus members who are in all stages of their career.”

Eddie Muller, host of the Turner Classic Movies series Noir Alley and founder and president of the Film Noir Foundation. Muller is best known as the host of the Turner Classic Movies series Noir Alley, a weekly showcase for the best of crime cinema and for his lively, erudite intros and outros to these movies, in which he always foregrounds writers—novelists and screenwriters both—in the conversation. At the Film Noir Foundation (FNF), which makes restoring and preserving films from around the globe a priority, Muller has personally saved many motion pictures from disappearing, among them acclaimed titles like The Prowler, written by blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, and Too Late for Tears.

2023 ELLERY QUEEN AWARD

The Ellery Queen Award was established in 1983 to honor “outstanding writing teams and outstanding people in the mystery-publishing industry.”

The Strand Magazine: a bimonthly periodical known as much for its incisive articles about the mystery world and its practitioners and penetrating interviews with top authors like James Patterson and Lee Child, as for unearthing lost short stories penned by now-dead literary greats, such as a 600-word short story by Raymond Chandler, written in the 1950s toward the end of his life, as well as the forgotten fiction of such giants as Dashiell Hammett, William Faulkner, Tennessee Williams and H.G. Wells. All will accept their awards at the 77th Annual

2022 Edgar Awards

Mystery Writers of America today announced the 2022 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, honoring the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction and television published or produced in 2021.

BEST NOVEL

  • Five Decembers by James Kestrel (Hard Case Crime)

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR

  • Deer Season by Erin Flanagan (University of Nebraska Press)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

  • Bobby March Will Live Forever by Alan Parks (Europa Editions – World Noir)

BEST FACT CRIME

  • Last Call: A True Story of Love, Lust, and Murder in Queer New York by Elon Green (Celadon Books)

BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL

  • The Twelve Lives of Alfred Hitchcock: An Anatomy of the Master of Suspense by Edward White (W.W. Norton & Company)

 BEST SHORT STORY

  •  “The Road to Hana,” Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine by R.T. Lawton (Dell Magazines)

BEST JUVENILE

  • Concealed by Christina Diaz Gonzalez (Scholastic – Scholastic Press)

BEST YOUNG ADULT

  • Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley (Macmillan Children’s Publishing – Henry Holt and Company BFYR)

BEST TELEVISION EPISODE TELEPLAY

  • “Boots on the Ground” – Narcos: Mexico, Written by Iturri Sosa (Netflix)

* * * * * *

ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD

  • “Analogue,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine by Rob Osler (Dell Magazines)

* * * * * *

THE SIMON & SCHUSTER MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD

  • Clark and Division by Naomi Hirahara (Soho Press – Soho Crime)

* * * * * *

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

  • Runner by Tracy Clark (Kensington Books)

* * * * * *

The following Special Awards were previously announced:

GRAND MASTER

  • Laurie R. King

RAVEN AWARD

  •  Lesa Holstine – Lesa’s Book Critiques; Library Journal Reviewer

ELLERY QUEEN AWARD

  • Juliet Grames – Soho Books

2022 Edgar Award Nominations

Mystery Writers of America today announced the nominees for the 2022 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, honoring the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction and television published or produced in 2021. The 76th Annual Edgar® Awards will be celebrated on April 28, 2022.

BEST NOVEL

  • The Venice Sketchbook by Rhys Bowen (Amazon Publishing – Lake Union)
  • Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby (Macmillan Publishers – Flatiron Books)
  • Five Decembers by James Kestrel (Hard Case Crime)
  • How Lucky by Will Leitch (HarperCollins – Harper)
  • No One Will Miss Her by Kat Rosenfield (HarperCollins – William Morrow)

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR

  • Deer Season by Erin Flanagan (University of Nebraska Press)
  • Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian (Harlequin Trade Publishing – Park Row)
  • Suburban Dicks by Fabian Nicieza (Penguin Random House – G.P. Putnam’s Sons)
  • What Comes After by JoAnne Tompkins (Penguin Random House – Riverhead Books)
  • The Damage by Caitlin Wahrer (Penguin Random House – Viking Books/Pamela Dorman Books)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

  • Kill All Your Darlings by David Bell (Penguin Random House – Berkley)
  • The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke (Penguin Random House – Berkley)
  • The Album of Dr. Moreau by Daryl Gregory (Tom Doherty Associates – Tordotcom)
  • Starr Sign by C.S. O’Cinneide (Dundurn Press)
  • Bobby March Will Live Forever by Alan Parks (Europa Editions – World Noir)
  • The Shape of Darkness by Laura Purcell (Penguin Random House – Penguin Books)

BEST FACT CRIME

  • The Confidence Men: How Two Prisoners of War Engineered the Most Remarkable Escape in History by Margalit Fox (Random House Publishing Group – Random House)
  • Last Call: A True Story of Love, Lust, and Murder in Queer New York by Elon Green (Celadon Books)
  • Sleeper Agent: The Atomic Spy in America Who Got Away by Ann Hagedorn (Simon & Schuster)
  • Two Truths and a Lie: A Murder, a Private Investigator, and Her Search for Justice by Ellen McGarrahan (Penguin Random House – Random House)
  • The Dope: The Real History of the Mexican Drug Trade by Benjamin T. Smith (W.W. Norton & Company)
  • When Evil Lived in Laurel:  The “White Knights” and the Murder of Vernon Dahmer by Curtis Wilkie (W.W. Norton & Company

BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL

  • Agatha Christie’s Poirot: The Greatest Detective in the World by Mark Aldridge (HarperCollins Publishers – Harper360)
  • The Unquiet Englishman: A Life of Graham Greene by Richard Greene (W.W. Norton & Company)
  • Tony Hillerman: A Life by James McGrath Morris (University of Oklahoma Press)
  • The Reason for the Darkness of the Night: Edgar Allan Poe and the Forging of American Science by John Tresch (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
  • The Twelve Lives of Alfred Hitchcock: An Anatomy of the Master of Suspense by Edward White (W.W. Norton & Company)

 BEST SHORT STORY

  • “Blindsided,” Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine by Michael Bracken & James A. Hearn (Dell Magazines)
  • “The Vermeer Conspiracy,” Midnight Hour by V.M. Burns (Crooked Lane Books)
  • “Lucky Thirteen,” Midnight Hour by Tracy Clark (Crooked Lane Books)
  • “The Road to Hana,” Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine by R.T. Lawton (Dell Magazines)
  • “The Locked Room Library,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine by Gigi Pandian (Dell Magazines)
  • “The Dark Oblivion,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine by Cornell Woolrich (Dell Magazines)

BEST JUVENILE

  • Cold-Blooded Myrtle by Elizabeth C. Bunce (Workman Publishing – Algonquin Young Readers)
  • Concealed by Christina Diaz Gonzalez (Scholastic – Scholastic Press)
  • Aggie Morton Mystery Queen: The Dead Man in the Garden by Marthe Jocelyn (Penguin Random House Canada – Tundra Books)
  • Kidnap on the California Comet: Adventures on Trains #2 by M.G. Leonard & Sam Sedgman (Macmillan Children’s Publishing – Feiwel & Friends)
  • Rescue by Jennifer A. Nielsen (Scholastic – Scholastic Press)

BEST YOUNG ADULT

  • Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé (Macmillan Children’s Publishing – Feiwel & Friends)
  • Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley (Macmillan Children’s Publishing – Henry Holt and Company BFYR)
  • When You Look Like Us by Pamela N. Harris (HarperCollins – Quill Tree Books)
  • The Forest of Stolen Girls by June Hur (Macmillan Children’s Books – Feiwel & Friends)
  • The Girls I’ve Been by Tess Sharpe (Penguin Young Readers – G.P. Putnam’s Sons BFYR)

BEST TELEVISION EPISODE TELEPLAY

  • “Dog Day Morning” – The Brokenwood Mysteries, Written by Tim Balme (Acorn TV)
  • “Episode 1” – The Beast Must Die, Written by Gaby Chiappe (AMC+)
  • “The Men Are Wretched Things” – The North Water Written by Andrew Haigh (AMC+)
  • “Happy Families” – Midsomer Murders, Written by Nicholas Hicks-Beach (Acorn TV)
  • “Boots on the Ground” – Narcos: Mexico, Written by Iturri Sosa (Netflix)

ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD

  • “Analogue,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine by Rob Osler (Dell Magazines)

* * * * * *

THE SIMON & SCHUSTER MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD

  • The Secret Life of Miss Mary Bennet by Katherine Cowley (Tule Publishing – Tule Mystery)
  • Ruby Red Herring by Tracy Gardner (Crooked Lane Books)
  • Clark and Division by Naomi Hirahara (Soho Press – Soho Crime)
  • The Sign of Death by Callie Hutton (Crooked Lane Books)
  • Chapter and Curse by Elizabeth Penney (St. Martin’s Paperbacks)

* * * * * *

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

  • Double Take by Elizabeth Breck (Crooked Lane Books)
  • Runner by Tracy Clark (Kensington Books)
  • Shadow Hill by Thomas Kies (Sourcebooks – Poisoned Pen Press)
  • Sleep Well, My Lady by Kwei Quartey (Soho Press – Soho Crime)
  • Family Business by S.J. Rozan (Pegasus Books – Pegasus Crime)

* * * * * *

The following Special Awards were previously announced:

GRAND MASTER

  • Laurie R. King

RAVEN AWARD

  •  Lesa Holstine – Lesa’s Book Critiques; Library Journal Reviewer

ELLERY QUEEN AWARD

  • Juliet Grames – Soho Books

2021 Edgar Allan Poe Awards

Mystery Writers of America today announced the winners of the 75th annual Edgar
Allan Poe Awards, honoring the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction and television published or produced in 2020.

BEST NOVEL

  • Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara (Penguin Random House – Random House)

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR

  • Please See Us by Caitlin Mullen (Simon & Schuster – Gallery Books)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

  • When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole (HarperCollins Publishers – William Morrow)

BEST FACT CRIME

  • Death in Mud Lick: A Coal Country Fight Against the Drug Companies that Delivered the Opioid Epidemic by Eric Eyre (Simon & Schuster – Scribner)

BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL

  • Phantom Lady: Hollywood Producer Joan Harrison, the Forgotten Woman Behind Hitchcock by Christina Lane (Chicago Review Press)

BEST SHORT STORY

  •  “Dust, Ash, Flight,” Addis Ababa Noir by Maaza Mengiste (Akashic Books)

BEST JUVENILE

  • Premeditated Myrtle by Elizabeth C. Bunce (Workman Publishing – Algonquin Young Readers)

BEST YOUNG ADULT

  • The Companion by Katie Alender (Penguin Young Readers – G.P. Putnam’s Sons BFYR)

BEST TELEVISION EPISODE TELEPLAY

  •  “Episode 1, Photochemistry” – Dead Still, Written by John Morton (Acorn TV)

ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD

  • “The Bite,” Tampa Bay Noir by Colette Bancroft (Akashic Books)

THE SIMON & SCHUSTER MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD

  • The Cabinets of Barnaby Mayne by Elsa Hart (Minotaur Books)

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

  • Vera Kelly is Not a Mystery by Rosalie Knecht (Tin House Books)

SPECIAL AWARDS

GRAND MASTER

  • Jeffery Deaver
  • Charlaine Harris

RAVEN AWARD

  • Malice Domestic

ELLERY QUEEN AWARD

  • Reagan Arthur, Publisher – Alfred A. Knopf

2021 Edgar Allan Poe Award Nominations

Mystery Writers of America today announced the nominees for the 2021 Edgar
Allan Poe Awards, honoring the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction and television published or produced in 2020. The 75th Annual Edgar® Awards will be celebrated on April 29, 2021.

BEST NOVEL

  • Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara (Penguin Random House – Random
  • House)
  • Before She Was Helen by Caroline B. Cooney (Poisoned Pen Press)
  • Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman (Penguin Random House – Pamela Dorman Books)
  • These Women by Ivy Pochoda (HarperCollins Publishers – Ecco)
  • The Missing American by Kwei Quartey (Soho Press – Soho Crime)
  • The Distant Dead by Heather Young (HarperCollins Publishers – William Morrow)

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR

  • Murder in Old Bombay by Nev March (Minotaur Books)
  • Please See Us by Caitlin Mullen (Simon & Schuster – Gallery Books)
  • Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas (HarperCollins Publishers – William Morrow)
  • Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden (HarperCollins Publishers – Ecco)
  • Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel (Penguin Random House – Berkley)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

  • When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole (HarperCollins Publishers – William Morrow)
  • The Deep, Deep Snow by Brian Freeman (Blackstone Publishing)
  • Unspeakable Things by Jess Lourey (Amazon Publishing – Thomas & Mercer)
  • The Keeper by Jessica Moor (Penguin Random House – Penguin Books)
  • East of Hounslow by Khurrum Rahman (HarperCollins Publishers – Harper 360)

BEST FACT CRIME

  • Blood Runs Coal: The Yablonski Murders and the Battle for the United Mine Workers of America by Mark A. Bradley (W.W. Norton & Company)
  • The Third Rainbow Girl: The Long Life of a Double Murder in Appalachia by Emma Copley Eisenberg (Hachette Book Group – Hachette Books)
  • Death in Mud Lick: A Coal Country Fight Against the Drug Companies that Delivered the Opioid Epidemic by Eric Eyre (Simon & Schuster – Scribner)
  • Yellow Bird: Oil, Murder, and a Woman’s Search for Justice in Indian Country by Sierra Crane Murdoch (Penguin Random House – Random House)
  • Veritas: A Harvard Professor, a Con Man, and the Gospel of Jesus’s Wife by Ariel Sabar (Penguin Random House – Doubleday)

BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL

  • Howdunit: A Masterclass in Crime Writing by Members of the Detection Club edited by Martin Edwards (HarperCollins Publishers – Harper360/Collins Crime Club)
  • Phantom Lady: Hollywood Producer Joan Harrison, the Forgotten Woman Behind Hitchcock by Christina Lane (Chicago Review Press)
  • Ian Rankin: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction by Erin E. MacDonald (McFarland)
  • Guilt Rules All: Irish Mystery, Detective, and Crime Fiction by Elizabeth Mannion & Brian Cliff (Syracuse University Press)
  • This Time Next Year We’ll be Laughing by Jacqueline Winspear (Soho Press)

BEST SHORT STORY

  • “The Summer Uncle Cat Came to Stay,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine by Leslie Elman (Dell Magazines)
  • “Dust, Ash, Flight,” Addis Ababa Noir by Maaza Mengiste (Akashic Books)
  • “Etta at the End of the World,” Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine by Joseph S. Walker (Dell Magazines)
  • “The Twenty-Five Year Engagement,” In League with Sherlock Holmes by James W. Ziskin (Pegasus Books – Pegasus Crime)

BEST JUVENILE

  • Premeditated Myrtle by Elizabeth C. Bunce (Workman Publishing – Algonquin Young Readers)
  • Me and Banksy by Tanya Lloyd Kyi (Penguin Random House Canada – Puffin Canada)
  • From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks (HarperCollins Children’s Books – Katherine Tegen Books)
  • Ikenga by Nnedi Okorafor (Penguin Young Readers – Viking BFYR)
  • Nessie Quest by Melissa Savage (Random House Children’s Books – Crown BFYR)
  • Coop Knows the Scoop by Taryn Souders (Sourcebooks Young Readers)

BEST YOUNG ADULT

  • The Companion by Katie Alender (Penguin Young Readers – G.P. Putnam’s Sons BFYR)
  • The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (Hachette Book Group – Little, Brown BFYR)
  • They Went Left by Monica Hesse (Hachette Book Group – Little, Brown BFYR)
  • Silence of Bones by June Hur (Macmillan Children’s Books – Feiwel & Friends)
  • The Cousins by Karen M. McManus (Penguin Random House – Delacorte Press)

BEST TELEVISION EPISODE TELEPLAY

  • “Episode 1, The Stranger” – Harlan Coben’s The Stranger, Written by Danny Brocklehurst (Netflix)
  • “Episode 1, Open Water” – The Sounds, Written by Sarah-Kate Lynch (Acorn TV)
  • “Episode 1, Photochemistry” – Dead Still, Written by John Morton (Acorn TV)
  • “Episode 1” – Des, Written by Luke Neal (Sundance Now)
  • “What I Know” – The Boys, Written by Rebecca Sonnenshine, based on the comic by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson (Amazon)

ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD

  • “The Bite,” Tampa Bay Noir by Colette Bancroft (Akashic Books)

THE SIMON & SCHUSTER MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD

  • Death of an American Beauty by Mariah Fredericks (Minotaur Books)
  • The Cabinets of Barnaby Mayne by Elsa Hart (Minotaur Books)
  • The Lucky One by Lori Rader-Day (HarperCollins Publishers – William Morrow)
  • The First to Lie by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Forge Books)
  • Cold Wind by Paige Shelton (Minotaur Books

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

  • The Burn by Kathleen Kent (Hachette Book Group – Mulholland Books)
  • Riviera Gold by Laurie R. King (Penguin Random House – Ballantine Books)
  • Vera Kelly is Not a Mystery by Rosalie Knecht (Tin House Books)
  • Dead Land by Sara Paretsky (HarperCollins Publishers – William Morrow)
  • The Sleeping Nymph by Ilaria Tuti (Soho Press – Soho Crime)
  • Turn to Stone by James W. Ziskin (Start Publishing – Seventh Street Books)

SPECIAL AWARDS

GRAND MASTER

  • Jeffery Deaver
  • Charlaine Harris

RAVEN AWARD

  • Malice Domestic

ELLERY QUEEN AWARD

  • Reagan Arthur, Publisher – Alfred A. Knopf

We are pleased to announce that this year’s recipient of the Ellery Queen award is Reagan
Arthur. She is currently the publisher at Alfred A. Knopf, after a lengthy career in editorial and editorial development. Amongst the authors she has worked with over the years include names like Michael Connelly and Kate Atkinson, and also the enormously successful Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow. When informed of her selection as recipient of the Ellery Queen Award, Ms. Arthur commented, “Crime fiction has always been an important part of my life as a reader and as an editor. So it’s a great honor to join the illustrious list of recipients of the Ellery Queen Award, and to be selected by the MWA, an organization that has done so much on behalf of writers, booksellers, and readers.”

2020 Edgar Awards

Mystery Writers of America announced the winners of the 2020 Edgar Allan Poe Awards on April 30. The award honors the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction and television published or produced in 2019. The winners were revealed on Twitter, with videos of the winners’ acceptance remarks posted on YouTube.

BEST NOVEL

  • The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR

  • Miracle Creek by Angie Kim (Farrar Straus and Giroux)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

  • The Hotel Neversink by Adam O’Fallon Price (Tin House Books)

BEST FACT CRIME

  • 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)

BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL

  • Hitchcock and the Censors by John Billheimer (University Press of Kentucky)

BEST SHORT STORY

  • “One of These Nights,” from Cutting Edge: New Stories of Mystery and Crime by Women Writers by Livia Llewellyn (Akashic Books)

BEST JUVENILE

  • 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)

BEST TELEVISION EPISODE TELEPLAY

  • “Season 5, Episode 4” – Line of Duty, Teleplay by Jed Mercurio (Acorn TV)

ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD

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

The winners of these additional non-Edgar awards were honored, too.

THE SIMON & SCHUSTER MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD

  • The Night Visitors by Carol Goodman (HarperCollins – William Morrow)

Mystery Writers of America also posted this video tribute to Mary Higgins Clark – the Queen of Suspense.

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

Honors the best novel in a series featuring a female protagonist

  • Borrowed Time by Tracy Clark ( Kensington Publishing)

There were also acceptance remarks from the winners of these awards announced in December.

THE ELLERY QUEEN AWARD

Honors outstanding writing teams and outstanding people in the mystery-publishing industry.

  • Kelly Ragland, Minotaur Books

THE RAVEN AWARD

Recognizes outstanding achievement in the mystery field outside the realm of creative writing

  • Left Coast Crime

Grand Master Award

  • Barbara Neely (died March 2)

The 2020 Edgar Awards “In Memoriam” video: