Named for none other than Edgar Allen Poe, the 76th annual Edgar Awards were presented last night at the New York Marriott Marquis Times Square. Given by Mystery Writers of America, “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 Edgars recognize the work of mystery and crime authors across a number of categories, including Best Novel, Best First Novel by an American Author, Best Paperback Original, Best Fact Crime, Best Critical/Biographical, Best Short Story, Best Juvenile and Best Young Adult.
In addition to the Edgar Awards, MWA also announced the winners of the Mary Higgins Clark Award and the Sue Grafton Memorial Award. Winners of the organization’s special Grand Master, Raven and Ellery Queen awards were announced in January of this year, presented to Laurie R. King, Lesa Holstine and Juliet Grames, respectively.
Now without further ado, meet the 2022 Edgar Awards Winners!
BEST NOVEL
Five Decembers by James Kestrel (Hard Case Crime) — Winner
The Venice Sketchbook by Rhys Bowen (Lake Union)
Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby (Flatiron Books)
How Lucky by Will Leitch (Harper)
No One Will Miss Her by Kat Rosenfield (William Morrow) | Our Review
BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR
Deer Season by Erin Flanagan (University of Nebraska Press) — Winner
Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian (Park Row) | Our Review
Suburban Dicks by Fabian Nicieza (Putnam)
What Comes After by JoAnne Tompkins (Riverhead Books)
The Damage by Caitlin Wahrer (Viking Books/Pamela Dorman Books)
BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL
Bobby March Will Live Forever by Alan Parks (World Noir) — Winner
Kill All Your Darlings by David Bell (Berkley)
The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke (Berkley)
The Album of Dr. Moreau by Daryl Gregory (Tordotcom)
Starr Sign by C.S. O’Cinneide (Dundurn Press)
The Shape of Darkness by Laura Purcell (Penguin Books)
BEST FACT CRIME
Last Call: A True Story of Love, Lust, and Murder in Queer New York by Elon Green (Celadon Books) — Winner
The Confidence Men: How Two Prisoners of War Engineered the Most Remarkable Escape in History by Margalit Fox (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 (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
The Twelve Lives of Alfred Hitchcock: An Anatomy of the Master of Suspense by Edward White (W.W. Norton & Company) — Winner
Agatha Christie’s Poirot: The Greatest Detective in the World by Mark Aldridge (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
“The Road to Hana,” Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine by R.T. Lawton (Dell Magazines) — Winner
“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
Concealed by Christina Diaz Gonzalez (Scholastic Press) — Winner
Cold-Blooded Myrtle by Elizabeth C. Bunce (Algonquin Young Readers)
Aggie Morton Mystery Queen: The Dead Man in the Garden by Marthe Jocelyn (Tundra Books)
Kidnap on the California Comet by M.G. Leonard & Sam Sedgman (Feiwel & Friends)
Rescue by Jennifer A. Nielsen (Scholastic Press)
BEST YOUNG ADULT
Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley (Henry Holt and Company BFYR) — Winner
Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé (Feiwel & Friends)
When You Look Like Us by Pamela N. Harris (Quill Tree Books)
The Forest of Stolen Girls by June Hur (Feiwel & Friends)
The Girls I’ve Been by Tess Sharpe (G.P. Putnam’s Sons BFYR)
THE SIMON & SCHUSTER MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD
Clark and Division by Naomi Hirahara (Soho Crime) — Winner
The Secret Life of Miss Mary Bennet by Katherine Cowley (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
Runner by Tracy Clark (Kensington Books) — Winner
Double Take by Elizabeth Breck (Crooked Lane Books)
Shadow Hill by Thomas Kies (Poisoned Pen Press)
Sleep Well, My Lady by Kwei Quartey (Soho Crime)
Family Business by S.J. Rozan (Pegasus Crime)
