Enter the Edgars

The Mystery Writers of America announced the nominees for the 2021 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, honoring the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction and television published or produced in 2020. The 75th Annual Edgar® Awards will be celebrated on April 29, 2021.

BEST NOVEL

Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara

Before She Was Helen by Caroline B. Cooney

Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

These Women by Ivy Pochoda

The Missing American by Kwei Quartey

The Distant Dead by Heather Young

BEST FIRST NOVEL

Murder in Old Bombay by Nev March

Please See Us by Caitlin Mullen

Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas

Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden

Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole

The Deep, Deep Snow by Brian Freeman

Unspeakable Things by Jess Lourey

The Keeper by Jessica Moor

East of Hounslow by Khurrum Rahman

BEST FACT CRIME

Blood Runs Coal: The Yablonski Murders and the Battle for the United Mine Workers of America by Mark A. Bradley

The Third Rainbow Girl: The Long Life of a Double Murder in Appalachia by Emma Copley Eisenberg

Death in Mud Lick: A Coal Country Fight Against the Drug Companies that Delivered the Opioid Epidemic by Eric Eyre

Yellow Bird: Oil, Murder, and a Woman's Search for Justice in Indian Country by Sierra Crane Murdoch

Veritas: A Harvard Professor, a Con Man, and the Gospel of Jesus's Wifeby Ariel Sabar

BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL

Howdunit: A Masterclass in Crime Writing by Members of the Detection Club by Martin Edwards

Phantom Lady: Hollywood Producer Joan Harrison, the Forgotten Woman Behind Hitchcock by Christina Lane

Ian Rankin: A Companion to the Mystery & Fiction by Erin E. MacDonald (McFarland)

Guilt Rules All: Irish Mystery, Detective, and Crime Fiction by Elizabeth Mannion & Brian Cliff

This Time Next Year We'll be Laughing by Jacqueline Winspear

BEST SHORT STORY

"The Summer Uncle Cat Came to Stay," Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine by Leslie Elman

"Dust, Ash, Flight," Addis Ababa Noir by Maaza Mengiste

"Fearless," California Schemin' by Walter Mosley (

"Etta at the End of the World," Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine by Joseph S. Walker

“The Twenty-Five Year Engagement,” In League with Sherlock Holmes by James W. Ziskin

BEST JUVENILE

Premeditated Myrtle by Elizabeth C. Bunce

Me and Banksy by Tanya Lloyd Kyi

From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks

Ikenga by Nnedi Okorafor

Nessie Quest by Melissa Savage

Coop Knows the Scoop by Taryn Souders

BEST YOUNG ADULT

The Companion by Katie Alender

The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

They Went Left by Monica Hesse

Silence of Bones by June Hur

The Cousins by Karen M. McManus

TV EPISODE/TELEPLAY

“Episode 1, The Stranger” – Harlan Coben’s The Stranger, Written by Danny Brocklehurst (Netflix)

“Episode 1, Open Water” – The Sounds, Written by Sarah-Kate Lynch (Acorn TV)

“Episode 1, Photochemistry” – Dead Still, Written by John Morton (Acorn TV)

“Episode 1” – Des, Written by Luke Neal (Sundance Now)

“What I Know” – The Boys, Written by Rebecca Sonnenshine, based on the comic by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson (Amazon)

ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL

"The Bite,” Tampa Bay Noir by Colette Bancroft

SIMON & SCHUSTER MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD

Death of an American Beauty by Mariah Fredericks

The Cabinets of Barnaby Mayne by Elsa Hart

The Lucky One by Lori Rader-Day

The First to Lie by Hank Phillippi Ryan

Cold Wind by Paige Shelton

G.P. PUTNAM'S SONS SUE GRAFTON MEMORIAL AWARD

The Burn by Kathleen Kent

Riviera Gold by Laurie R. King

Vera Kelly is Not a Mystery by Rosalie Knecht

Dead Land by Sara Paretsky

The Sleeping Nymph by Ilaria Tuti

Turn to Stone by James W. Ziskin

GRAND MASTER

Jeffrey Deaver

Charlaine Harris

RAVEN AWARD

Malice Domestic

ELLERY QUEEN AWARD

Reagan Arthur, Publisher – Alfred A. Knopf