Edgar Excellence

Mystery Writers of America announced winners of the 2021 Edgar Awards today via Zoom. Here are this year's honorees:

BEST NOVEL

Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara

Also nominated :

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

Please See Us by Caitlin Mullen

Also nominated:

Murder in Old Bombay by Nev March

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

Also nominated:

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

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

Also nominated:

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

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 Wife by Ariel Sabar

BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL

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

Also nominated:

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

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

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

Also nominated:

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

"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

Also nominated:

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

Also nominated:

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

Also nominated:

“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” – 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)

SIMON & SCHUSTER MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD

The Cabinets of Barnaby Mayne by Elsa Hart

Also nominated:

Death of an American Beauty by Mariah Fredericks

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

Vera Kelly is Not a Mystery by Rosalie Knecht

Also nominated:

The Burn by Kathleen Kent

Riviera Gold by Laurie R. King

Dead Land by Sara Paretsky

The Sleeping Nymph by Ilaria Tuti

Turn to Stone by James W. Ziskin

ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL

"The Bite,” Tampa Bay Noir by Colette Bancroft

GRAND MASTERS

Jeffrey Deaver

Charlaine Harris

RAVEN AWARD

Malice Domestic

ELLERY QUEEN AWARD

Reagan Arthur, Publisher – Alfred A. Knopf