Mystery Writers of America has announced the nominees for the 2025 Edgar Awards, which honors the best in mystery fiction, nonfiction and television published or produced in 2024. The 79th Annual Edgar® Awards will be celebrated on May 1st at the New York Marriott Marquis Times Square.

For more information on The Edgars, or the Mystery Writers of America, please click here.
 

2025 Nominees

BEST NOVEL

• THE TAINTED CUP by Robert Jackson Bennett (Del Rey)
• ROUGH TRADE by Katrina Carrasco (MCD)
• THINGS DON'T BREAK ON THEIR OWN by Sarah Easter Collins (Crown)
• MY FAVORITE SCAR by Nicolás Ferraro (Soho Crime)
• THE GOD OF THE WOODS by Liz Moore (Riverhead Books)
• LISTEN FOR THE LIE by Amy Tintera (Celadon Books)
• THE IN CROWD by Charlotte Vassell (Doubleday)

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR

• TWICE THE TROUBLE by Ash Clifton (Crooked Lane Books)
• COLD TO THE TOUCH by Kerri Hakoda (Crooked Lane Books)
• THE MECHANICS OF MEMORY by Audrey Lee (CamCat Books)
• A JEWEL IN THE CROWN by David Lewis (A John Scognamiglio Book)
• THE PRESIDENT'S LAWYER by Lawrence Robbins (Atria Books)
• HOLY CITY by Henry Wise (Atlantic Monthly Press)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

• THE PARIS WIDOW by Kimberly Belle (Park Row)
• THE VACANCY IN ROOM 10 by Seraphina Nova Glass (Graydon House)
• SHELL GAMES by Bonnie Kistler (Harper Paperbacks)
• A FORGOTTEN KILL by Isabella Maldonado (Thomas & Mercer)
• THE ROAD TO HEAVEN by Alexis Stefanovich-Thomson (Dundurn Press Ltd.)

BEST FACT CRIME

• LONG HAUL: Hunting the Highway Serial Killers, by Frank Figliuzzi (Mariner Books)
• THE INFERNAL MACHINE: A True Story of Dynamite, Terror, and the Rise of the Modern Detective, by Steven Johnson (Crown)
• A DEVIL WENT DOWN TO GEORGIA: Race, Power, Privilege, and the Murder of Lita McClinton, by Deb Miller Landau (Pegasus Crime)
• THE AMISH WIFE: Unraveling the Lies, Secrets, and Conspiracy that Let a Killer Go Free, by Gregg Olsen (Thomas & Mercer)
• HELL PUT TO SHAME: The 1921 Murder Farm Massacre and the Horror of America’s Second Slavery, by Earl Swift (Mariner Books)
• THE BISHOP AND THE BUTTERFLY: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age, by Michael Wolraich (Union Square & Co.)

BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL

• JAMES SALLIS: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction, by Nathan Ashman (McFarland Publishing)
• AMERICAN NOIR FILM: From The Maltese Falcon to Gone Girl, by M. Keith Booker (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers)
• ORGANIZED CRIME ON PAGE AND SCREEN: Portrayals in Hit Novels, Films, and Television Shows, by David Geherin (McFarland Publishing)
• ON EDGE: Gender and Genre in the Work of Shirley Jackson, Patricia Highsmith, and Leigh Brackett, by Ashley Lawson (The Ohio State University Press)
• IAN FLEMING: THE COMPLETE MAN by Nicholas Shakespeare (Harper)

BEST SHORT STORY

• “Cut and Thirst,” Amazon Original Stories, by Margaret Atwood (Amazon Publishing)
• “Everywhere You Look,” Amazon Original Stories, by Liv Constantine (Amazon Publishing)
• “Eat My Moose,” Conjunctions: 82, Works & Days, by Erika Krouse (Bard College)
• “Barriers to Entry,” Amazon Original Stories, by Ariel Lawhon (Amazon Publishing)
• “The Art of Cruel Embroidery,” Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine – July-August 2024, by Steven Sheil (Dell Magazine)

BEST JUVENILE

• THE BEANSTALK MURDER by P.G. Bell (Feiwel & Friends)
• MYSTERY OF MYSTIC MOUNTAIN by Janet Fox (Simon & Schuster BFYR)
• MYSTERIES OF TRASH AND TREASURE: THE STOLEN KEY by Margaret Peterson Haddix (Quill Tree Books)
• THE SPINDLE OF FATE by Aimee Lim (Feiwel & Friends)
• FIND HER by Ginger Reno (Holiday House)

BEST YOUNG ADULT

• LOOKING FOR SMOKE by K.A. Cobell (Heartdrum)
• THE BITTER END by Alexa Donne (Random House Books for Young Readers)
• A CRANE AMONG WOLVES by June Hur (Feiwel & Friends)
• DEATH AT MORNING HOUSE by Maureen Johnson (HarperTeen)
• 49 MILES ALONE by Natalie D. Richards (Sourcebooks Fire)

BEST TV EPISODE TELEPLAY

• “Episode Five” – “Rebus,” written by Gregory Burke (Viaplay)
• “Episode One” – “Monsieur Spade,” written by Tom Fontana and Scott Frank (AMC)
• “Episode One” – “Moonflower Murders,” written by Anthony Horowitz (Masterpiece PBS)
• “Mirror” – “Murderesses,” written by Wiktor Piatkowski, Joanna Kozłowska and Katarzyna Kaczmarek (Viaplay)
• “Episode Two” – “The Marlow Murder Club,” written by Robert Thorogood (Masterpiece PBS)

ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD

• “The Legend of Penny and the Luck of the Draw Casino,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, May-June 2024, by Pat Gaudet (Dell Magazines)
• “Head Start,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, September-October 2024, by Kai Lovelace (Dell Magazines)
• “Murder Under Sedation,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, March-April 2024, by Lawrence Ong (Dell Magazines)
• “The Jews on Elm Street,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, September-October 2024, by Anna Stolley Persky (Dell Magazines)
• “Sparrow Maker,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, November-December 2024, by Jake Stein (Dell Magazines)

THE SIMON & SCHUSTER MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD

• THE ROSE ARBOR by Rhys Bowen (Lake Union Publishing)
• THE SERIAL KILLER GUIDE TO SAN FRANCISCO by Michelle Chouinard (Minotaur Books)
• THE MYSTERY WRITER by Sulari Gentill (Poisoned Pen Press)
• RETURN TO WYLDCLIFFE HEIGHTS by Carol Goodman (William Morrow Paperbacks)
• DEATH IN THE DETAILS by Katie Tietjen (Crooked Lane Books)

THE G.P. PUTNAM’S SONS SUE GRAFTON MEMORIAL AWARD

• DISTURBING THE DEAD by Kelley Armstrong (Minotaur Books)
• A GAME OF LIES by Clare Mackintosh (Sourcebooks Landmark)
• PROOF by Beverly McLachlin (Simon & Schuster)
• A WORLD OF HURT by Mindy Mejia (Atlantic Monthly Press)
• ALL THE WAY GONE by Joanna Schaffhausen (Minotaur Books)
• THE COMFORT OF GHOSTS by Jacqueline Winspear (Soho Crime)

THE LILIAN JACKSON BRAUN MEMORIAL AWARD

• THE MURDERS IN GREAT DIDDLING by Katarina Bivald (Poisoned Pen Press)
• DEATH AND FROMAGE by Ian Moore (Poisoned Pen Press)
• BOOKED FOR MURDER by P.J. Nelson (Minotaur Books)
• MURDER ON DEVIL'S POND by Ayla Rose (Crooked Lane Books)
• THE TREASURE HUNTERS CLUB by Tom Ryan (Atlantic Monthly Press)

GRAND MASTER

• Laura Lippman
• John Sandford

RAVEN AWARD

• Face in a Book Bookstore & Gifts, El Dorado Hills, CA

ELLERY QUEEN AWARD

• Peter Wolverton, Vice President, Executive Editor, St. Martin’s Press