2024 Edgar Award Nominations Announced

As the literary world eagerly anticipates the 2024 Edgar Award nominations, suspense and excitement fill the air. The Edgar Awards, presented by the Mystery Writers of America, celebrate the best in mystery fiction and non-fiction. With a rich history dating back to 1946, the Edgars are considered among the most prestigious honors for writers in the mystery genre. Let’s take a sneak peek into the highly anticipated 2024 nominations and explore the thrilling tales that have captured readers’ imaginations.

Below are the nominations for each literary category of the 2024 Edgar Award nominations:

Best Mystery Novel

• Flags on the Bayou by James Lee Burke
• All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby
• The Madwomen of Paris by Jennifer Epstein
• Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll
• An Honest Man by Michael Koryta
• The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger
• Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead

Best First Novel

• The Peacock and the Sparrow by I.S. Berry
• The Golden Gate by Amy Chua
• Small Town Sins by Ken Jaworowski
• The Porcelain Doll / The Last Russian Doll by Kristen Loesch
• Murder by Degrees by Ritu Mukerji

Best Paperback Original

• Boomtown by A.F. Carter
• Hide by Tracy Clark
• The Taken Ones by Jess Lourey
• Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Sutanto
• Lowdown Road by Scott Von Doviak

Best Critical Biographical

• Perplexing Plots by David Bordwell
• Spillane: King of Pulp Fiction by Max Allan Collins and James L. Traylor
• A Mystery of Mysteries by Mark Dawidziak
• Fallen Angel: The Life of Edgar Allan Poe by Robert Morgan
• Love Me Fierce In Danger: The Life of James Ellroy by Steven Powell

Best Fact Crime

• In Light of All Darkness by Kim Cross
• Number Go Up: Inside Crypto’s Wild Rise and Staggering Fall by Zeke Faux
• Tangled Vines by John Glatt
• Crooked: The Roaring ’20s Tale of a Corrupt Attorney General, a Crusading Senator, and the Birth of the American Political Scandal by Nathan Masters
• I Know Who You Are by Barbara Rae-Venter
• The Lost Sons of Omaha: Two Young Men in an American Tragedy by Joe Sexton

Best Juvenile

• Myrtle, Means, and Opportunity by Elizabeth Bunce
• The Ghosts of Rancho Espanto by Adrianna Cuevas
• Epic Ellisons: Cosmos Camp by Lamar Giles
• The Jules Verne Prophecy by Larry Schwarz and Iva-Marie Palmer
• What Happened to Rachel Riley? by Claire Swinarski

Best Young Adult

• Girl Forgotten by April Henry
• The Sharp Edge of Silence by Cameron Kelly Rosenblum
• Star Splitter by Matthew Kirby
• My Flawless Life by Yvonne Woon
• Just Do This One Thing for Me by Laura Zimmermann

Best Short Story

• Hallowed Ground by Linda Castillo
• Thriller (Short Story) by Heather Graham
• Miss Direction by Rob Osler
• The Rise by Ian Rankin
• Pigeon Tony’s Last Stand by Lisa Scottoline

Mary Higgins Clark Award

• Play the Fool by Lina Chern
• The Bones of the Story by Carol Goodman
• Of Manners and Murder by Anastasia Hastings
• The Three Deaths of Willa Stannard by Kate Robards
• Murder in Postscript by Mary Winters

In addition, the Edgar Awards have announced two new Grand Masters – Katherine Hall Page and R.L. Stine – celebrated for their lifetime of work. Danielle Arceneaux will also receive the Lilian Jackson Braun Memorial Award for her novel Glory Be.

The winners will be announced Wednesday, May 1st at the New York Marriott Marquis Times Square in New York City.

For more awards, as well as more information on the 2024 nominees, please visit EdgarAwards.com.