MWA Edgar Allan Poe Award Nominations: Edgars 2025

Mystery Writers of America - 2025 Edgar Allan Poe Award Nominations

 

Mystery Writers of America announced the nominees for the 2025 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, honoring the best in mystery fiction, nonfiction and television published or produced in 2024. The 79^th Annual Edgar® Awards will be celebrated on May 1, 2025, at the New York Marriott Marquis Times Square.

 

BEST NOVEL

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)

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

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR
 
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)

Holy City by Henry Wise (Grove Atlantic – Atlantic Monthly Press)

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

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

Long Haul: Hunting the Highway Serial Killers by Frank Figliuzzi (HarperCollins – Mariner Books)
The Infernal Machine: A True Story of Dynamite, Terror, and the Rise of the Modern Detective by Steven Johnson (Penguin Random House – Crown)

A 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)

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

“Cut and Thirst,” Amazon Original Stories by Margaret Atwood (Amazon Publishing)
“Everywhere You Look,” Amazon Original Stories by Liv Constantine (Amazon Publishing)
“Eat My Moose,” Conjunctions: 82, Works & Days by Erika Krouse (Bard College)
“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

The Beanstalk Murder by P.G. Bell (Macmillan Publishers – Feiwel & Friends)

Mystery of Mystic Mountain by Janet Fox (Simon & Schuster BFYR)
Mysteries of Trash and Treasure: The Stolen Key by Margaret Peterson Haddix (HarperCollins – Quill Tree Books)

The Spindle of Fate by Aimee Lim (Macmillan Publishers – Feiwel & Friends)
Find Her by Ginger Reno (Holiday House)
 
BEST YOUNG ADULT
 
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)
49 Miles Alone by Natalie D. Richards (Sourcebooks – Sourcebooks Fire)

BEST TELEVISION EPISODE TELEPLAY

“Episode Five” – Rebus, Written by Gregory Burke (Viaplay)
“Episode One” – Monsieur Spade, Written by Tom Fontana & Scott Frank (AMC)
“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)

 
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OTHER AWARDS

  

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

“The Legend of Penny and the Luck of the Draw Casino,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, May-June 2024 by Pat Gaudet (Dell Magazines)

“Head Start,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, September-October 2024 by Kai Lovelace (Dell Magazines)

“Murder Under Sedation,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, March-April 2024 by Lawrence Ong (Dell Magazines)

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

“Sparrow Maker,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, November-December 2024 by Jake Stein (Dell Magazines)

 

THE SIMON & SCHUSTER MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD – Presented on behalf of Simon & Schuster.
 
The Rose Arbor by Rhys Bowen (Amazon Publishing – Lake Union)

The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco by Michelle Chouinard (Macmillan Publishers – Minotaur Books)
The Mystery Writer by Sulari Gentill (Sourcebooks – Poisoned Pen Press)
Return to Wyldcliffe Heights by Carol Goodman (HarperCollins – William Morrow Paperbacks)
Death in the Details by Katie Tietjen (Crooked Lane Books)
 

THE G.P. PUTNAM’S SONS SUE GRAFTON MEMORIAL AWARD – Presented on behalf of G.P. Putnam’s Sons.
 
Disturbing the Dead by Kelley Armstrong (Macmillan Publishers – Minotaur Books)

A Game of Lies by Clare Mackintosh (Sourcebooks – Sourcebooks Landmark)

Proof by Beverly McLachlin (Simon & Schuster Canada – Simon & Schuster)

A World of Hurt by Mindy Mejia (Grove Atlantic – Atlantic Monthly Press)

All the Way Gone by Joanna Schaffhausen (Macmillan Publishers – Minotaur Books)

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)

Death and Fromage by Ian Moore (Sourcebooks – Poisoned Pen Press)

Booked for Murder by P.J. Nelson (Macmillan Publishers – Minotaur Books)

Murder on Devil’s Pond by Ayla Rose (Crooked Lane Books)

The Treasure Hunters Club by Tom Ryan (Grove Atlantic – Atlantic Monthly Press)

 

SPECIAL AWARDS

PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED ON JANUARY 15, 2025 

GRAND MASTER

 

Laura Lippman

John Sandford

 

RAVEN AWARD

 

Face in a Book Bookstore & Gifts, El Dorado Hills, CA

 

ELLERY QUEEN AWARD

 

Peter Wolverton, St. Martin’s Press

 

 

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The Edgar Awards, or "Edgars," as they are commonly known, are named after MWA’s patron saint Edgar Allan Poe and are presented to authors of distinguished work in various categories. MWA is the premier organization for mystery writers, professionals allied to the crime-writing field, aspiring crime writers, and those who are devoted to the genre. The organization encompasses some 3,000 members including authors of fiction and non-fiction books, screen and television writers, as well as publishers, editors, and literary agents.