Three Cheers for the Edgar Winners

The 2015 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, sponsored by the Mystery Writers of America, were handed out this evening during a banquet in New York City. Below are the winners, courtesy of Mystery Fanfare.

Best Novel: Mr. Mercedes, by Stephen King (Scribner)

Also nominated: This Dark Road to Mercy, by Wiley Cash (Morrow); Wolf, by Mo Hayder (Atlantic Monthly Press); The Final Silence, by Stuart Neville (Soho Press); Saints of the Shadow Bible, by Ian Rankin (Little, Brown), and Coptown, by Karin Slaughter (Ballantine)

Best First Novel by an American Author: Dry Bones in the Valley, by Tom Bouman (Norton)

Also nominated: 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); and Murder at the Brightwell, by Ashley Weaver (Minotaur/Thomas Dunne)

Best Paperback Original: The Secret History of Las Vegas, by Chris Albani (Penguin)

Also nominated: 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); and World of Trouble, by Ben H. Winters (Quirk)

Best Fact Crime: Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood, by William Mann (Harper)

Also nominated: 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); and The Mad Sculptor: The Maniac, the Model, and the Murder that Shook the Nation, by Harold Schechter (New Harvest)

Best Critical/Biographical: Poe-Land: The Hallowed Haunts of Edgar Allan Poe, by J.W. Ocker (Countryman Press)

Also nominated: 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); and Judges & Justice & Lawyers & Law: Exploring the Legal Dimensions of Fiction and Film, by Francis M. Nevins (Perfect Crime)

Best Short Story: “What Do You Do?,” by Gillian Flynn (from Rogues, edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois; Ballantine)

Also nominated: “The Snow Angel,” by Doug Allyn (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine [EQMM], January 2014); “200 Feet,” by John Floyd (The Strand Magazine, February-May 2014); “Red Eye,” by Dennis Lehane vs. Michael Connelly (from FaceOff, edited by David Baldacci; Simon & Schuster), and “Teddy,” by Brian Tobin (EQMM, May 2014)

Best Juvenile: Greenglass House, by Kate Milford (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers)

Also nominated: Absolutely Truly, by Heather Vogel Frederick (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers); Space Case, by Stuart Gibbs (Simon & Schuster 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); and Eddie Red, Undercover: Mystery on Museum Mile, by Marcia Wells (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers)

Best Young Adult: The Art of Secrets, by James Klise (Algonquin
Young Readers)

Also nominated: 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); and The Prince of Venice Beach, by Blake Nelson (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)

Best Television Episode Teleplay: “Episode 1,” Happy Valley, teleplay by Sally Wainwright (Netflix)

Also nominated: “The Empty Hearse,” Sherlock, teleplay by Mark Gatiss (Hartswood Films/Masterpiece); “Unfinished Business,” Blue Bloods, teleplay by Siobhan Byrne O’Connor (CBS); “Dream Baby Dream,” The Killing, teleplay by Sean Whitesell (Netflix); and “Episode 6,” The Game, teleplay by Toby Whithouse (BBC America)

The Simon & Schuster/Mary Higgins Clark Award: The Stranger You Know, by Jane Casey (Minotaur)

Also nominated: A Dark and Twisted Tide, by Sharon Bolton (Minotaur); Invisible City, by Julia Dahl (Minotaur); Summer of the Dead, by Julia Keller (Minotaur); and 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

In addition, the mother and son who write as “Charles Todd” have received the inaugural Edgar Distinguished Service Award, which will apparently now be named in the Todds’ honor. And the winner of this year’s St. Martin’s Minotaur/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Competition is John Keyse-Walker.

Congratulations to all of the contenders!

READ MORE: “Best in Mysteries: The 2015 Edgar Award Winners,” by Sara Nelson (Omnivoracious); “2015’s Edgar Awards: Mystery’s Faithful Gather,” by Leslie Gilbert Elman (Criminal Element).