On April 27 in New York city, the Mystery Writers of America announced the winners of the 79th annual Edgar Awards. The Edgar Awards honor the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction, television, film, and theatre published or produced in the previous year. One of the best ways to learn how to write a great book is by reading other great writers. Here are Mystery Writers of America top suggestions from 2022.
Congratulates to all the nominees and winners.
Best Novel
Winner
Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka (Harper Collins – William Morrow)
Other Nominees
Devil House by John Darnielle (Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux – MCD)
Like a Sister by Kellye Garrett (Hatchette Book Group – Little, Brown & Co./Mulholland Books)
Gangland by Chuck Hogan (Hatchette Book Group – Grand Central Publishing)
The Devil Takes You Home by Gabino Iglesias (Hatchette Book Group – Little, Brown & Co./Mulholland Books)
The Maid by Nita Prose (Penguin Random House – Ballentine Books)
Best First Novel By An American Author
Winner
Don’t Know Tough by Eli Cranor (Soho Press – Soho Crime)
Other Nominees
Jackal by Erin E. Adams (Penguin Random House – Bantam)
Shutter by Ramona Emerson (Soho Press – Soho Crime)
More Than You Will Ever Know by Katie Gutierrez (Harper Collins – William Morrow)
Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li (Penguin Random House – Tiny Reparations Books)
Best Paperback Original
Winner
Or Else by Joe Hart (Amazon Publishing – Thomas & Mercer)
Other Nominees
Quarry’s Blood by Max Allan Collins (Hard Case Crime)
On a Quiet Street by Seraphina Nova Glass (Harlequin Trade Publishing – Graydon House)
Cleopatra’s Dagger by Carole Lawrence (Amazon Publishing – Thomas & Mercer)
A Familiar Stranger by A. R. Torre (Amazon Publishing – Thomas & Mercer)
Best Fact Crime
Winner
Tell Me Everything: The Story of a Private Investigation by Erika Krouse (Flatiron Books)
Other Nominees
Slenderman: Online Obsession, Mental Illness, and the Violent Crime of Two Midwestern Girls by Kathleen Hale (Grove Atlantic – Grove Press)
Trailed: One Woman’s quest to Solve the Shenandoah Murders by Kathryn Miles (Hachette Book Group – Workman Publishing – Algonquin Books)
America Caliph: The True Story of a Muslim Mystic, a Hollywood Epic, and the 1977 Siege of Washington by Shahan Mufti (Farrar, Strauss and Giroux)
American Demon: Eloitt Ness and the Hunt for America’s Jack the Ripper by Daniel Stashower (Minotaur)
Best Critical/Biographical
Winner
The Life of Crime: Detecting the History of Mysteries and Their Creators by Martin Edwards
(HarperCollins – Collins Crime Club)
Other Nominees
The Bloomsbury Handbook to Agatha Christie by Mary Anna Evans & J. C. Bernthal (Bloomsbury – Bloomsbury Academic)
The Crime World of Michael Connelly: A Study of His Works and Their Adaptations by David Geherin (McFarland)
The Woman Beyond the Attic: The V. C. Andrews Story by Andrew Neiderman (Simon & Schuster – Gallery Books)
Agatha Christie: An Elusive Woman by Lucy Worsley (Pegasus Books – Pegasus Crime)
Best Short Story
Winner
“Red Flag,” Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine by Gregory Falls (Bell Magazines)
Other Nominees
“Backstory,” Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine by Charles John Harper (Dell Magazines)
“Locked-In,” Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine by William Burton McCormick (Dell Magazines)
“The Amnesty Box,” Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms by Tim McLoughlin (Akashic Books)
“First You Dream, Then You Die,” Black Is the Night by Donna Moore (Titan Books)
Best Juvenile
Winner
Aggie Morton Mystery Queen: The Seaside Corpse by Martha Jocelyn (Penguin Random House Canada –
Tundra Books)
Other Nominees
The Swallowtail Legacy: Wreck at Ada’s Reef by Michael D. Bell (Pixel+Ink)
The Area 51 Files by Julie Buxbaum (Random House Children’s Books – Delacorte Press)
Adventures on Trains: Murder on the Safari Star by M. G. Leonard & Sam Sedgman (Macmillan Children’s Publishing – Feiwel & Friends)
Chester Keene Cracks the Code by Kekla Magoon (Random House Children’s Books – Wendy Lamb Books)
Best Young Adult
Winner
The Red Palace by June Hur (Macmillan Children’s Books – Feiwel & Friends)
Other Nominees
Pretty Dead Queens by Alexa Donne (Random House Children’s Books – Crown BFYR)
Frightmares by Eva V. Gibson (Random House Children’s Books – Underlined)
The Black Girls Left Standing by Juliana Goodman (Macmillan Children’s Books – Feiwel & Friends)
Lock the Doors by Vincent Ralph (Sourcebooks – Fire)
Best Television Episode Teleplay
Winner
“Episode 1” – Magpie Murders, Written by Anthony Horowitz (Masterpiece PBS)
Other Nominees
“One Mighty and Strong” – Under the Banner of Heaven, Written by Brandon Boyce (Hulu/FX)
“Episode 1” – Karen Pirie, Written by Emer Kenny (BritBox)
“When Harry Met Fergus” – Harry Wild, Written by David Logan (Acorn TV)
“The Reagan Way” – Blue Bloods, Written by Siobhan Byrne O’Connor (CBS)
“Eighteen Wheels A Predator” – Law & Order: SVU, Written by Brianna Yellen, Kathy Dobie, & Monet Hurst-Mendoza (NBC Universal)
Robert L. Fish Memorial Award
Awarded for the best short story by an American author.
Winner
“Dogs in the Canyon” – Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine by Mark Harrison (Dell Magazines)
The Simon & Schuster Mary Higgins Clark Award
Awarded for the book that most closely represents the Mary Higgins Clark tradition.
Winner
A Dreadful Splendor by B. R. Myers (HarperCollins – William Morrow)
Other Nominees
Because I Could Not Stop for Death by Amanda Flower (Penguin Random House – Berkley)
The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill (Sourcebooks – Poisoned Pen Press)
The Disinvited Guest by Carol Goodman (HarperCollins – William Morrow)
Never Name the Dead by D.M. Rowell (Crooked Lane Books)
The G.P. Putnam’s Sons Sue Grafton Memorial Award
This award honors the best novel in a series featuring a female protagonist who is continuing in the legacy of Sue Grafton and Kinsey Millhone.
Winner
Hideout by Louisa Luna (Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group – Doubleday)
Other Nominees
Secret Lives by Mark de Castrique (Sourcebooks – Poisoned Pen Press)
An Unforgiving Place by Claire Kells (Crooked Lane Books)
Behind the Lie by Emilya Naymark (Crooked Lane Books)
Secrets Typed in Blood by Stephen Spotswood (Knopf Doubleday Publishing – Doubleday)
The Lillian Jackson Braun Memorial Award
Awarded to the best full-length, contemporary cozy mystery.
Winner
Buried in a Good Book by Tamara Berry (Sourcebooks – Poisoned Pen Press)
Other Nominees
The Shadow of Memory by Connie Berry (Crooked Lane Books)
Smile Beach Murder by Alicia Bessette (Penguin Random House – Berkley)
Desert Getaway by Michael Craft (Brash Books)
The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood (Sourcebooks – Poisoned Pen Press)