MWA 2026 Grand Masters, Raven, & Ellery Queen Award Recipients

 

Mystery Writers of America (MWA) announced the recipients of its special awards. The board chose Donna Andrews and Lee Child as the 2026 Grand Masters, the 2026 Raven Award recipient is Book Passage, and John Scognamiglio of Kensington Books will receive the Ellery Queen Award. They will accept their awards at the 80th Annual Edgar Awards Ceremony, which will be held April 29, 2026, at the Marriott Marquis Times Square in New York City.

 “Donna Andrews has given us more than fifty novels, proving the cozy subgenre is more relevant than ever. In addition to her significant literary accomplishments, she has given back to the community in so many ways, by mentoring aspiring mystery writers, and serving as the MWA EVP. I’m thrilled to see Donna named as MWA Grand Master,” said MWA Executive Vice President James L’Etoile. “And Lee Child’s contributions to the genre are unparalleled. Aside from his thirty critically acclaimed novels featuring the iconic Jack Reacher, Lee Child is considered one of the most thoughtful and generous members of the mystery community. Writer, mentor, and Past President of MWA, he is a role model, and most deserving of being named MWA Grand Master.”

 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.

 The Raven Award recognizes outstanding achievement in the mystery field outside the realm of creative writing. For 2026, Mystery Writers of America selected Book Passage in Corte Madera, CA.

 “Book Passage is honoured and thrilled to receive the Raven Award from the Mystery Writers of America. Many of the 10,000 or more author events that we’ve had over the years have featured mystery writers. During the last 30 years or so, many of these writers have given of their time to participate in our annual Mystery Writers Conference and have helped nurture new writers towards successful careers,” Book Passage founder and president Elaine Petrocelli said. “We’ve found mystery writers to be resourceful, fearless, and ingenious in describing the problems of the world. More than that, they know how to keep their portrayal of the dark side of humanity on the written page. In person, they are wonderful, personable, and a pleasure to be around.” 

 The Ellery Queen Award was established in 1983 to honour “outstanding writing teams and outstanding people in the mystery-publishing industry.” This year the Board chose to honour John Scognamiglio of Kensington Books, who began his career 40 years ago as a file clerk in the Contracts Department at Simon & Schuster in 1986 while still a sophomore at New York University. He later moved to where he always wanted to be—editorial—and from 1989 to 1992, Scognamiglio worked as an assistant editor for S&S’s mass-market division, Pocket Books. In February 1992, he joined Kensington Publishing as an editor, and he became Editor-in-Chief in 2005. He launched his own imprint, John Scognamiglio Books, at Kensington in 2017.  Among his authors are New York Times bestsellers Lisa Jackson, Joanne Fluke, Ellen Marie Wiseman and Leslie Meier. 

The Edgar Awards, or “Edgars,” as they are commonly known, are named after MWA’s patron saint Edgar Allan Poe and are presented to authors of distinguished work in various categories. MWA is the premier organization for mystery writers, professionals allied to the crime-writing field, aspiring crime writers, and those who are devoted to the genre. The organization encompasses some 3,000 members including authors of fiction and nonfiction books, screen and television writers, as well as publishers, editors, and literary agents. For more information on Mystery Writers of America, please visit the website: www.mysterywriters.org.

Robin Jarossi on The Real Ted Hastings

 

It was a real scandal that inspired Line of Duty, the BBC’s most watched drama series this century.

Creator and writer Jed Mercurio said the incident that sparked his series was the Met's inadvertent shooting of an innocent man and their dishonesty in it's aftermath. Mercurio was referring to the 2005 shooting by police of Jean Charles de Menezes at Stockwell tube station in London. De Menezes, a 27-year-old Brazilian electrician, had been mistaken for a suicide bomber. Afterwards, the police said he had refused to obey instructions when challenged, which was later found to be not true.

This tragedy is reimagined in the opening moments of the first episode of Line of Duty. Officer Steve Arnott, pre-AC-12, is a member of a armed anti-terrorist team raiding the home of a supposed jihadist bomb-maker. The problem is that the man Karim Ali, has been misidentified. He is not a terrorist but is nevertheless shot dead. Chief Inspector Philip Osborne then orders Arnott's team to concot false statements to suggest the man acted aggressively when asked to surrender. 

This revealed Mercurio’s intention in writing his series focusing on corruption, because as he explained to The Guardian before the first episode was broadcast in 2012 “I appreciate the value of escapism, but there must also be a platform for television fiction to examine our institutions in a more forensic light.”

So, the unifying idea was set from Line of Duty’s opening sequence – this was escapisim entertaintment that resonated to corruption scandals and police wrongdoing in the real world. Along with the plot twists and car chases. Line of Duty's storylines are permeated with the most shocking police scandals of recent times. 

I rewatched the whole six series and replayed many scenes when writing The Real Ted Hastings. Again and again the real-world parallels appear.

Notorious investigations referenced during the series have included the murders of teenage student Stephen Lawrence and private investigator Daniel Morgan, Jimmy Saville's showbiz career built on sexual abuse has featured several times.

Other parallels include the killing of Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia with fictional character Gail Vella in Series 6, while the wrongful 16 year imprisonment of Stefan Kiszko for a 1975 murder he did not commit inspired the framing of Michael Farmer in the fourth series. There are many further true scandals loitering with intent in Line of Duty.

When it comes to a role model for Superintendent Ted Hastings, we have to go back to the 1970s to find a Met Commissioner who epitomised his strong-minded integrity. Robert Mark, later knighted, staked his reputation on confronting the culture of rampant corruption in Scotland Yard’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID). He is still remembered as the anti-corruption chief who shook up a complacent Scotland Yard and rooted out hundreds of crooked cops. It is no surprise he is often cited as the corruption buster who is the closet frame of refrence for Hastings. 

There are differences between them. Mark was a Manchester man working in London, while Hastings is from Northern Ireland and based in an unidentified Midlands city. Their ranks are different – Mark was the Met Commissioner in charge of strategy, while Hasting is a superintendent directing investigations. Hastings is eventually suspected of being bent himself, while Mark never was.

The similarities, however, highlight a shared lineage. Both faced hostility and pariah status from fellow officers as they dug into allegations of criminality in their forces. Mark shook up the CID when he set up A10 to chase down dishonest detectives. Hastings, of course, heads its fictional counterpart, AC-12. Hastings is accused in Season 1 of being a zealot in his fervour to investigate fellow officers. Mark was similarly accused of being more interested in arresting policemen than criminals.

Jed Mercurio’s use of high-octane drama to explore a powerful subject that increasingly hits the headlines – police wrongdoing is in a long tradition of writers who have used real cases as inspiration for their fiction.

Agatha Christie worked the notorious kidnapping and killing of the toddler of aviator Charles Lindberg and his wife Anne, in 1932. A $50,000 ransom was demanded. This was handed over, but the little boy Charlie was found dead. He had probably died during the kidnaping two months earlier.

Christie followed the case and was affected by this shocking outcome. In Murder on the Orient Express she has the victim Mr Ratchett, revealed to be a gangster called Cassetti who had also kidnapped a child and allowed the family to believe it was alive while extorting a ransom. Cassetti is murdered in retribution.

Fiction writers often explore disturbing crimes to gain a glimmer of understanding into how they might have occurred. In 1843, Edgar Allan Poe’s psychological mystery The Tell Tale Heart echoed a contemporary murder that of elderly, wealthy, Joseph White in 1830 Salem, Massachusetts. The case fascinated observers at the time as a study of guilt and ruthless indifference to the victim.

Truman Capote's 1966 non-fiction novel in Cold Blood examined the murder of the Clutter family in Kansas seven years earlier. In her 1996 novel Alias Grace, Margaret Atwood explored the true story of Canadian girl Grace Marks, who with another household servant, James McDermott, was tried for murder in 1843 of her employer and his mistress.

Mass shootings, such as the one at Columbine High School in 1999, were reflected in Lionel Shriver's novel We Need to Talk About Kevin. 

Reimagined as fiction, such shocking events can be deconstructed to posit some comprehension of the motivations and causes behind them. And, of course, they can be gripping entertainment.

Professor Heather Marquette who has spent more than 20 years researching corruption has said, “Watching Line of Duty is practically research. While I appreciate that not everything in the show is as it is in real life, it can help bring corruption research to life. It presents a vision of a police service in the UK under significant pressure. And it's not just the police. The whole justice system is fraying at the seams in Line of Duty. From prison wardens to the yawning incompetent duty solicitor who sits idly by while an innocent and vulnerable young man wallows in prison. Line of Duty suggest a system that can effectively fulfil its purpose and risks losing public trust. This is why the work of AC-12 iw wo important. It's about public trust on the law'.

Some political commentators even cite Line of Duty as a bell weather of the state of contemporary. Britain, with its Party-gate, Wallpaper-gate, lobbying, sexual misconduct, PPE procurement and other scandals. 'The British state is like Line of Duty, but without no AC-12 ”said journalist Paul Mason”.

“While nobody in their right mind thinks Line of Duty is real, its metaphoric truth is: when dealing with commercialised and fragmented British state, you have to assume that everybody is on the make, everyone is gaming the system, everyone has something to hide, and that behind every investigation there is a cover-up”.

As the show’s millions of fans wait and hope for news of a seventh series, there is no mystery about what is holding up the announcement. Jed Mercurio probably can’t decide which of the many current police scandals to include in it.

The Real Ted Hastings: The True Story of the Cooper at the Heart of Line of Duty by Robin Jarossi (Ad Lib Publishers Ltd) Out Now

Line of Duty holds its status as the defining TV crime drama of today. The conspiracy theme of the series chimes at a time when public institutions and representatives are distrusted. Ted Hastings, the show's head of anti-corruption, has emerged as the beating heart of the series. This book reveals how the compelling drama reflects real crimes, events and figures, most notably that of Robert Mark and his battle against Met corruption. 'None of my people would plant evidence. They know I would throw the book at them... followed by the bookshelf' Starting with a bang - 'I'll put you all back in uniform' were his first words to his team. New Met Commissioner Robert Mark - the inspiration for Ted Hastings - took on his entire corruption-riddled detective branch in his first brutal speech. The scale of the problem facing Robert Mark was institutionalised corruption in CID. During his four years eleven months as commissioner, he saw 478 men leave the force following or in anticipation of criminal/disciplinary proceedings. Departures in the previous decade had averaged about 16 a year. Mark's extraordinary career established the need for a dedicated team to investigate corruption that lives on today.

Mystery Writers of America Announces 2022 Edgar Allan Poe Award Nominations

January 19, 2022, New York, NY – Mystery Writers of America is proud to announce, as we celebrate the 213^thanniversary of the birth of Edgar Allan Poe, the nominees for the 2022 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, honouring the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction and television published or produced in 2021. The 76^th Annual Edgar® Awards will be celebrated on April 28, 2022 at the New York Marriott Marquis Times Square.

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+)
“We 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)

* * * * * *

SPECIAL AWARDS

GRAND MASTER

Laurie R. King

RAVEN AWARD

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

ELLERY QUEEN AWARD

Juliet Grames – Soho Press – Soho Crime

* * * * * *

The Edgar Awards, or “Edgars,” as they are commonly known, are named after MWA’s patron saint Edgar Allan Poe and are presented to authors of distinguished work in various categories. MWA is the premier organization for mystery writers, professionals allied to the crime-writing field, aspiring crime writers, and those who are devoted to the genre. The organization encompasses some 3,000 members including authors of fiction and non-fiction books, screen and television writers, as well as publishers, editors, and literary agents.

Mystery Writers of America would like to emphasize our commitment to diversity and fairness in the judging of the Edgar Awards. Judges are selected from every region of the country, from every sub-category of our genre, and from every demographic to ensure fairness and impartiality.

2021 Edgar® Nominees

January 25, 2021, New York, NY - Mystery Writers of America is proud to announce, as we celebrate the 212th anniversary of the birth of Edgar Allan Poe, the nominees for the 2021 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, honouring 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 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," by Leslie Elman Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine (Dell Magazines) 

"Dust, Ash, Flight," Addis Ababa Noir by Maaza Mengiste (Akashic Books) 

"Fearless," California Schemin' by Walter Mosley (Wildside Press) 

"Etta at the End of the World," by Joseph S. Walker Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine (Dell Magazines) 

“The Twenty-Five Year Engagement,” by James W. Ziskin In League with Sherlock Holmes (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 Collette 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 

Jeffrey 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 ilustrious list of recipiennts of the Ellery Queen Award, and to be selected by the MWA, an orgaanistation that has been done so much on behalf of writers, booksellers, and readers.”

****** 

The Edgar Awards, or “Edgars,” as they are commonly known, are named after MWA’s patron saint Edgar Allan Poe and are presented to authors of distinguished work in various categories. MWA is the premier organization for mystery writers, professionals allied to the crime-writing field, aspiring crime writers, and those who are devoted to the genre. The organization encompasses some 3,000 members including authors of fiction and non-fiction books, screen and television writers, as well as publishers, editors, and literary agents. 

Mystery Writers of America would like to emphasize our commitment to diversity and fairness in the judging of the Edgar Awards. Judges are selected from every region of the country, from every sub-category of our genre, and from every demographic to ensure fairness and impartiality. 

Writing the Crime Scenes: Location as Inspiration by Karen Lee Street

Edgar Allan Poe and the Jewel of Peru — a mystery involving old enemies, lost soul-mates, ornithomancy, and the legendary jewel of Peru— is set primarily in early 1844 in the city of Philadelphia, with some brief forays to the Chachapoya mountains in Peru. But it all began in Hackney.

I made my home in that part of London for fourteen years, living in a building that overlooked London Fields and what was once an immense plant nursery renowned throughout Europe. I was surprised to discover that my urban neighbourhood had been a tourist destination in the early nineteenth century due to its enviable collection of exotic flora and the fact that it boasted the largest hothouse in the world. The more I researched the Hackney Botanic Nursery Garden, the more I felt it might be an interesting location for a crime story, and that notion was a key inspiration for Edgar Allan Poe and the Jewel of Peru.

Some of the facts that led to the fiction are these: the Hackney Botanic Nursery Garden was originally founded by Johann Busch, a German immigrant who settled in Hackney in the mid-eighteenth century. He rented land on Mare Street and supplied unusual plant specimens to private botanical gardens in Europe. Busch also grew plants from 'Bartram's boxes', collections of seeds put together by John Bartram who had a famous nursery in Philadelphia, now a 45-acre National Historic Landmark called Bartram's Gardens.

When Johann Busch went to Russia to be Imperial Head Gardener to Catherine the Great in 1771, this connection continued, but through Busch's friend and fellow German émigré Joachim Conrad Loddiges (1738–1826), who took over the business. Joachim Loddiges's son George (1786–1846) developed the nursery further with a tropical rainforest display, a palm house, and hothouse collections of orchids, ferns, and other exotic plants that fascinated Victorians, thus making it a popular destination for tourists. George Loddiges also employed plant collectors to bring back unusual flora and fauna from South America, particularly specimens for his ornithological collection, part of which is now housed in the Natural History Museum in London.

One explorer Loddiges hired was Andrew Mathews (1801—1841) who called himself "a traveling collector of natural objects". I discovered that Mathews also gathered seeds and plants for Bartram's Nursery in Philadelphia, but couldn't find out much more about him except that he married a Peruvian woman, they had a son, and Andrew Mathews died at the age of forty in the Chachapoya mountains of Peru, no cause of death given. Was it through accident? Disease? Foul play? The idea for a murder tale began to ferment…

It wasn't only Andrew Mathews who had a connection with the borough of Hackney and the city of Philadelphia. Edgar Allan Poe lived in Stoke Newington from 1815 to 1820 during his boyhood, and he resided at various addresses in Philadelphia between 1838 and 1844, where he wrote some of his most famous tales. I wondered if Poe had visited the impressive Hackney Gardens as a child or had gone to see the Bartram Gardens in Philadelphia whilst living there—and if these locations might be incorporated into my ideas for a Poe & Dupin mystery trilogy. Given George Loddiges's immense collection of avian specimens and that Poe's most famous poem was inspired by Charles Dickens's pet raven Grip, birds seemed to be a subject worth exploring when concocting a plot.

And so, I returned to Hackney and created a character named after George Loddiges's daughter Helena (1818 - 1871), making her a skilled taxidermist, practitioner of ornithomancy, and an amateur ornithologist who had written a book on the subject. I reasoned that if Poe were hired by Helena Loddiges to edit the book (as he was hired to edit The Conchologist's First Book (1839)), the fee would not only provide the typically impoverished Poe with the means to travel to London in book I: Edgar Allan Poe and the London Monster, but would also suggest plot points for book II.

Hackney, Philadelphia, and the Chachapoya mountains are scenes of fictional crimes investigated in Edgar Allan Poe and the Jewel of Peru and are three places that have more connections in truth than one might initially imagine. The hothouses of the Loddiges plant nursery are long gone, but the Loddiges family vault is located in the gardens of the Church of St John-at-Hackney. Poe is buried in Baltimore, but his former home in the Spring Garden section of Philadelphia is a museum one can visit and Charles Dickens's pet raven Grip (which Dickens had stuffed by a taxidermist after his death) is entombed in a glass box on display in the Philadelphia Free Library. Andrew Mathews died in the Chachapoyas, but how and precisely where is lost to history… as is the mysterious jewel of Peru.

Edgar Allan Poe and the Jewel of Peru by Karen Lee Street is published by Point Blank, paperback £8.99.

Rewriting the Past, ‘Based on a True Crime

A fundamental part of a mystery story is discovering what is fact and what is fiction, who is telling the truth and who is not. Is a witness’s memory reliable and has that witness correctly interpreted what he or she has seen? If this investigative process goes awry, the wrong man or woman may be convicted.

Edgar Allan Poe and the London Monster takes a true crime story and twists it into a fictional tale by re-imagining ‘who-dunit’, then revisiting the recorded facts of the crimes from the point-of-view of these imagined perpetrators. The historical facts are these: from 1788 - 1790 a person or persons attacked over fifty women, slashing their skirts and derrières. In that era, intentionally defacing another person’s clothing in public was a felony that could be punished by transportation or hanging. Descriptions of the male perpetrator varied considerably, which did not help with his apprehension. Hysteria mounted as attacks escalated in 1790 and vigilantes were formed; women wore copper pots to shield their posteriors; and a £100 reward was offered for the villain's capture and conviction. Soon after the reward was posted, a victim claimed to spot her assailant who was duly arrested and, after two trials, imprisoned for six years.

But was the right person convicted? Certainly the accused had not been proven guilty with hard evidence. The Old Bailey transcripts of the trials reveal them to be high farce. If the accused were truly innocent and two actors with a facility for disguise were the real culprits (as some newspapers of the day suggested) then what was the story of the actual perpetrators who got away with it? That was the alternative history I wanted to write, and I played profiler to develop the tale.

First of all, I had to pin down motive. I am most interested in crimes with a personal motive, so I settled on revenge. I decided that the perpetrators would be a husband and wife team, ‘theatre-folk’ but with different family backgrounds, which was a source of conflict. I then went through each London Monster attack and invented a context for it, deciding who did the slashing and why, presenting details of the crimes in letters the couple exchanged.

This collection of letters, apparently written by his grandparents, is delivered to Edgar Allan Poe in 1840, an inheritance that makes him travel to London to prove that the missives are forgeries; his grandparents are innocent; and the London Monster is merely a fabrication rather than fact. And so begins the mystery that he and his friend the great ratiocinator C. Auguste Dupin must unravel while someone, motivated by revenge, watches their every move and reveals, bit by bit, further events from the past that come back to haunt Poe.

Karen Lee Street is the author of Edgar Allan Poe and the London Monster (Point Blank Books, 7 April 2016, hardback £14.99), the first of a trilogy. 

Summer, 1840. Edgar Allan Poe sails from Philadelphia to London to meet his friend C. Auguste Dupin, in hope that the great detective will help him solve a family mystery. For Poe inherited a mahogany box containing a collection of letters allegedly written by his grandparents, Elizabeth and Henry Arnold. The Arnolds were actors who struggled to make a living on the London stage, but the mysterious letters suggest that the couple played a more clandestine role - stalking well-to-do young women at night, to slice their clothing and derrieres. Poe hopes to prove the missives forgeries; Dupin wonders if they are real, but their content is fantasy. Soon Poe is being stalked by someone who knows far more about his grandparents and their crimes than he does. And then he remembers disturbing attacks made upon him as a child in London ...Could the perpetrators be connected?

Her publications include Tattoos and Motorcycles, a collection of short stories linked by a crime, and Writing and Selling Crime Film Screenplays. This is her first novel.  

You can follow her on Twitter @karenleestreet