2017 Edgar & Agatha Awards

Award nominees and winners are great for finding new books to try.  Below you will find finalists for both the Edgar Awards and the Agatha awards.  The winners are noted by a double asterisk.  I have reviewed two of the books here, so those have a link to my review as well.  Happy reading! 

Best Novel

Before the Fall by Noah Hawley **
What Remains of Me by Alison Gaylin
The Ex by Alafair Burke 
Where It Hurts by Reed Farrel Coleman
Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye

Best First Novel

Under the Harrow by Flynn Berry**
The Lost Girls by Heather Young
Dancing with the Tiger by Lili Wright
The Drifter by Nicholas Petrie
IQ by Joe Ide
Dodgers by Bill Beverly

Best Paperback Original

Rain Dogs by Adrian McKinty**
The 7th Canon by Robert Dugoni
Heart of Stone by James W. Ziskin
Come Twilight by Tyler Dilts
Shot in Detroit by Patricia Abbott
A Brilliant Death by Robin Yocum



The Simon & Schuster –Mary Higgins Clark Award

The Shattered Tree by Charles Todd**
Blue Moon by Wendy Corsi Staub
The Other Sister by Dianne Dixon
Quiet Neighbors: A Novel by Catriona McPherson
Say No More: A Jane Ryland Novel by Hank Phillippi Ryan

Best Juvenile

OCDaniel by Wesley King**


Best Young Adult

Girl in the Blue Coat by Monica Hesse**

Best Novel

A Great Reckoning by Louise Penny**
Fogged Inn by Barbara Ross
Say No More by Hank Phillippi Ryan
Body on the Bayou by Ellen Byron
Quiet Neighbors by Catriona McPherson

Best First Novel

The Semester of Our Discontent by Cynthia Kuhn**
Design for Dying by Renee Patrick
Decanting a Murder by Nadine Nettman (click here for review)
Terror in Taffeta by Marla Cooper
Murder in G Major by Alexia Gordon

Best Historical Novel

The Reek of Red Herrings by Catriona McPherson**
Murder in Morningside Heights by Victoria Thompson 
Delivering the Truth by Edith Maxwell 
Get Me to the Grave on Time by D. E. Ireland 
Whispers Beyond the Veil by Jessican Estevao (click here for review)

I found these listings on CriminalElement.com.  
Hopefully this will provide a few new authors or books to your reading list.  Always happy to expand your TBR pile :-)

Non-fiction Agatha Award and Nominees

The winner of the Agatha for non-fiction was Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks by John Curran.  "A fascinating exploration of the contents of Agatha Christie’s seventy-three private notebooks, including illustrations and two unpublished Poirot stories.

When Agatha Christie died in 1976, at age eighty-five, she had become the world’s most popular author. With sales of more than two billion copies worldwide, in more than one hundred countries, she had achieved the impossible — more than one book every year since the 1920s, every one a bestseller."

Sherlock Holmes for Dummies by David Crowder was nominated too.  This is perhaps the first "Dummies" book I have seen nominated for an award!  I had seen this book before and wondered if it was worthwhile.  I think the nomination answered that question.  It also got me interested in other nonfiction books related to the mystery genre.  

Another nominee was Have Faith in Your Kitchen by Katherine Hall Page.  I had done a post on Mystery Cookbooks last year and thought this would be of interest.  This "is the long-awaited collection of recipes from Katherine Hall Page’s famous series of novels starring Faith Fairchild — caterer, wife, traveler, and detective.  Here fans can find in one convenient volume the recipes that have spiced the Fairchild mysteries and provided them with their acute and varied sense of place. In addition, the author has provided a brace of warm-hearted and illuminating personal essays on cooking, locales, and the craft of writing."

But of the nonfiction nominees the one I am most interested in is Charlie Chan: The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and His Rendezvous with American History by Yunte Huang.

"On a balmy July night in 1904, a wiry figure sauntered alone through the dim alleys of Honolulu’s Chinatown. He strolled up a set of rickety steps and into a smoky gambling den ringing with jeers of card sharks and crapshooters. By the time anyone recognized the infamous bullwhip dangling from his hand, it was too late. Single-handedly, the feared, five-foot-tall Hawaiian cop, Chang Apana, had lined up forty gamblers and marched them down to the police station.

Himself a literary sleuth, Huang has traced Charlie Chan’s evolution from island legend to pop culture icon to vilified, postmodern symbol, ingeniously juxtaposing Apana’s rough-and-tumble career against the larger backdrop of a territorial Hawaii torn apart by virulent racism." Well, this is definitely going on my wish list!!

I found a video of the author discussing the Charlie Chan book, but it can not be embedded for me to include.  Please go here to view this video.


I have not paid much attention to non-fiction books related to the mystery genre but the Agatha Award nonfiction nominations grabbed my attention this time around.  Now I wonder what I have been missing.


Perhaps you know of some interesting books to include in this listing.  Please share!

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Edgar and Agatha Awards

Nominations for the 2010/2011 Top Mystery Awards are in.  Below are the Agatha and Edgar nominations, including for children and young adults.

The nominees for the 2011 Edgar Awards marking the 202nd anniversary of his birth are:

Best Novel:

• Caught by Harlan Coben (Dutton Adult/Penguin)
• Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin (William Morrow/HarperCollins)
• Faithful Place by Tana French (Viking/Penguin)
• The Queen of Patpong: A Poke Rafferty Thriller by Timothy Hallinan (William Morrow/HarperCollins)
• The Lock Artist by Steve Hamilton (Minotaur/Thomas Dunne Books)
• I’d Know You Anywhere by Laura Lippman (William Morrow/HarperCollins)

Best First Novel By An American Author:

• Rogue Island by Bruce DeSilva (Tom Doherty/Forge Books)
• The Poacher's Son by Paul Doiron (Minotaur Books)
• The Serialist: A Novel by David Gordon (Simon & Schuster)
• Galveston by Nic Pizzolatto (Scribner/Simon & Schuster)
• Snow Angels by James Thompson (Putnam/Penguin)

Best Juvenile:

• Zora and Me by Victoria Bond and T.R. Simon (Candlewick Press)
• The Buddy Files: The Case of the Lost Boy by Dori Hillestad Butler (Albert Whitman & Co.)
• The Haunting of Charles Dickens by Lewis Buzbee (Feiwel & Friends)
• Griff Carver: Hallway Patrol by Jim Krieg (Razorbill/Penguin Young Readers Group)
• The Secret Life of Ms. Finkleman by Ben H. Winters (HarperCollins Children’s Books)

Best Young Adult:

• The River by Mary Jane Beaufrand (Little Brown Books for Young Readers)
• Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King (Alfred A. Knopf/Random House Children’s Books)
• 7 Souls by Barnabas Miller and Jordan Orlando (Delacorte Press/Random House Children’s Books)
• The Interrogation of Gabriel James by Charlie Price (Farrar, Straus, Giroux Books for Young Readers)
• Dust City by Robert Paul Weston (Razorbill/Penguin Young Readers Group)

Agatha Award Nominees for books published in 2010:

Best Novel:

• Stork Raving Mad by Donna Andrews (Minotaur)
• Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny (Minotaur)
• The Scent of Rain and Lightning by Nancy Pickard (Ballantine)
• Drive Time by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Mira)
• Truly, Madly by Heather Webber (St. Martin's Paperbacks)

Best First Novel:

• The Long Quiche Goodbye by Avery Aames (Berkley)
• Murder at the PTA by Laura Alden (Obsidian)
• Maid of Murder by Amanda Flower (Five Star/Gale)
• Full Mortality by Sasscer Hill (Wildside Press)
• Diamonds for the Dead by Alan Orloff (Midnight Ink)

Best Children's/Young Adult:

• Theodore Boone, Kid Lawyer by John Grisham (Dutton Children's)
• Theodosia and the Eyes of Horus by R. L. LaFevers (Houghton Mifflin)
• The Agency: A Spy in the House by Y. S. Lee (Candlewick)
• Virals by Kathy Reichs (Razorbill)
• The Other Side of Dark by Sarah Smith (Atheneum)

I have a question for you - Do you keep track of the mystery book awards and do you specifically read the winners?

Mystery Book Awards

It is amazing and a bit overwhelming how many awards there exist for mystery and crime fiction novels.  Below is a list of the awards I put together for your information.  I would love your input on any of the books listed.

Edgar Winners

2009
◊ Best Novel Blue Heaven: Blue Heaven by C. J. Box
◊ Best First Novel by an American Author: The Foreigner by Francie Lin
◊ Best Paperback Original: China Lake by Meg Gardiner
◊ Best Motion Picture Screenplay: In Bruges by Martin McDonagh
◊ Grand Masters: James Lee Burke and Sue Grafton

CWA Dagger Awards
2009
◊ Gold: A Whispered Name by William Broderick
◊ Steel: The Last Child by John Hart
◊ New Author: Echoes from the Dead by Johan Theorin

Nero Award (presented Dec of each year)
2008
◊ Winner: Anatomy of Fear by Jonathan Santlofer

The Shamus Award
2009
◊ Best PI Hardcover: Empty Ever After by Reed Farrel Coleman (Moe Prager)
◊ Best First PI Novel: In the Heat by Ian Vasquez (Miles Young)
◊ Best PI Paperback Original: Snow Blind by Lori Armstrong (Julie Collins)

The Arthur Ellis Award (Canadian Award)
2009
◊ Best Novel: Too Close to Home by Linwood Barclay
◊ Best First Novel: Buffalo Jump by Howard Shrier
◊ Best Juvenile: War Brothers by Sharon E. McKay

The Anthony Awards
2009
◊ Best Novel: The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown and Company)
◊ Best First Novel: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (Knopf)
◊ Best Paperback Original: State of the Onion by Julie Hyzy (Berkley)

Private Eye Novel Contest
2009
◊ Winner: Shots on Goal by Michael Ayoob

The Macavity Award
2009
◊ Best Mystery Novel: Where Memories Lie by Deborah Crombie (William Morrow)
◊ Best First Mystery Novel: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (Knopf)

The Agatha Award (2009 not awarded yet)
2008
◊ Best Novel: The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny (St. Martin's Minotaur)
◊ Best First Novel: Death of a Cozy Writer by G. M. Malliet (Midnight Ink)
◊ Best Children's/Young Adult: The Crossroads by Chris Grabenstein (Random House Children's Books)

The Best Traditional Mystery Novel Contest
2009
◊ Winner: The End Game by Gerri Ferris Finger

The Benjamin Franklin Mystery Award
2009
◊ Winner: Head Wounds by Chris Knopf (Permanent Press)

The Dashiell Hammett Award
2008 (awarded 2009)
◊ Winner: The Turnaround by George Pelecanos (Little, Brown)

The Dillys Award (Independent Mystery Booksellers Association)
2009
◊ Winner: Trigger City by Sean Chercover

The Spotted Owl Award
2009
◊ Best Novel: Executive Privilege by Phillip Margolin (HarperCollins)

The Barry Award
2009
◊ Best Novel: Draining Lake by Arnaldur Indridason (St. Martin's Minotaur)
◊ Best First Novel: Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith (Grand Central)
◊ Best Thriller: The Deceived by Brett Battles (Delacorte)
◊ Best British Crime Novel: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (Knopf)
◊ Best Paperback Original: State of the Onion by Julie Hyzy (Berkley Prime Crime)

The Los Angeles Times Book Awards
2008
◊ Winner: Envy the Night by Michael Koryta (St. Martin's Minotaur)

The Gumshoe Awards
2008
◊ Best Mystery: The Tin Roof Blowdown by James Lee Burke
◊ Best Thriller: The Watchman by Robert Crais
◊ Best First Novel: Big City, Bad Blood by Sean Chercover

Best Books Award
2009
◊ Mystery / Suspense: Wyatt's Revenge by H. Terrell Griffin (Oceanview Publishing)
◊ Thriller / Adventure: Dead Air by Deborah Shlian and Linda Reid (Oceanview Publishing)

So dear readers, have you read any of these books?  Please leave a comment on how you liked it, what was the strong point of the book and did you agree with the quality being of such a caliber to win the award.  I look forward to reading your comments.