Edgar Exaltations

Mystery Writers of America revealed the winners for the 78th Annual Edgar® Awards, honoring the best in mystery fiction, nonfiction, and television published or produced in 2023, in a ceremony at the New York Marriott Marquis Times Square. Congrats to all the winners and finalists!

 

Best Novel:   Flags on the Bayou by James Lee Burke (Grove Atlantic)

Other finalists:

• ll the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby (Flatiron Books)
• The Madwomen of Paris by Jennifer Cody Epstein (Penguin Random House – Ballantine Books)
• Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll (Simon & Schuster – Simon Element – Marysue Rucci Books)
• An Honest Man by Michael Koryta (Hachette Book Group – Little, Brown and Company – Mulholland Books)
• The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger (Simon & Schuster – Atria Books)
• Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead (Penguin Random House – Doubleday)

Best First Novel by an American Author:   The Peacock and the Sparrow by I.S. Berry (Simon & Schuster – Atria Books)

Other finalists:

• The Golden Gate by Amy Chua (Macmillan Publishing – Minotaur Books)
• Small Town Sins by Ken Jaworowski (Macmillan Publishing – Henry Holt and Co.)
• The Last Russian Doll by Kristen Loesch (Penguin Random House – Berkley)
• Murder by Degrees by Ritu Mukerji (Simon & Schuster)

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

Other finalists:

• Boomtown by A.F. Carter (Penzler Publishers – Mysterious Press)
• Hide by Tracy Clark (Amazon Publishing – Thomas & Mercer)
• The Taken Ones by Jess Lourey (Amazon Publishing – Thomas & Mercer)
• 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 Book Group)

Other finalists:

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

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

Other finalists:

• Perplexing Plots: Popular Storytelling and the Poetics of Murder by David Bordwell (Columbia University Press)
• Spillane: King of Pulp Fiction by Max Allan Collins & James L. Traylor (Penzler Publishers – Mysterious Press)
• A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe by Mark Dawidziak (Macmillan Publishing – St. Martin’s Press)
• Fallen Angel: The Life of Edgar Allan Poe by Robert Morgan (LSU Press)

Best Short Story:  “Hallowed Ground,” by Linda Castillo (Macmillan Publishers – Minotaur Books)

Other finalists:

• “Thriller,” Thriller by Heather Graham (Blackstone Publishing)
• “Miss Direction,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, September-October 2023 by Rob Osler (Dell Magazines)
• “The Rise,” Amazon Original Stories by Ian Rankin (Amazon Publishing)
• “Pigeon Tony’s Last Stand,” Amazon Original Stories by Lisa Scottoline (Amazon Publishing)

Best Juvenile:  The Ghosts of Rancho Espanto by Adrianna Cuevas (Macmillan Publishers – Farrar, Straus and Giroux BFYR)

Other finalists:

• Myrtle, Means, and Opportunity by Elizabeth C. Bunce (Hachette Book Group – Workman Publishing – Algonquin Young Readers)
• pic Ellisons: Cosmos Camp by Lamar Giles (HarperCollins Publishers – Versify)
• The Jules Verne Prophecy by Larry Schwarz & Iva-Marie Palmer (Hachette Book Group – Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
• What Happened to Rachel Riley? by Claire Swinarski (HarperCollins Publishers – Quill Tree Books)

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

Other finalists:

• Star Splitter by Matthew J. Kirby (Penguin Young Readers – Dutton Books for Young Readers)
• The Sharp Edge of Silence by Cameron Kelly Rosenblum (HarperCollins Publishers – Quill Tree Books)
• My Flawless Life by Yvonne Woon (HarperCollins Publishers – Katherine Tegen Books)
• Just Do This One Thing for Me by Laura Zimmerman (Penguin Young Readers – Dutton Books for Young Readers)

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

Other finalists:

• “Time of the Monkey” – Poker Face, Written by Wyatt Cain & 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)
• “Hózhó Náhásdlii (Beauty is Restore)” – Dark Winds, Written by Graham Roland & John Wirth (AMC)

Robert L. Fish Memorial Award: “The Body in Cell Two,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, May-June 2023 by Kate Hohl (Dell Magazines)

Other finalists:

• “Errand for a Neighbor,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, January-February 2023 by Bill Bassman (Dell Magazines)
• “The Soiled Dove of Shallow Hollow,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, January-February 2023 by Sean McCluskey (Dell Magazines)
• “It’s Half Your Fault,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, July-August 2023 by Meghan Leigh Paulk (Dell Magazines)
• “Two Hours West of Nothing,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, September-October 2023 by Gabriela Stiteler (Dell Magazines)

The Simon & Schuster Mary HIggins Clark Award:  Play the Fool by Lina Chern (Penguin Random House – Bantam)

Other finalists:

• The Bones of the Story by Carol Goodman (HarperCollins Publishers – William Morrow)
• Of Manners and Murder by Anastasia Hastings (Macmillan Publishers – Minotaur Books)
• The Three Deaths of Willa Stannard by Kate Robards (Crooked Lane Books)
• Murder in Postscript by Mary Winters (Penguin Random House – Berkley)

The G.P. Putman's Sons Sue Grafton Memorial Award:  An Evil Heart by Linda Castillo (Macmillan Publishers – Minotaur Books)

Other finalists:

• Hard Rain by Samantha Jayne Allen (Macmillan Publishers – Minotaur Books)
• Bad, Bad Seymour Brown by Susan Isaacs (Grove Atlantic – Atlantic Monthly Press)
• Past Lying by Val McDermid (Grove Atlantic – Atlantic Monthly Press)
• A Stolen Child by Sarah Stewart Taylor (Macmillan Publishers – Minotaur Books)

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

Other finalists:

• Misfortune Cookie by Vivien Chien (Macmillan – St. Martin’s Paperbacks)
• Hot Pot Murder by Jennifer J. Chow (Penguin Random House – Berkley)
• Murder of an Amish Bridegroom by Patricia Johns (Crooked Lane Books)
• The Body in the Back Garden by Mark Waddell (Crooked Lane Books)

SPECIAL AWARDS – PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED IN JANUARY 2024 

Grand Master

• Katherine Hall Page
• R.L. Stine

Ellery Queen Award

• Michaela Hamilton, Kensington Books