On January 19, 2022 the Mystery Writers of America released their list of nominees for the 76th Annual Edgar Allan Poe Awards, and last night, the winners of the 2022 Edgar Awards were announced! The nominees represent the best mystery stories and non-fiction published in 2021. We were especially excited to see some Murder & Mayhem favorite books on the list like Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby, Bobby March Will Live Forever by Alan Parks, and Sleep Well, My Lady by Kwei Quartey, as well as short stories included in the phenomenal anthology Midnight Hour: A Chilling Anthology Of Crime Fiction From 20 Authors Of Color!
Check out the full list of winners and nominees below, and be sure to add them all to your reading list this spring.
Best Novel
Winner: Five Decembers by James Kestrel (Hard Case Crime)
The Venice Sketchbook by Rhys Bowen (Amazon Publishing – Lake Union)
Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby (Macmillan Publishers – Flatiron Books)
How Lucky by Will Leitch (HarperCollins – Harper)
No One Will Miss Her by Kat Rosenfield (HarperCollins – William Morrow)
Best First Novel By An American Author
Winner: Deer Season by Erin Flanagan (University of Nebraska Press)
Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian (Harlequin Trade Publishing – Park Row)
Suburban Dicks by Fabian Nicieza (Penguin Random House – G.P. Putnam’s Sons)
What Comes After by JoAnne Tompkins (Penguin Random House – Riverhead Books)
The Damage by Caitlin Wahrer (Penguin Random House – Viking Books/Pamela Dorman Books)
Best Paperback Original
Winner: Bobby March Will Live Forever by Alan Parks (Europa Editions – World Noir)
Kill All Your Darlings by David Bell (Penguin Random House – Berkley)
The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke (Penguin Random House – Berkley)
The Album of Dr. Moreau by Daryl Gregory (Tom Doherty Associates – Tordotcom)
Starr Sign by C.S. O’Cinneide (Dundurn Press)
The Shape of Darkness by Laura Purcell (Penguin Random House – Penguin Books)
Best Fact Crime
Winner: Last Call: A True Story of Love, Lust, and Murder in Queer New York by Elon Green (Celadon Books)
The Confidence Men: How Two Prisoners of War Engineered the Most Remarkable Escape in History by Margalit Fox (Random House Publishing Group – Random House)
Sleeper Agent: The Atomic Spy in America Who Got Away by Ann Hagedorn (Simon & Schuster)
Two Truths and a Lie: A Murder, a Private Investigator, and Her Search for Justice by Ellen McGarrahan (Penguin Random House – Random House)
The Dope: The Real History of the Mexican Drug Trade by Benjamin T. Smith (W.W. Norton & Company)
When Evil Lived in Laurel: The “White Knights” and the Murder of Vernon Dahmer by Curtis Wilkie (W.W. Norton & Company)
Best Critical/Biographical
Winner: The Twelve Lives of Alfred Hitchcock: An Anatomy of the Master of Suspense by Edward White (W.W. Norton & Company)
Agatha Christie’s Poirot: The Greatest Detective in the World by Mark Aldridge (HarperCollins Publishers – Harper360)
The Unquiet Englishman: A Life of Graham Greene by Richard Greene (W.W. Norton & Company)
Tony Hillerman: A Life by James McGrath Morris (University of Oklahoma Press)
The Reason for the Darkness of the Night: Edgar Allan Poe and the Forging of American Science by John Tresch (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Best Short Story
Winner: “The Road to Hana,” Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine by R.T. Lawton (Dell Magazines)
“Blindsided,” Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine by Michael Bracken & James A. Hearn (Dell Magazines)
“The Vermeer Conspiracy,” Midnight Hour by V.M. Burns (Crooked Lane Books)
“Lucky Thirteen,” Midnight Hour by Tracy Clark (Crooked Lane Books)
“The Locked Room Library,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine by Gigi Pandian (Dell Magazines)
“The Dark Oblivion,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine by Cornell Woolrich (Dell Magazines)
Best Juvenile
Winner: Concealed by Christina Diaz Gonzalez (Scholastic – Scholastic Press)
Cold-Blooded Myrtle by Elizabeth C. Bunce (Workman Publishing – Algonquin Young Readers)
Aggie Morton Mystery Queen: The Dead Man in the Garden by Marthe Jocelyn (Penguin Random House Canada – Tundra Books)
Kidnap on the California Comet: Adventures on Trains #2 by M.G. Leonard & Sam Sedgman (Macmillan Children’s Publishing – Feiwel & Friends)
Rescue by Jennifer A. Nielsen (Scholastic – Scholastic Press)
Best Young Adult
Winner: Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley (Macmillan Children’s Publishing – Henry Holt and Company BFYR)
Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé (Macmillan Children’s Publishing – Feiwel & Friends)
When You Look Like Us by Pamela N. Harris (HarperCollins – Quill Tree Books)
The Forest of Stolen Girls by June Hur (Macmillan Children’s Books – Feiwel & Friends)
The Girls I’ve Been by Tess Sharpe (Penguin Young Readers – G.P. Putnam’s Sons BFYR)
Related: Books Like the Show Yellowjackets
Best Television Episode Teleplay
Winner: “Boots on the Ground” – Narcos: Mexico, Written by Iturri Sosa (Netflix)
“Dog Day Morning” – The Brokenwood Mysteries, Written by Tim Balme and Nic Sampson (Acorn TV)
“Episode 1” – The Beast Must Die, Written by Gaby Chiappe (AMC+)
“We Men Are Wretched Things” – The North Water, Written by Andrew Haigh (AMC+)
“Happy Families” – Midsomer Murders, Written by Nicholas Hicks-Beach (Acorn TV)
Robert L. Fish Memorial Award
“Analogue,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine by Rob Osler (Dell Magazines)
The Simon & Schuster Mary Higgins Clark Award
Winner: Clark and Division by Naomi Hirahara (Soho Press – Soho Crime)
The Secret Life of Miss Mary Bennet by Katherine Cowley (Tule Publishing – Tule Mystery)
Ruby Red Herring by Tracy Gardner (Crooked Lane Books)
The Sign of Death by Callie Hutton (Crooked Lane Books)
Chapter and Curse by Elizabeth Penney (St. Martin’s Paperbacks)
The G.P. Putnam's Sons Sue Grafton Memorial Award
Winner: Runner by Tracy Clark (Kensington Books)
Double Take by Elizabeth Breck (Crooked Lane Books)
Shadow Hill by Thomas Kies (Sourcebooks – Poisoned Pen Press)
Sleep Well, My Lady by Kwei Quartey (Soho Press – Soho Crime)
Family Business by S.J. Rozan (Pegasus Books – Pegasus Crime)
Special Awards
Grand Master: Laurie R. King
Raven Award: Lesa Holstine – Lesa’s Book Critiques; Library Journal Reviewer
Ellery Queen Award: Juliet Grames – Soho Press – Soho Crime
Featured photo: Laura Chouette / Unsplash
