In Line for the Edgars

“I’m prodded to muse whether this may be the best overall shortlist the Best Novel Award has seen in quite some time,” Craig Sisterson wrote in Crime Watch after looking over the newly announced rundown of nominees for the 2015 Edgar Allan Poe Awards. I agree that the Best Novel Award contenders pack a lot of influence and writing excellence, but there are top-notch picks up and down this list.

Best Novel:
• This Dark Road to Mercy, by Wiley Cash (Morrow)
• Wolf, by Mo Hayder (Atlantic Monthly Press)
• Mr. Mercedes, by Stephen King (Scribner)
• The Final Silence, by Stuart Neville (Soho Press)
• Saints of the Shadow Bible, by Ian Rankin (Little, Brown)
• Coptown, by Karin Slaughter (Ballantine)

Best First Novel by an American Author:
• Dry Bones in the Valley, by Tom Bouman (Norton)
• Invisible City, by Julia Dahl (Minotaur)
• The Life We Bury, by Allen Eskens (Seventh Street)
• Bad Country, by C.B. McKenzie (Minotaur/Thomas Dunne)
• Shovel Ready, by Adam Sternbergh (Crown)
• Murder at the Brightwell, by Ashley Weaver (Minotaur/Thomas Dunne)

Best Paperback Original:
• The Secret History of Las Vegas, by Chris Albani (Penguin)
• Stay With Me, by Alison Gaylin (Morrow)
• The Barkeep, by William Lashner (Thomas & Mercer)
• The Day She Died, by Catriona McPherson (Midnight Ink)
• The Gone Dead Train, by Lisa Turner (Morrow)
• World of Trouble, by Ben H. Winters (Quirk)

Best Fact Crime:
• Kitty Genovese: The Murder, the Bystanders, the Crime that Changed America, by Kevin Cook (Norton)
• The Savage Harvest: A Tale of Cannibals, Colonialism, and Michael Rockefeller’s Tragic Quest for Primitive Art, by Carl Hoffman (Morrow)
• The Other Side, by Lacy M. Johnson (Tin House)
• Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood, by William Mann (Harper)
• The Mad Sculptor: The Maniac, the Model, and the Murder that Shook the Nation, by Harold Schechter (New Harvest)

Best Critical/Biographical:
• The Figure of the Detective: A Literary History and Analysis, by Charles Brownson (McFarland & Company)
• James Ellroy: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction, by Jim Mancall (McFarland & Company)
• Kiss the Blood Off My Hands: Classic Film Noir, by Robert Miklitsch (University of Illinois Press)
• Judges & Justice & Lawyers & Law: Exploring the Legal Dimensions of Fiction and Film, by Francis M. Nevins (Perfect Crime)
• Poe-Land: The Hallowed Haunts of Edgar Allan Poe, by J.W. Ocker (Countryman Press)

Best Short Story:
• “The Snow Angel,” by Doug Allyn (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine [EQMM], January 2014)
• “200 Feet,” by John Floyd (The Strand Magazine, February-May 2014)
• “What Do You Do?,” by Gillian Flynn (from Rogues, edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois; Ballantine)
• “Red Eye,” by Dennis Lehane vs. Michael Connelly (from FaceOff, edited by David Baldacci; Simon & Schuster)
• “Teddy,” by Brian Tobin (EQMM, May 2014)

Best Juvenile:
• Absolutely Truly, by Heather Vogel Frederick (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)
• Space Case, by Stuart Gibbs (Simon & Schuster Books
for Young Readers)
• Greenglass House, by Kate Milford (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers)
• Nick and Tesla’s Super-Cyborg Gadget Glove, by “Science Bob” Pflugfelder and Steve Hockensmith (Quirk)
• Saving Kabul Corner, by N.H. Senzai (Paula Wiseman)
• Eddie Red, Undercover: Mystery on Museum Mile, by Marcia Wells (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers)

Best Young Adult:
• The Doubt Factory, by Paolo Bacigalupi (Little, Brown Books
for Young Readers)
• Nearly Gone, by Elle Cosimano (Penguin Young Readers Group/
Kathy Dawson)
• Fake ID, by Lamar Giles (HarperCollins Children’s Books/Amistad)
• The Art of Secrets, by James Klise (Algonquin Young Readers)
• The Prince of Venice Beach, by Blake Nelson (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)

Best Television Episode Teleplay:
• “The Empty Hearse,” Sherlock, teleplay by Mark Gatiss (Hartswood Films/Masterpiece)
• “Unfinished Business,” Blue Bloods, teleplay by Siobhan Byrne O’Connor (CBS)
• “Episode 1,” Happy Valley, teleplay by Sally Wainwright (Netflix)
• “Dream Baby Dream,” The Killing, teleplay by Sean Whitesell (Netflix)
• “Episode 6,”  The Game, teleplay by Toby Whithouse (BBC America)

The Simon & Schuster--Mary Higgins Clark Award
(To be presented at MWA’s Agents & Editors Party on April 28):

• A Dark and Twisted Tide, by Sharon Bolton (Minotaur)
• The Stranger You Know, by Jane Casey (Minotaur)
• Invisible City, by Julia Dahl (Minotaur)
• Summer of the Dead, by Julia Keller (Minotaur)
• The Black Hour, by Lori Rader-Day (Seventh Street)

Robert L. Fish Memorial Award:
“Getaway Girl,” by Zoë Z. Dean (EQMM)

Grand Master: Lois Duncan and James Ellroy

Raven Awards:
Ruth and Jon Jordan, Crimespree Magazine
Kathryn Kennison, Magna Cum Murder

Ellery Queen Award:
Charles Ardai, editor/founder, Hard Case Crime

Winners will be announced and prizes handed ’round during the Mystery Writers of America’s 69th “gala banquet,” scheduled to take place on Wednesday, April 29, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, New York City.

(Hat tip to Mystery Fanfare.)