Mystery Writers of America Announces 2025 Edgar Allan Poe Award Nominations

Mystery Writers of America announced the list of nominees for the 2025 Edgar Allan Poe Awards on Jan. 22, honoring great achievements in the genre this past year.

The awards, commonly referred to as the "Edgars," include best novel, best first novel by an American author, best paperback original, best fact crime, best critical/biographical, best short story, best juvenile, best young adult and best television episode teleplay.

The best novel category nominees include:

• The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett

• Rough Trade by Katrina Carrasco

• Things Don't Break on Their Own by Sarah Easter Collins

• My Favorite Scar by Nicolás Ferraro

• The God of the Woods by Liz Moore

• Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera

• The In Crowd by Charlotte Vassell

Related: Mystery Writers of America Name Laura Lippman and John Sandford Grand Masters of 2025 Edgar Awards

The best first novel by an American author nominees include:

• Twice the Trouble by Ash Clifton

• Cold to the Touch by Kerri Hakoda

• The Mechanics of Memory by Audrey Lee

• A Jewel in the Crown by David Lewis

• The President’s Lawyer by Lawrence Robbins

• Holy City by Henry Wise

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The best paperback original category nominees are:

• The Paris Widow by Kimberly Belle

• The Vacancy in Room 10 by Seraphina Nova Glass

• Shell Games by Bonnie Kistler

• A Forgotten Kill by Isabella Maldonado

• The Road to Heaven by Alexis Stefanovich-Thomson

In the best fact crime category, colloquially known as true crime, the nominees are:

• Long Haul: Hunting the Highway Serial Killers by Frank Figliuzzi

• The Infernal Machine: A True Story of Dynamite, Terror, and the Rise of the Modern Detective by Steven Johnson

• A Devil Went Down to Georgia: Race, Power, Privilege, and the Murder of Lita McClinton by Deb Miller Landau

• The Amish Wife: Unraveling the Lies, Secrets, and Conspiracy that Let a Killer Go Free by Gregg Olsen

• Hell Put to Shame: The 1921 Murder Farm Massacre and the Horror of America's Second Slavery by Earl Swift

• The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age by Michael Wolraich

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The best critical/biographical category, which honors works that deeply examine some aspect of the genre, includes nominations for:

• James Sallis: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction by Nathan Ashman

• American Noir Film: From The Maltese Falcon to Gone Girl by M. Keith Booker

• Organized Crime on Page and Screen: Portrayals in Hit Novels, Films, and Television Shows by David Geherin

• On Edge: Gender and Genre in the Work of Shirley Jackson, Patricia Highsmith, and Leigh Brackett by Ashley Lawson

• Ian Fleming; The Complete Man by Nicholas Shakespeare
  

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The best short story nominees are:

• “Cut and Thirst,” Amazon Original Stories by Margaret Atwood

• “Everywhere You Look,” Amazon Original Stories by Liv Constantine

• “Eat My Moose,” Conjunctions: 82, Works & Days by Erika Krouse

• “Barriers to Entry,” Amazon Original Stories by Ariel Lawhon

• “The Art of Cruel Embroidery,” Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine – July-August 2024 by Steven Sheil

The best juvenile category recognizes:

• The Beanstalk Murder by P.G. Bell

• Mystery of Mystic Mountain by Janet Fox

• Mysteries of Trash and Treasure: The Stolen Key by Margaret Peterson Haddix

• The Spindle of Fate by Aimee Lim

• Find Her by Ginger Reno

The best young adult category honors nominees are:

• Looking for Smoke by K.A. Cobell

• The Bitter End by Alexa Donne

• A Crane Among Wolves by June Hur

• Death at Morning House by Maureen Johnson

• 49 Miles Alone by Natalie D. Richards

Finally, the best TV episode teleplay category recognizes

• “Episode Five” – Rebus, written by Gregory Burke

• “Episode One” – Monsieur Spade, written by Tom Fontana & Scott Frank

• “Episode One” – Moonflower Murders, written by Anthony Horowitz

• “Mirror” – Murderesses, written by Wiktor Piatkowski, Joanna Kozłowska, Katarzyna Kaczmarek

• “Episode Two” – The Marlow Murder Club, written by Robert Thorogood

The winners of the 79^th Annual Edgar Awards will be announced on May 1 at the New York Marriott Marquis Times Square.

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