Timed to the 211th birthday of namesake Edgar Allan Poe, the Mystery Writers of America has announced its nominees for the 2020 Edgar Awards. The awards honor the best writing in mystery (fiction and nonfiction) as well as in television published and produced throughout the year. The winners will be announced at an event in New York City on April 30.
The nominees are:
Best Novel
Fake Like Me by Barbara Bourland (Grand Central)
The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths (HMH)
The River by Peter Heller (Knopf)
Smoke and Ashes by Abir Mukherjee (Pegasus)
Good Girl, Bad Girl by Michael Robotham (Scribner)
Best First Novel By an American Author
My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing (Berkley)
Miracle Creek by Angie Kim (FSG)
The Good Detective by John McMahon (Putnam)
The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott (Knopf)
Three-Fifths by John Vercher (Agora Books)
American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson (Random House)
Best Paperback Original
Dread of Winter by Susan Alice Bickford (Kensington)
Freedom Road by William Lashner (Thomas & Mercer)
Blood Relations by Jonathan Moore (Mariner)
February’s Son by Alan Parks (World Noir)
The Hotel Neversink by Adam O’Fallon Price (Tin House)
The Bird Boys by Lisa Sandlin (Cinco Puntos)
Best Fact Crime
The Ghosts of Eden Park: The Bootleg King, the Women Who Pursued Him, and the Murder that Shocked Jazz-Age America by Karen Abbott (Crown)
The Less People Know About Us: A Mystery of Betrayal, Family Secrets, and Stolen Identity by Axton Betz-Hamilton (Grand Central)
American Predator: The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st Century by Maureen Callahan (Viking)
Norco '80: The True Story of the Most Spectacular Bank Robbery in American History by Peter Houlahan (Counterpoint)
Indecent Advances: A Hidden History of True Crime and Prejudice Before Stonewall by James Polchin (Counterpoint)
Best Critical/Biographical
Hitchcock and the Censors by John Billheimer (University Press of Kentucky)
Beyond the Thirty-Nine Steps: A Life of John Buchan by Ursula Buchan (Bloomsbury)
The Hooded Gunman: An Illustrated History of Collins Crime Club by John Curran (Collins Crime Club)
Medieval Crime Fiction: A Critical Overview by Anne McKendry (McFarland)
The Mutual Admiration Society: How Dorothy L. Sayers and her Oxford Circle Remade the World for Women by Mo Moulton (Basic)
Best Short Story
“Turistas," from Paque Tu Lo Sepas by Hector Acosta (Down & Out)
“One of These Nights," from Cutting Edge: New Stories of Mystery and Crime by Women Writers by Livia Llewellyn (Akashic)
“The Passenger," from Sydney Noir by Kirsten Tranter (Akashic)
“Home at Last," from Die Behind the Wheel: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Music of Steely Dan by Sam Wiebe (Down & Out)
“Brother’s Keeper," from Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine by Dave Zeltserman (Dell magazine)
Best Juvenile
The Collected Works of Gretchen Oyster by Cary Fagan (Tundra)
Eventown by Corey Ann Haydu (HarperCollins/Tegen)
The Whispers by Greg Howard (Putnam)
All the Greys on Greene Street by Laura Tucker (Viking)
Me and Sam-Sam Handle the Apocalypse by Susan Vaught (S&S/Wiseman)
Best Young Adult
Catfishing on CatNet by Naomi Kritzer (Tor Teen)
Killing November by Adriana Mather (Knopf)
Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay (Kokila)
The Deceivers by Kristen Simmons (Tor Teen)
Wild and Crooked by Leah Thomas (Bloomsbury)
Best Television Episode Teleplay
“Season 5, Episode 3” – Line of Duty, Teleplay by Jed Mercurio (Acorn TV)
“Season 5, Episode 4” – Line of Duty, Teleplay by Jed Mercurio (Acorn TV)
“Episode 1” – Dublin Murders, Teleplay by Sarah Phelps (STARZ)
“Episode 1” – Manhunt, Teleplay by Ed Whitmore (Acorn TV)
“Episode 1” – The Wisting, Teleplay by Katherine Valen Zeiner & Trygve Allister Diesen (Sundance Now)
