Enter the Edgars

The Mystery Writers of America 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
Before She Was Helen by Caroline B. Cooney 
Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
These Women by Ivy Pochoda 
The Missing American by Kwei Quartey
The Distant Dead by Heather Young 

BEST FIRST NOVEL

Murder in Old Bombay by Nev March 
Please See Us by Caitlin Mullen 
Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas 
Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden 
Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel 

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole
The Deep, Deep Snow by Brian Freeman 
Unspeakable Things by Jess Lourey 
The Keeper by Jessica Moor 
East of Hounslow by Khurrum Rahman 

BEST FACT CRIME

Blood Runs Coal: The Yablonski Murders and the Battle for the United Mine Workers of America by Mark A. Bradley 
The Third Rainbow Girl: The Long Life of a Double Murder in Appalachia by Emma Copley Eisenberg 
Death in Mud Lick: A Coal Country Fight Against the Drug Companies that Delivered the Opioid Epidemic by Eric Eyre 
Yellow Bird: Oil, Murder, and a Woman's Search for Justice in Indian Country by Sierra Crane Murdoch 
Veritas: A Harvard Professor, a Con Man, and the Gospel of Jesus's Wifeby Ariel Sabar

BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL

Howdunit: A Masterclass in Crime Writing by Members of the Detection Club by Martin Edwards 
Phantom Lady: Hollywood Producer Joan Harrison, the Forgotten Woman Behind Hitchcock by Christina Lane 
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 
This Time Next Year We'll be Laughing by Jacqueline Winspear 

BEST SHORT STORY

"The Summer Uncle Cat Came to Stay," Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine by Leslie Elman 
"Dust, Ash, Flight," Addis Ababa Noir by Maaza Mengiste 
"Fearless," California Schemin' by Walter Mosley (
"Etta at the End of the World," Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine by Joseph S. Walker 
“The Twenty-Five Year Engagement,” In League with Sherlock Holmes by James W. Ziskin 

BEST JUVENILE

Premeditated Myrtle by Elizabeth C. Bunce 
Me and Banksy by Tanya Lloyd Kyi
From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks 
Ikenga by Nnedi Okorafor 
Nessie Quest by Melissa Savage 
Coop Knows the Scoop by Taryn Souders

BEST YOUNG ADULT

The Companion by Katie Alender 
The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes 
They Went Left by Monica Hesse 
Silence of Bones by June Hur
The Cousins by Karen M. McManus

TV 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

"The Bite,” Tampa Bay Noir by Colette Bancroft 

SIMON & SCHUSTER MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD

Death of an American Beauty by Mariah Fredericks 
The Cabinets of Barnaby Mayne by Elsa Hart 
The Lucky One by Lori Rader-Day 
The First to Lie by Hank Phillippi Ryan 
Cold Wind by Paige Shelton 

G.P. PUTNAM'S SONS SUE GRAFTON MEMORIAL AWARD

The Burn by Kathleen Kent 
Riviera Gold by Laurie R. King
Vera Kelly is Not a Mystery by Rosalie Knecht
Dead Land by Sara Paretsky
The Sleeping Nymph by Ilaria Tuti 
Turn to Stone by James W. Ziskin

GRAND MASTER

Jeffrey Deaver
Charlaine Harris

RAVEN AWARD

Malice Domestic

ELLERY QUEEN AWARD

Reagan Arthur, Publisher – Alfred A. Knopf

Comments

[Todd Mason]

Only one entry I'd take issue with.

[BV Lawson]

I'm dying to know which one, but I'll let that be your secret, for now. ;-)

I hate to realize how many of these I haven't read yet. So many more books to add to my TBR pile.

But good luck to them all!