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)

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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.