The Excellence of Edgar

 

Mystery Writers of America revealed the winners of the 2025 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, honoring the best in mystery fiction, nonfiction, and television published or produced in 2024. The 78th Annual Edgar® Awards were celebrated last night at the New York Marriott Marquis Times Square. Congrats to all the winners and finalists!

BEST NOVEL: The In Crowd by Charlotte Vassell (Penguin Random House – Doubleday)

Other finalists:

• The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett (Penguin Random House – Random House Worlds/Del Rey
• Rough Trade by Katrina Carrasco (Farrar, Straus and Giroux – MCD)
• Things Don’t Break on Their Own by Sarah Easter Collins (Penguin Random House – Crown)
• My Favorite Scar by Nicolás Ferraro (Soho Press – Soho Crime)
• The God of the Woods by Liz Moore (Penguin Random House – Riverhead Books)
• Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera (Macmillan Publishers – Celadon Books)

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR:  Holy City by Henry Wise (Grove Atlantic – Atlantic Monthly Press)

Other finalists:

• Twice the Trouble by Ash Clifton (Crooked Lane Books)
• Cold to the Touch by Kerri Hakoda (Crooked Lane Books)
• The Mechanics of Memory by Audrey Lee (CamCat Books)
• A Jewel in the Crown by David Lewis (Kensington Books – A John Scognamiglio Book)
• The President’s Lawyer by Lawrence Robbins (Simon & Schuster – Atria Books)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL:  The Paris Widow by Kimberly Belle (Harlequin Trade Publishing – Park Row Books)

Other finalists:

• The Vacancy in Room 10 by Seraphina Nova Glass (Harlequin Trade Publishing – Graydon House)
• Shell Games by Bonnie Kistler (HarperCollins – Harper Paperbacks)
• A Forgotten Kill by Isabella Maldonado (Amazon Publishing – Thomas & Mercer)
• The Road to Heaven by Alexis Stefanovich-Thomson (Dundurn Press Ltd.) 

BEST FACT CRIME:  The Infernal Machine: A True Story of Dynamite, Terror, and the Rise of the Modern Detective by Steven Johnson (Penguin Random House – Crown)

Other finalists: 

• Long Haul: Hunting the Highway Serial Killers by Frank Figliuzzi (HarperCollins – Mariner Books)
•  Devil Went Down to Georgia: Race, Power, Privilege, and the Murder of Lita McClinton by Deb Miller Landau (Pegasus Books – Pegasus Crime)
• The Amish Wife: Unraveling the Lies, Secrets, and Conspiracy that Let a Killer Go Free by Gregg Olsen (Amazon Publishing – Thomas & Mercer)
• Hell Put to Shame: The 1921 Murder Farm Massacre and the Horror of America’s Second Slavery by Earl Swift (HarperCollins – Mariner Books)
• The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age by Michael Wolraich (Union Square & Co.)

BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL:  James Sallis: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction by Nathan Ashman (McFarland Publishing)

Other finalists:  

• American Noir Film: From The Maltese Falcon to Gone Girl by M. Keith Booker (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers)
• Organized Crime on Page and Screen: Portrayals in Hit Novels, Films, and Television Shows by David Geherin (McFarland Publishing)
• On Edge: Gender and Genre in the Work of Shirley Jackson, Patricia Highsmith, and Leigh Brackett by Ashley Lawson (The Ohio State University Press)
• Ian Fleming; The Complete Man by Nicholas Shakespeare (HarperCollins – Harper)

BEST SHORT STORY:  “Eat My Moose,” Conjunctions: 82, Works & Days by Erika Krouse (Bard College)

Other finalists:  

• “Cut and Thirst,” Amazon Original Stories by Margaret Atwood (Amazon Publishing)
• “Everywhere You Look,” Amazon Original Stories by Liv Constantine (Amazon Publishing)
• Barriers to Entry,” Amazon Original Stories by Ariel Lawhon (Amazon Publishing)
• “The Art of Cruel Embroidery,” Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine – July-August 2024 by Steven Sheil (Dell Magazine)

BEST JUVENILE:  Mysteries of Trash and Treasure: The Stolen Key by Margaret Peterson Haddix (HarperCollins – Quill Tree Books)

Other finalists: 

• The Beanstalk Murder by P.G. Bell (Macmillan Publishers – Feiwel & Friends)
• Mystery of Mystic Mountain by Janet Fox (Simon & Schuster BFYR)
• The Spindle of Fate by Aimee Lim (Macmillan Publishers – Feiwel & Friends)
• Find Her by Ginger Reno (Holiday House)

BEST YOUNG ADULT:  49 Miles Alone by Natalie D. Richards (Sourcebooks – Sourcebooks Fire)

Other finalists:

• Looking for Smoke by K.A. Cobell (HarperCollins – Heartdrum)
• The Bitter End by Alexa Donne (Random House Books for Young Readers)
• A Crane Among Wolves by June Hur (Macmillan Publishers – Feiwel & Friends)
• Death at Morning House by Maureen Johnson (HarperCollins Publishers – Harper Teen)

BEST TELEVISION EPISODE TELEPLAY:  “Episode One” – Monsieur Spade, Written by Tom Fontana & Scott Frank (AMC)

Other finalists:

• “Episode Five” – Rebus, Written by Gregory Burke (Viaplay)
• Episode One” – Moonflower Murders, Written by Anthony Horowitz (Masterpiece PBS)
• “Mirror” – Murderesses, Written by Wiktor Piatkowski, Joanna Kozłowska, Katarzyna Kaczmarek (Viaplay)
• “Episode Two” – The Marlow Murder Club, Written by Robert Thorogood (Masterpiece PBS)

ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD – Endowed by the family of Robert L. Fish.

• “The Jews on Elm Street,” Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, September-October 2024 by Anna Stolley Persky (Dell Magazines)

THE SIMON & SCHUSTER MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD – Presented on behalf of Simon & Schuster.

• The Mystery Writer by Sulari Gentill (Sourcebooks – Poisoned Pen Press)

THE G.P. PUTNAM’S SONS SUE GRAFTON MEMORIAL AWARD – Presented on behalf of G.P. Putnam’s Sons.

• The Comfort of Ghosts by Jacqueline Winspear (Soho Press – Soho Crime)

THE LILIAN JACKSON BRAUN MEMORIAL AWARD – Endowed by the estate of Lilian Jackson Braun.

• The Murders in Great Diddling by Katarina Bivald (Sourcebooks – Poisoned Pen Press)

SPECIAL AWARDS – PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED IN JANUARY 2025

Grand Master

• Laura Lippman
  
• John Sandford
  

Raven Award

• Face in a Book Bookstore & Gifts

Ellery Queen Award

• Peter Wolverton of St. Martin’s Publishing Group