Poe Prizes Aplenty

During a ceremony last evening in New York City, the 78th annual Edgar Awards—“honoring the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction and television published or produced in 2023”—were handed out. The event was live-streamed on YouTube.

Best Novel: Flags on the Bayou, by James Lee Burke
(Atlantic Monthly Press)

Also nominated: All the Sinners Bleed, by S.A. Cosby (Flatiron); The Madwomen of Paris, by Jennifer Cody Epstein (Ballantine); Bright Young Women, by Jessica Knoll (S&S/Marysue Rucci); An Honest Man, by Michael Koryta (Mulholland); The River We Remember, by William Kent Krueger (Atria); and Crook Manifesto, by Colson Whitehead (Doubleday)

Best First Novel by an American Author: The Peacock and the Sparrow, by I.S. Berry (Atria)

Also nominated: The Golden Gate, by Amy Chua (Minotaur); Small Town Sins, by Ken Jaworowski (Henry Holt); The Last Russian Doll, by Kristen Loesch (Berkley); and Murder by Degrees, by Ritu Mukerji (Simon & Schuster)

Best Paperback Original: Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers, by Jesse Q. Sutanto (Berkley)

Also nominated: Boomtown, by A.F. Carter (Mysterious Press); Hide, by Tracy Clark (Thomas & Mercer); The Taken Ones, by Jess Lourey (Thomas & Mercer); and Lowdown Road, by Scott Von Doviak (Hard Case Crime)

Best Fact Crime: Crooked: The Roaring ’20s Tale of a Corrupt Attorney General, a Crusading Senator, and the Birth of the American Political Scandal, by Nathan Masters (Hachette)

Also nominated: In Light of All Darkness: Inside the Polly Klaas Kidnapping and the Search for America’s Child, by Kim Cross (Grand Central); Number Go Up: Inside Crypto’s Wild Rise and Staggering Fall, by Zeke Faux (‎Crown Currency); Tangled Vines: Power, Privilege, and the Murdaugh Family Murders, by John Glatt (St. Martin’s Press); I Know Who You Are: How an Amateur DNA Sleuth Unmasked the Golden State Killer and Changed Crime Fighting Forever, by Barbara Rae-Venter (Ballantine); and The Lost Sons of Omaha: Two Young Men in an American Tragedy, by Joe Sexton (Scribner)

Best Critical/Biographical: Love Me Fierce in Danger: The Life of James Ellroy, by Steven Powell (Bloomsbury)

Also nominated: Perplexing Plots: Popular Storytelling and the Poetics of Murder, by David Bordwell (Columbia University Press); Spillane: King of Pulp Fiction, by Max Allan Collins and James L. Traylor (Mysterious Press); A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe, by Mark Dawidziak (St. Martin's Press); and Fallen Angel: The Life of Edgar Allan Poe, by Robert Morgan (LSU Press)

Best Short Story: “Hallowed Ground,” by Linda Castillo (Minotaur)

Also nominated: “Thriller,” by Heather Graham (Blackstone);
“Miss Direction,” by Rob Osler (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, September/October 2023); “The Rise,” by Ian Rankin (Amazon Original Stories); and “Pigeon Tony’s Last Stand,” by Lisa Scottoline (Amazon Original Stories)

Best Juvenile: The Ghosts of Rancho Espanto, by Adrianna Cuevas (Farrar, Straus and Giroux Books for Young Readers)

Also nominated: Myrtle, Means, and Opportunity, by Elizabeth C. Bunce (Algonquin Young Readers); Epic Ellisons: Cosmos Camp, by Lamar Giles (Versify); The Jules Verne Prophecy, by Larry Schwarz and Iva-Marie Palmer (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers); and What Happened to Rachel Riley? by Claire Swinarski (Quill Tree)

Best Young Adult: Girl Forgotten, by April Henry (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)

Also nominated: Star Splitter, by Matthew J. Kirby (Dutton Books for Young Readers); The Sharp Edge of Silence, by Cameron Kelly Rosenblum (Quill Tree); My Flawless Life, by Yvonne Woon (Katherine Tegen); and Just Do This One Thing for Me, by Laura Zimmerman (Dutton Books for Young Readers)

Best Television Episode Teleplay: “Escape from Shit Mountain,” Poker Face, written by Nora Zuckerman and Lilla Zuckerman (Peacock)

Also nominated: “Time of the Monkey,” Poker Face, written by
Wyatt Cain and Charlie Peppers (Peacock); “I’m a Pretty Observant Guy,” Will Trent, written by Liz Heldens (ABC); “Dead Man’s Hand,” Poker Face, written by Rian Johnson (Peacock); and “Hózhó Náhásdlii (Beauty Is Restored),” Dark Winds, written by Graham Roland and John Wirth (AMC)

* * *

Robert L. Fish Memorial Award: “The Body in Cell Two,” by Kate Hohl (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine [EQMM], May/June 2023)

Also nominated: “Errand for a Neighbor,” by Bill Bassman (EQMM, January/February 2023); “The Soiled Dove of Shallow Hollow,” by Sean McCluskey (EQMM, January/February 2023); “It’s Half Your Fault,” by Meghan Leigh Paulk (EQMM, July-August 2023) ; and “Two Hours West of Nothing,” by Gabriela Stiteler (EQMM, September/October 2023)

The Simon & Schuster Mary Higgins Clark Award: Play the Fool, by Lina Chern (Bantam)

Also nominated: The Bones of the Story, by Carol Goodman (Morrow); Of Manners and Murder, by Anastasia Hastings (Minotaur); The Three Deaths of Willa Stannard, by Kate Robards (Crooked Lane); and Murder in Postscript, by Mary Winters (Berkley)

The G.P. Putnam’s Sons Sue Grafton Memorial Award: An Evil Heart, by Linda Castillo (Minotaur)

Also nominated: Hard Rain, by Samantha Jayne Allen (Minotaur); Bad, Bad Seymour Brown, by Susan Isaacs (Atlantic Monthly Press); Past Lying, by Val McDermid (Atlantic Monthly Press); and A Stolen Child, by Sarah Stewart Taylor (Minotaur)

The Lilian Jackson Braun Memorial Award: Glory Be, by Danielle Arceneaux (Pegasus Crime)

Also nominated: Misfortune Cookie, by Vivien Chien (St. Martin’s Paperbacks); Hot Pot Murder, by Jennifer J. Chow (Berkley); Murder of an Amish Bridegroom, by Patricia Johns (Crooked Lane); and The Body in the Back Garden, by Mark Waddell (Crooked Lane)

Congratulations to all of the nominees!

Recipients of the 2024 Grand Master and Ellery Queen awards were announced in January. Katherine Hall Page and R.L. Stine were named as Grand Masters. Michaela Hamilton, the executive editor at New York-based Kensington Publishing, was proclaimed this year’s winner of the Ellery Queen Award.