Mystery Writers of America - 2025 Edgar Allan Poe Award Nominations

Mystery Writers of America announced the nominees for the 2025 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, honouring the best in mystery fiction, nonfiction and television published or produced in 2024. The 79th Annual Edgar® Awards will be celebrated on May 1, 2025, at the New York Marriott Marquis Times Square.

BEST NOVEL

The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett (Penguin Random House – Random House Worlds/Del Rey

Rough Trade by Katrina Carrasco (Farrar, Straus and Giroux – MCD)

Things Don’t Break on Their Own by Sarah Easter Collins (Penguin Random House – Crown)

My Favorite Scar by Nicolás Ferraro (Soho Press – Soho Crime)

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore (Penguin Random House – Riverhead Books)

Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera (Macmillan Publishers – Celadon Books)

The In Crowd by Charlotte Vassell (Penguin Random House – Doubleday)

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR

Twice the Trouble by Ash Clifton (Crooked Lane Book

Cold to the Touch by Kerri Hakoda (Crooked Lane Books)

The Mechanics of Memory by Audrey Lee (CamCat Books)

A Jewel in the Crown by David Lewis (Kensington Books – A John Scognamiglio Book)

The President’s Lawyer by Lawrence Robbins (Simon & Schuster – Atria Books)

Holy City by Henry Wise (Grove Atlantic – Atlantic Monthly Press)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

The Paris Widow by Kimberly Belle (Harlequin Trade Publishing – Park Row Books)

The Vacancy in Room 10 by Seraphina Nova Glass (Harlequin Trade Publishing – Graydon House)

Shell Games by Bonnie Kistler (HarperCollins – Harper Paperbacks)

A Forgotten Kill by Isabella Maldonado (Amazon Publishing – Thomas & Mercer)

The Road to Heaven by Alexis Stefanovich-Thomson (Dundurn Press Ltd.)

BEST FACT CRIME

Long Haul: Hunting the Highway Serial Killers by Frank Figliuzzi (HarperCollins – Mariner Books)

The Infernal Machine: A True Story of Dynamite, Terror, and the Rise of the Modern Detective by Steven Johnson (Penguin Random House – Crown)

A Devil Went Down to Georgia: Race, Power, Privilege, and the Murder of Lita McClinton by Deb Miller Landau (Pegasus Books – Pegasus Crime)

The Amish Wife: Unraveling the Lies, Secrets, and Conspiracy that Let a Killer Go Free by Gregg Olsen (Amazon Publishing – Thomas & Mercer)

Hell Put to Shame: The 1921 Murder Farm Massacre and the Horror of America's Second Slavery by Earl Swift (HarperCollins – Mariner Books)

The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age by Michael Wolraich (Union Square & Co.)

BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL

James Sallis: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction by Nathan Ashman (McFarland Publishing)

American Noir Film: From The Maltese Falcon to Gone Girl by M. Keith Booker (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers)

Organized Crime on Page and Screen: Portrayals in Hit Novels, Films, and Television Shows by David Geherin (McFarland Publishing)

On Edge: Gender and Genre in the Work of Shirley Jackson, Patricia Highsmith, and Leigh Brackett by Ashley Lawson (The Ohio State University Press)

Ian Fleming; The Complete Man by Nicholas Shakespeare (HarperCollins – Harper)

 BEST SHORT STORY

“Cut and Thirst,” Amazon Original Stories by Margaret Atwood (Amazon Publishing)

“Everywhere You Look,” Amazon Original Stories by Liv Constantine (Amazon Publishing)

“Eat My Moose,” Conjunctions: 82, Works & Days by Erika Krouse (Bard College)

“Barriers to Entry,” Amazon Original Stories by Ariel Lawhon (Amazon Publishing)

“The Art of Cruel Embroidery,” Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine – July-August 2024 by Steven Sheil (Dell Magazine)

BEST JUVENILE

The Beanstalk Murder by P.G. Bell (Macmillan Publishers – Feiwel & Friends)

Mystery of Mystic Mountain by Janet Fox (Simon & Schuster BFYR)

Mysteries of Trash and Treasure: The Stolen Key by Margaret Peterson Haddix (HarperCollins – Quill Tree Books)

The Spindle of Fate by Aimee Lim (Macmillan Publishers – Feiwel & Friends)

Find Her by Ginger Reno (Holiday House)

BEST YOUNG ADULT

Looking for Smoke by K.A. Cobell (HarperCollins – Heartdrum)

The Bitter End by Alexa Donne (Random House Books for Young Readers)

A Crane Among Wolves by June Hur (Macmillan Publishers – Feiwel & Friends)

Death at Morning House by Maureen Johnson (HarperCollins Publishers – Harper Teen)

49 Miles Alone by Natalie D. Richards (Sourcebooks – Sourcebooks Fire)

BEST TELEVISION EPISODE TELEPLAY

“Episode Five” – Rebus, Written by Gregory Burke (Viaplay)

“Episode One” – Monsieur Spade, Written by Tom Fontana & Scott Frank (AMC)

“Episode One” – Moonflower Murders, Written by Anthony Horowitz (Masterpiece PBS)

“Mirror” – Murderesses, Written by Wiktor Piatkowski, Joanna Kozłowska, Katarzyna Kaczmarek (Viaplay)

“Episode Two” – The Marlow Murder Club, Written by Robert Thorogood (Masterpiece PBS)

OTHER AWARDS

ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD – 

Endowed by the family of Robert L. Fish.

“The Legend of Penny and the Luck of the Draw Casino,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, May-June 2024 by Pat Gaudet (Dell Magazines)

“Head Start,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, September-October 2024 by Kai Lovelace (Dell Magazines)

“Murder Under Sedation,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, March-April 2024 by Lawrence Ong (Dell Magazines)

“The Jews on Elm Street,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, September-October 2024 by Anna Stolley Persky (Dell Magazines)

“Sparrow Maker,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, November-December 2024 by Jake Stein (Dell Magazines)

THE SIMON & SCHUSTER MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD – 

Presented on behalf of Simon & Schuster.

The Rose Arbor by Rhys Bowen (Amazon Publishing – Lake Union)

The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco by Michelle Chouinard (Macmillan Publishers – Minotaur Books)

The Mystery Writer by Sulari Gentill (Sourcebooks – Poisoned Pen Press)

Return to Wyldcliffe Heights by Carol Goodman (HarperCollins – William Morrow Paperbacks)

Death in the Details by Katie Tietjen (Crooked Lane Books)

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

Presented on behalf of G.P. Putnam’s Sons.

Disturbing the Dead by Kelley Armstrong (Macmillan Publishers – Minotaur Books)

A Game of Lies by Clare Mackintosh (Sourcebooks – Sourcebooks Landmark)

Proof by Beverly McLachlin (Simon & Schuster Canada – Simon & Schuster)

A World of Hurt by Mindy Mejia (Grove Atlantic – Atlantic Monthly Press)

All the Way Gone by Joanna Schaffhausen (Macmillan Publishers – Minotaur Books)

The Comfort of Ghosts by Jacqueline Winspear (Soho Press – Soho Crime)

 

THE LILIAN JACKSON BRAUN MEMORIAL AWARD –

 Endowed by the estate of Lilian Jackson Braun.

The Murders in Great Diddling by Katarina Bivald (Sourcebooks – Poisoned Pen Press)

Death and Fromage by Ian Moore (Sourcebooks – Poisoned Pen Press)

Booked for Murder by P.J. Nelson (Macmillan Publishers – Minotaur Books)

Murder on Devil’s Pond by Ayla Rose (Crooked Lane Books)

The Treasure Hunters Club by Tom Ryan (Grove Atlantic – Atlantic Monthly Press)

 

Recent Awards and Nominations! - Edgar Awards, Arthur Ellis, Crimefest

The Edgar Awards®

Mystery Writers of America announced the winners of the 2013 Edgar Allan Poe Awards tonight, honouring the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction and television, published or produced in 2012.

Best Novel
Live by Night by Dennis Lehane (HarperCollins Publishers – William Morrow)

Best First Novel By An American Author

The Expats by Chris Pavone (Crown Publishers)

Best Paperback Original
The Last Policeman: A Novel by Ben H. Winters (Quirk Books)

Best Fact Crime
Midnight in Peking: How the Murder of a Young Englishwoman Haunted
the Last Days of Old China by Paul French (Penguin Group USA – Penguin Books)

Best Critical/Biographical
The Scientific Sherlock Holmes: Cracking the Case with Science and Forensics by James O’Brien (Oxford University Press)

Best Short Story
"The Unremarkable Heart" – Mystery Writers of America Presents:  Vengeance by Karin Slaughter (Hachette Book Group – Little, Brown and Company – Mulholland Books)

Best Juvenile
The Quick Fix by Jack D. Ferraiolo (Abrams – Amulet Books)

Best Young Adult
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein (Disney Publishing Worldwide - Hyperion)

Best Television Episode Teleplay 

“A Scandal in Belgravia” – Sherlock, Teleplay by Steven Moffat (BBC/Masterpiece)

ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD
"When They Are Done With Us" – Staten Island Noir by Patricia Smith (Akashic Books)

Grand Masters
Ken Follett and Margaret Maron

Raven Awards
Oline Cogdill
Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore, San Diego & Redondo Beach, CA

Ellery Queen Award

Akashic Books

The Simon & Schuster - Mary Higgins Clark Award
Presented at MWA’s Agents & Editors Party on Wednesday, May 1, 2013
The Other Woman by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Forge Books)

Crimefest Awards

The Crimefest Award Nominees are as follows -

AUDIBLE SOUNDS OF CRIME AWARD
The Audible Sounds of Crime Award recognises the best crime audiobook published in both print and audio in 2012. Courtesy of sponsor Audible UK, the winning author and audiobook reader share the £1,000 prize equally and each receives a commemorative Bristol Blue Glass vase.

The nominees are:
The Black Box by Michael Connelly read by Michael McConnohie (Orion Audio)

The Racketeer by John Grisham read by J.D. Jackson (Hodder & Stoughton)
The Lewis Man by Peter May read by Peter Forbes (Quercus)
Phantom by Jo Nesbø read by Sean Barrett (Random House with Isis Publishing)
Standing In Another Man's Grave by Ian Rankin read by James MacPherson (Orion Audio)
Eligible titles were submitted by publishers for the longlist, and Audible UK listeners established the shortlist and the winning title.

GOLDSBORO LAST LAUGH AWARD
The Last Laugh Award is for the best humorous crime novel of 2012. The £500 prize is sponsored by Goldsboro Books, the book collector's bookseller. The winner also receives a Bristol Blue Glass vase.

The nominees are:
The Prisoner of Brenda by Colin Bateman (Headline)
The Corpse on the Court by Simon Brett (Severn House)
Slaughter's Hound by Declan Burke (Liberties Press)
Killing The Emperors by Ruth Dudley Edwards (Allison & Busby)
Bryant & May and the Invisible Code  by Christopher Fowler (Doubleday, Transworld)
The Iron Will of Shoeshine Cats  by Hesh Kestin (Mulholland Books, Hodder & Stoughton)
Eligible titles were submitted by publishers for the longlist, and a team of British crime fiction reviewers voted to establish the shortlist and the winning title.

eDUNNIT AWARD
The eDunnit Award is for the best crime fiction ebook published in 2012 in both hardcopy and in electronic format. The winning author receives £500, an eReader, as well as a commemorative Bristol Blue Glass vase.

The nominees are:
The Age of Doubt by Andrea Camilleri (Mantle, Macmillan) 

Killing The Emperors by Ruth Dudley Edwards (Allison & Busby)
Bryant & May and the Invisible Code by Christopher Fowler (Transworld)
Dominion by C.J. Sansom (Mantle, Macmillan)

Eligible titles were submitted by publishers for the longlist, and a team of British crime fiction reviewers voted to establish the shortlist and the winning title.

THE H.R.F. KEATING AWARD
The H.R.F. Keating Award is for the best biography or critical book related to crime fiction published between 2008 and 2012. The award is named for Harry Keating, who died in 2011, one of Britain's most esteemed crime novelists, a reviewer for The Times, and writer of books about crime fiction. The winning author receives a commemorative Bristol Blue Glass vase.

The nominees are:
Books to Die For Declan Burke & John Connolly by (Hodder & Stoughton, 2012)
Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks by John Curran (HarperCollins, 2009)
British Crime Writing: an Encyclopaedia Barry Forshaw (editor) (Greenwood World Publishing, 2008)
Invisible Ink by Christopher Fowler (Strange Attractor, 2012)

Following the Detectives by Maxim Jakubowski (editor) (New Holland Publishers, 2010)
Talking about Detective Fiction by P.D. James (The Bodleian Library, 2009)

Eligible titles were collated by author and crime fiction expert Martin Edwards, and from submissions by CRIMEFEST newsletter subscribers. A team of British crime fiction reviewers voted to establish the shortlist and the winning title.

Winners will be announced at the CrimeFest Gala Dinner on June 1. 

The Crime Writers of Canada have announced the nominees for the 2013 Arthur Ellis Awards.

Best First Novel:
The Beggar’s Opera by Peggy Blair (Penguin Canada)
Confined Space by Deryn Collier (Simon & Schuster)
The Dead of Winter by Peter Kirby (Linda Leith)
A Private Man by Chris Laing (Seraphim)
The Haunting of Maddy Clare by Simone St. James (NAL)

Best Novel:
Trust Your Eyes by Linwood Barclay (Doubleday Canada)
Until the Night by Giles Blunt (Random House Canada)
The Trinity Game by Sean Chercover (Thomas & Mercer)
The Messenger by Stephen Miller (Delacorte Press)
Niceville by Carsten Stroud (Knopf)

Best Novella:
Contingency Plan by Lou Allin (Orca Rapid Reads)
A Winter Kill by Vicki Delany (Orca Rapid Reads)

Evil Behind that Door by Barbara Fradkin (Orca Rapid Reads)
Reunion by Christopher G. Moore (from Phnom Penh Noir, edited by Christopher G. Moore; Heaven Lake Press)

Best Short Story:
“Life without George” by Melodie Campbell (Over My Dead Body!, August 2012)
“Sins of the Fathers” by Sandy Conrad (from Daughters and Other Strangers, The Brucedale Press)
“Cruel Coast” by Scott MacKay (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, July 2012)
“Mad Dog” Jas R. Petrin (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, October 2012)
“Spring-blade Knife” by Yasuko Thanh (from Floating Like the Dead, McClelland & Stewart)

Best Non-fiction:
Bloody Justice: The Truth behind the Bandidos Massacre at Shedden by Anita Arvast (John Wiley)
Octopus: Sam Israel, the Secret Market, and Wall Street’s Wildest Con by Guy Lawson (Crown/Random House)
The Devil’s Cinema: The Untold Story behind Mark Twitchell’s Kill Room by Steve Lillebuen (McClelland & Stewart)
Thieves of Bay Street: How Banks, Brokerages and the Wealthy Steal Billions from Canadians by Bruce Livesey (Random House Canada)

Best Juvenile/Young Adult:
Live to Tell by Lisa Harrington (Cormorant Books)
The Agency: The Traitor in the Tunnel by Y.S. Lee (Candlewick Press)
Crush Candy Corpse by Sylvia McNicoll (James Lorimer)
Becoming Holmes by Shane Peacock (Tundra)

The Lynching of Louie Sam by Elizabeth Stewart (Annick Press)

Best Crime Book in French:
La Nuit des albinos: Sur les traces de Max O’Brien by Mario Bolduc (Libre Expression)
De pierres et de sang by André Jacques (Druide)
L’homme du jeudi by Jean Lemieux (La courte échelle)
Je me souviens by Martin Michaud (Goélette)
L’inaveu by Richard Ste Marie (Alire)

Best Unpublished First Crime Novel (“The Unhanged Arthur”):
Cold Black Tide by William Hall
The Raffle Baby by Ilonka Halsband
Sins Revisited by Coleen Steele

Winners of the Arthur Ellis Awards will be announced on May 30 2013 during a ceremony at the Arts and Letters Club in Toronto, Canada.

The Romantic Times Readers Choice Awards were recently announced and the winners of the mystery awards are as follows with the winner in bold.

Contemporary Mystery
Dead Scared by S.J. Bolton

The Sleeping and the Dead by Jeff Crook

The House at Sea's End by Elly Griffiths

Available Dark by Elizabeth Hand

Cop to Corpse by Peter Lovesey

Historical Mystery
A Dark Anatomy by Robin Blake

The Yard by Alex Grecian

When Maidens Mourn by C.S. Harris

A Sunless Sea by Anne Perry

The Incense Game by Laura Joh Rowland

The Solitary House by Lynn Shepherd

First Mystery

Hush Money by Chuck Greaves

The Anatomist's Apprentice by Tessa Harris

Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes

Viral by James Lilliefors

The Deep Zone by James M. Tabor

Suspense/Thriller
A Deeper Darkness by J.T. Ellison

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Catch Me by Lisa Gardner

And She Was by Alison Gaylin

The Line Between Here and Gone by Andrea Kane

The Other Woman by Hank Phillippi Ryan

Amateur Sleuth
Popped Off by Jeffrey Allen

The Twelve Clues of Chrismas by Rhys Bowen

Postcards from the Dead by Laura Childs

Bad Little Falls by Paul Doiron

Gem of a Ghost by Sue Ann Jaffarian

Blood, Bath and Beyond by Michelle Rowen

Romantic Suspense

Betrayal by Christina Dodd

Last Man Standing by Cindy Gerard

Beautiful Sacrifice by Elizabeth Lowell

Against the Sun by Kat Martin

Sleepwalker by Karen Robards

The Witness by Nora Roberts

2012 Edgar Award Winners

TheMystery Writers of America have announced the winners of the 2012 EDGAR© Awards. The full list of the nominees can be found here.

Best Novel
Gone by Mo Hayder (Atlantic Monthly Press)

Best First Novel By An American Author
Bent Road by Lori Roy (Dutton)

Best Paperback Original
The Company Man by Robert JacksonBennett (Orbit Books)

Best Fact Crime
Destiny Of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard (Doubleday)

Best Critical/Biographical
On Conan Doyle: Or, the Whole Art of Storytelling by Michael Dirda (Princeton University Press)

Best Short Story
The Man Who Took His Hat Off to The Driver of Train by Peter Turnbull for Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine

Best Juvenile
Icefall by Matthew J. Kirby (Scholastic Press)

Best Young Adult
The Silence of Murder by Dandi DaleyMackall (Knopf BFYR)

Best Play
The Game’s Afoot by Ken Ludwig (Cleveland Playhouse, Cleveland, OH)

Best Television Episode Teleplay
Homeland pilot by Alex Gansa, Howard Gordon & Gideon Raff (Showtime)

ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD (Best first short story)
A Good Man Of Business by David Ingram for Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine

GRAND MASTER
Martha Grimes

RAVEN AWARDS
M is for Mystery Bookstore, San Mateo, CA

Molly Weston, Meritorious Mysteries

ELLERY QUEEN AWARD
Joe Meyers of the Connecticut Post/Hearst Media News Group

Congratulations to all the winners!