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The 78th Annual Edgar® Award 2024 nominees have been announced! Winners will be drawn on 1 May 2024. The Edgar Awards celebrate the best in mystery fiction and nonfiction published in 2023.
In this post we’ll break down a few of the fiction categories to see what’s on offer. Check out the Mystery Writers of America website for further categories such as ‘true crime’, ‘short story’ and ‘biographical’.
How many on this list have you read? We’re always looking for new mystery thrillers to read, so what better place to find them than on a nominee list!
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Happy Reading, Friends!
Set in Civil War-era Louisiana as the South transforms – enslaved and free women, plantation gentry, and battle-weary Confederate and Union soldiers – are caught in the maelstrom. An action-packed narrative that includes a duel that ends in disaster, a brutal encounter with the local Union commander, repeated skirmishes with Confederate irregulars led by a diseased and probably deranged colonel, and a powerful story of love blossoming between an unlikely pair. This is a stand-alone novel.
A black sheriff. A serial killer. A small town ready to combust. After years of working as an FBI agent, Titus knows better than anyone that while his hometown might seem like a land of moonshine, cornbread, and honeysuckle, secrets always fester under the surface. Titus investigates the shooting of a school teacher, and a serial killer who has been hiding in plain sight. This is a stand-alone novel.
A young woman with amnesia falls under the influence of a powerful doctor in Paris’s notorious women’s asylum, where she must fight to reclaim dangerous memories. A gripping historical novel inspired by true events. This is a stand-alone novel.
Inspired by the real-life sorority targeted by America’s first celebrity serial killer in his final murderous spree. This is the story about 2 women from opposite sides of the country who become sisters in their fervent pursuit of the truth. It proposes a new narrative inspired by evidence that’s been glossed over for decades in favour of more saleable headlines—that the so-called brilliant and charismatic serial killer from Seattle was far more average than the countless books, movies, and primetime specials have led us to believe, and that it was the women whose lives he cut short who were the exceptional ones. This is a stand-alone novel.
The murder of several politicians at sea has shattering implications for a local lobsterman and a young boy. After discovering 7 men murdered aboard their yacht – including 2 Senate rivals – Israel Pike is regarded as a prime suspect. A troubled man infamous for killing his own father a decade before, Israel has few options, no friends, and a life-threatening secret. This is a stand-alone novel.
On Memorial Day in Jewel, Minnesota, the body of a wealthy landowner is found floating in the Alabaster River, dead from a shotgun blast. The investigation falls to Sheriff Brody Dern. Even before Dern has the results of the autopsy, vicious rumours begin to circulate that the killer must be a Native American WWII veteran who has recently returned to town with a Japanese wife. As suspicions and accusations mount and the town teeters on the edge of more violence, Dern struggles not only to find the truth of the murder but also put to rest the demons from his own past. This is a stand-alone novel.
A novel that summons 1970s New York in all its seedy glory. Set in 1971, 1973 and 1976 we follow ex-fence Ray Carney as he tries to to keep his head down and his business thriving. Staying out of the game though, gets a lot more complicated – and deadly. Pepper, Carney’s endearingly violent partner in crime, takes on a side gig doing security on a Blaxploitation shoot in Harlem. Carney’s wife Elizabeth is campaigning for her childhood friend, the former assistant D.A and rising politician Alexander Oakes. When a fire severely injures one of Carney’s tenants, he enlists Pepper to look into who may be behind it. Our crooked duo have to battle their way through a crumbling metropolis run by the shady, the violent, and the utterly corrupted. This is Book 2 in the ‘Ray Carney Series’. Check out Book One – ‘Harlem Shuffle’.
Shane Collins, a world-weary CIA spy, is ready to come in from the cold. When his trusted informant becomes embroiled in a murder however, Collins finds himself drawn deep into the conflict. Drawing on all his skills as a spymaster, he sets out to learn the truth behind the Arab Spring, win Almaisa’s love, and uncover the murky border where Bahrain’s secrets end and America’s begin. This is a stand-alone novel.
In Berkeley, California, in 1944, Homicide Detective Al Sullivan has just left the swanky Claremont Hotel after a drink in the bar when a presidential candidate is assassinated in one of the rooms upstairs. The many threads of the case keep leading Sullivan back to the 3 remaining Bainbridge heiresses. Determined not to let anything distract him from the truth, Sullivan follows his investigation to its devastating conclusion. This is a stand-alone novel.
A Rust Belt thriller that captures the characters of a down-and-out Pennsylvania town, revealing their troubled pasts and the crimes that could cost them their lives. After years of just scraping by, 3 restless souls have their lives upended: Nathan, a volunteer fireman who uncovers a secret stash of money in a burning building and takes it; Callie, a nurse whose tender patient may not have long to live, despite the girl’s fundamentalist parents’ ardent beliefs; and Andy, a recovering heroin addict who undertakes a nightmare mission to hunt down and stop a serial predator. This is a stand-alone novel.
A novel about betrayal, revenge, and redemption that follows 3 generations of Russian women, from the 1917 revolution to the last days of the Soviet Union, and the enduring love story at the center. At the heart of this saga stands a young noblewoman, Tonya, as pretty as a porcelain doll, whose actions—and love for an idealistic man—will set off a sweeping story that reverberates across the century. This is a stand-alone novel.
A historical mystery set in 19th century Philadelphia, following a pioneering woman doctor as she investigates the disappearance of a young patient who is presumed dead. Dr. Lydia Weston, professor and anatomist, is immersed in teaching her students in the lecture hall and hospital. When the body of a patient, is dredged out of the Schuylkill River, the young chambermaid’s death is deemed a suicide. But Lydia is suspicious and she is soon brought into the police investigation. Soon a terrible secret, long hidden, will be revealed. Lydia must act quickly, before she becomes the next target. This is a stand-alone novel.
In the crooked streets of Boomtown, the rule of law is powerless. Police captain Delia Mariola is struggling to drive predatory drug dealers from the American rust belt town of Baxter. In the workers’ settlement just outside the city limits, a modern Wild West is now thriving, drawing criminal gangs who promise drugs and female company to men far from home looking for comfort and distraction. Delia investigates the murder of a young sex-worker, determined to bring justice to the criminal enterprises plaguing her streets, while facing off against a vigilante movement that could put her job on the line. This is Book 3 in the ‘Delia Mariola Series’ – check out Book One ‘The Yards’.
A mystery featuring hard-boiled Chicago Detective Harriet Foster, who’s on the hunt for a serial killer with a deadly affinity for redheads. As a black woman in a male-dominated department, Foster anticipates a rocky road ahead acclimating to a new team—and building trust with her new partner isn’t coming easily. When multiple victims turn up with the same lipstick markings, Foster suspects she’s looking for a serial killer. In her desperate race to catch the murderer before they strike again, Foster will have to confront the darkest of secrets—including her own. This is Book One in the ‘Detective Harriet Foster Series’.
What is Amateur Detective Myrtle Hardcastle to do when her beloved governess inherits an estate on a Scottish island? Why, find a haunted brooch, break an ancient curse, and catch a murderer, of course! Unfortunately, the ancestral castle is both run-down and haunted. Myrtle is forced to play a deadly game, hunting for the brooch with a thief breathing down her neck—someone who will stop at nothing to get the treasure, even if it means murder. This is Book 5 in the ‘Myrtle Hardcastle Mysteries’ series – check out Book One ‘Premeditated Myrtle’.
Rafa would rather live in the world of The Forgotten Age, his favourite role-playing game, than face his father’s increasing restrictions and his mother’s fading presence. But when Rafa and his friends decide to take the game out into the real world and steal their school cafeteria’s slushee machine, his dad concocts a punishment Rafa never could’ve imagined – a month working on a ranch in New Mexico. When Rafa’s work at the ranch is inexplicably sabotaged by a man who may not be what he seems, Rafa explores what’s behind the strange events at Rancho Espanto. This is a stand-alone novel.
Twin sisters and budding geniuses Wiki and Leen Ellison have never been apart, but this summer Leen is going to Cosmos Camp and secretly Wiki is looking forward to being alone–but when the camp founder disappears both girls are recruited to solve the mystery before his newest invention goes terribly wrong. This is a stand-alone novel.
When a mysterious book by the legendary writer Jules Verne falls into the hands of 3 unlikely friends, it sets off a treasure hunt like no other! When Owen and his new friends find what appears to be a dusty copy of Verne’s collected works in an old bookshop, they’re intrigued by the hidden codes written inside. As one clue leads to another, the trio gets swept up in an epic treasure hunt spanning the city—from the depths of the catacombs to the top of the Eiffel Tower, and by way of skateboard, boat, car, and even a hot air balloon! But they quickly realise they’re not the only ones searching for the hidden riches, and that there are others who will stop at nothing to get to them first. This is a stand-alone novel.
An eighth grader uses social media posts, passed notes, and other clues to find out why a formerly popular girl is now the pariah of her new school in this #metoo story. Anna Hunt may be the new girl at East Middle School, but she can already tell there’s something off about her eighth-grade class. Rachel Riley, who just last year was one of the most popular girls in school, has become a social outcast. But no one, including Rachel Riley herself, will tell Anna why. As a die-hard podcast enthusiast, Anna knows there’s always more to a story than meets the eye. So she decides to put her fact-seeking skills to the test and create her own podcast around the question that won’t stop running through her What happened to Rachel Riley? With the entire eighth grade working against her, Anna dives headfirst into the evidence. Clue after clue, the mystery widens, painting an even more complex story than Anna could have anticipated. But there’s one thing she’s certain about, if you’re going to ask a complicated question, you better be prepared for the fallout that may come with the answer. This is a stand-alone novel.
Piper Gray starts a true-crime podcast investigating a seventeen-year-old cold case. Layla Trello was murdered and her killer was never found. Piper is determined to reopen Layla’s case and get some answers. As she digs deeper into the mysteries of the past, Piper begins receiving anonymous threats telling her to back off the investigation, or else. The killer is still out there, and Piper must uncover their identity before they silence her forever. This is a stand-alone novel.
Crash-landed on a desolate planet lightyears from Earth, sixteen-year-old Jessica Mathers must unravel the mystery of the destruction all around her–and the questionable intentions of a familiar stranger. Jessica is about to be reunited with her scientist parents after 6 years, to join their research assignment on Carver 1061c – a desolate, post-extinction planet almost 14 lightyears from Earth. But something seems to have gone very, very wrong. Jessica wakes up in an empty, and utterly destroyed, landing unit from the DS Theseus, the ship where she was supposed to rendezvous with her parents. Its corridors are empty and covered in bloody handprints; the machines are silent and dark. And outside, in the alien dirt, are the carefully, and recently, marked graves of strangers. This is a stand-alone novel.
A YA contemporary novel that tackles the contagious nature of toxic masculinity at an elite New England boarding school clinging to its past, and the sexual assault that changes everything. Who will you be at Lycroft Phelps? This is the question all Lycroft applicants want to be asked. It means they’ve been accepted to one of the most prestigious private high schools in the nation. But navigating it all will make Charlotte (perfect, straight-A student), Max (scholarship kid and STEM whiz), and Quinn (artist, dreamer, Lycroft legacy) question all they thought they knew about themselves…and the school. Especially when Quinn’s sexual assault becomes public and implicates one of the top-tier athletes on campus. Told in alternating perspectives. This is a stand-alone novel.
At the most elite private school in Washington, DC., whenever anyone has a problem that they need to go away, they hire Hana Yang Lerner. Hana is a fixer. She knows who to call, what to say, and how to make sure secrets stay where they belong—buried. She can fix anything. Except her own life, which was destroyed when her father, senator Skip Lerner, was arrested for an accident that left one woman nearly dead. Now Hana’s reputation is ruined and her friends are gone. So when she gets a job from an anonymous client called “Three” to follow her former best friend, Luce Herrera, Hana realises this might be her way of getting back her old life. But the dangerous thing about digging is that you never know what you’ll unearth. As Hana uncovers a dark truth about her supposedly flawless classmates, she’s forced to face a secret of her own. This is a stand-alone novel.
A rule-following daughter tries to hold her family together after her scammer mother disappears. When Drew’s mother disappears on the way to a New Year’s Eve concert in Mexico and her schemes start unraveling, Drew is faced with a choice: Follow the rules, do the responsible thing, and walk away–alone–from her mother’s mess. Or hope the weather stays cold, keep the cons going, and just maybe hold her family together. This is a stand-alone novel.
A cynical tarot card reader seeks to uncover the truth about her friend’s mysterious death in this delightfully clever whodunit. After a failed attempt at adulting in Chicago, Katie True is back in the suburbs living a bit too close to her overbearing parents, jumping from one dead-end job to the next, and flipping through her tarot deck for guidance. Then along comes Marley. Mysterious, worldly, and comfortable in her own skin, Marley takes a job at the mall where Katie peddles Russian tchotchkes. The two just get each other. But when Katie sneaks a glance at a client’s phone, she finds more than just clairvoyant intel. She finds a photo. Of Marley. With a gunshot wound to the head. Her best friend is dead? Who killed her? She quickly realises there are some things her tarot cards can’t foresee, and she must put her razor-sharp instincts to the ultimate test. This is Book One in the ‘Katie True’ series.
A locked-room mystery about a group of former classmates trapped on their college campus—with a murderer among them. When an alumna dies in a shockingly similar way to the story she wrote, and then another succumbs to a similar fate, they realise someone has decided at long last to avenge the crimes of the past. Will the secret of what they did 25 years ago be revealed? Will any of them be alive at the end of the weekend to find out? This is a stand-alone novel.
1885: London, England. When Violet’s Aunt Adelia decides to abscond with her newest paramour, she leaves behind her role as the most popular Agony Aunt in London, “Miss Hermione,” in Violet’s hands. And of course, the first letter Violet receives is full, not of prissy pondering, but of portent. Ivy Armstrong is in need of help and fears for her life. But when Violet visits the village where the letters were posted, she finds that Ivy is already dead. She’ll quickly discover that when you represent the best-loved Agony Aunt in Britain, both marauding husbands and murder are par for the course. This is Book One in the ‘Dear Miss Hermione’ series.
It’s not that they’ve been all that close in the past few years, but sisters Willa and Sawyer Stannard are bonded by the ups and downs of the life they’ve lived with their mercurial single mother. When Willa is found dead in her apartment from an apparent suicide, Sawyer just knows it’s not possible. A cryptic note from the acclaimed broadcast journalist leads police to rule out foul play. Shattered by grief—and obsessed by the idea that her sister’s death was not a suicide—Sawyer plunges into a search for the truth. When Sawyer learns that Willa was writing an explosive true crime book about the decades-old disappearance of a toddler that rocked a small town hundreds of miles away, she’s even more convinced that Willa’s death is suspicious. Sawyer begins to trace her sister’s steps, deep into a community she can’t begin to understand and to a truth that could destroy her as easily as it did Willa. This is a stand-alone novel.
When one of her readers asks for advice following a suspected murder, Victorian countess Amelia Amesbury, who secretly pens the popular Lady Agony column, has no choice but to investigate. Amelia Amesbury—widow, mother, and countess—has a secret. Amelia writes for a London penny paper, doling out advice on fashion, relationships, and manners under the pen name Lady Agony. But when a lady’s maid writes Amelia to ask for advice when she believes her mistress has been murdered—and then ends up a victim herself—Amelia is determined to solve the case. This is Book One in the ‘Lady of Letters’ series.
In shock and found clinging to a tree branch, Bethany Richter is pulled from floodwaters that have decimated the town of Garnett, Texas and killed a dozen others. Six months after solving the murder of a local waitress, Annie McIntyre is working as an apprentice P.I. when she’s handed her first solo case: uncover the identity of the man who rescued Bethany before he was swept downriver. When Annie’s search turns up a different victim—shot dead, not drowned—Annie questions if the hero they seek is actually a killer. Flexing her new skills while relying on the wisdom of her eccentric, ex-cop grandfather, the case leads Annie into a web of drug dealers, preachers, and wayward drifters trying to make sense of life after a disaster. Annie’s own convictions are put to the ultimate test as long-held secrets, corruption, and violence are exposed like the ruin that lies beneath receding waters. This is Book 2 in the ‘Annie McIntyre’ series – check out Book One ‘Pay Dirt Road’.
Chief of Police Kate Burkholder investigates the brutal death of a young Amish man, Aden Karn. As she delves into Karn’s past, Kate begins to hear whispers about a dark side. What if Aden Karn wasn’t the wholesome young man everyone admired? Is it possible the rumours are a cruel campaign to blame the victim? Kate pursues every lead with a vengeance, sensing an unspeakable secret no one will broach. The case spirals out of control when a young Amish woman comes forward with a horrific story that pits Kate against a dangerous and unexpected opponent. When the awful truth is finally uncovered, Kate comes face to face with the terrible consequences of a life lived in all the dark places. This is Book 15 in the ‘Kate Burkholder’ series – check out Book One ‘Sworn to Silence’.
Corie Geller’s retired NYPD detective father gets a call from good-natured and slightly nerdy film professor April Brown–one of the victims of a case he was never able to solve. When April was 5 years old, she’d emerged unscathed from the arson that killed her parents. Now, 2 decades later, someone has made an attempt on her life, and she’s asking for help. It takes only a nanosecond for Corie and her dad to say yes, and they jump into a full-fledged investigation.
The stakes have never been higher–yet as Corie and her dad are realising, they still live for the chase. This is Book 2 in the ‘Corie Geller’ series – check out Book One ‘Takes One to Know One’.
It’s April 2020 and Edinburgh is in lockdown, but that doesn’t mean crime takes a holiday. It would seem like a strange time for a cold case to go hot — the streets all but empty, an hour’s outdoor exercise the maximum allowed — but when a source at the National Library contacts DCI Karen Pirie’s team about documents in the archive of a recently deceased crime novelist, it seems it’s game on again. What unspools is a twisted game of betrayal and revenge, but no one quite expects how many twists it will turn out to have. This is Book 7 in the ‘Inspector Karen Pirie’ series – check out Book One ‘The Distant Echo’.
After months of training, former Long Island homicide detective Maggie D’Arcy is now officially a Garda. She’s finally settling into life in Ireland and so is her teenage daughter, Lilly. Maggie may not be a detective yet, but she’s happy with her community policing assignment in Dublin’s Portobello neighbourhood. When she and her partner find former model and reality tv star Jade Elliot murdered—days after responding to a possible domestic violence disturbance at her apartment—they also discover Jade’s toddler daughter missing. Shorthanded thanks to an investigation into a gangland murder in the neighbourhood, Maggie’s friend, Detective Inspector Roly Byrne, brings her onto his team to help find the missing child. Amidst a nationwide manhunt, Maggie and her colleagues must look deep into Jade’s life—both personal and professional—to find a ruthless killer. This is Book 4 in the ‘Maggie D’Arcy’ series – check out Book One ‘The Mountains Wild’.
It’s a hot and sticky Sunday in Lafayette, Louisiana, and Glory has settled into her usual after-church routine, meeting gamblers at the local coffee shop, where she works as a small-time bookie. Sitting at her corner table, Glory hears that her best friend—a nun beloved by the community—has been found dead in her apartment. When police declare the mysterious death a suicide, Glory is convinced that there must be more to the story and, with her reluctant daughter, with troubles of her own, in tow, launches a shadow investigation in a town of oil tycoons, church gossips, and a rumoured voodoo priestess. As a black woman of a certain age who grew up in a segregated Louisiana, Glory is used to being minimised and overlooked. But she’s determined to make her presence known as the case leads her deep into a web of intrigue she never realised Lafayette could harbor. This is Book One in the ‘Glory Broussard Mystery Series’.
They say fortune favours the bold, and Lana Lee is determined to prove that true. Lana, now officially manager of her family’s restaurant, the Ho-Lee Noodle House, is headed to sunny Irvine, California to attend a restaurant convention with her sister. Lana and her sister learn their aunt has a surprise in store for them―a swanky cocktail party hosted for the freelancers of Southern California. But on the night of the party, things go south when a close journalist friend of Grace’s mysteriously plunges from the roof top of the hotel. The police rule the death a gruesome accident, but Aunt Grace refuses to accept that explanation and begs Lana for her help uncovering the truth. This is Book 9 in the ‘Noodle Shop Mystery’ series – check out Book One ‘Death by Dumpling’.
Trouble is brewing for cousins Yale and Celine Yee after a hot pot dinner gets overheated and ends in murder. Everyone at the meal is a suspect, but the authorities are homing in on family friend Ai Ho, owner of the restaurant – and Yale’s dad is a close second on their list. It’s up to the detecting duo to figure out what really happened before their friends and family have to close their businesses for good. This is Book 2 in the ‘LA Night Market’ series – check out Book One ‘Death by Bubble Tea’.
Petunia Yoder is Blueberry, Pennsylvania’s youngest old maid, at 22 years of age, and completely un-marriageable. But she’s determined to celebrate her friends’ weddings with joy and a full heart. Unfortunately, Petunia’s best friend, Eden Beiler, is playing a dangerous game with a man who is ruining her reputation. Ike Smoker is the community’s ice man—the one who cuts, stores, and sells the ice—and when Petunia discovers him dead with an ice pick in his chest, Eden is found on the scene with blood on her hands. Homicide detective Asher Nate is new to the area, and he has a challenge on his hands. The Amish community sticks close together, and he doesn’t understand the subtleties and nuances of the clues he uncovers. He needs an Amish interpreter, and he asks Petunia if she’ll help. In a bid to keep her best friend out of prison, she agrees. This is Book One in the ‘Amish Seamstress Mystery’ series.
Crescent Cove, a small hamlet on Vancouver Island, is the last place out-of-work investigative journalist Luke Tremblay ever wanted to see again. He used to spend summers here, until his family learned that he was gay and rejected him. Now, following his aunt’s sudden death, he’s inherited her entire estate, including her seaside cottage and the antiques shop she ran for forty years in Crescent Cove. Luke plans to sell everything and head back to Toronto as soon as he can…but Crescent Cove isn’t done with him just yet. When a stranger starts making wild claims about Luke’s aunt, Luke sends him packing. The next morning, though, Luke discovers that the stranger has returned, and now he’s lying dead in the back garden. To make matters worse, the officer leading the investigation is a handsome Mountie with a chip on his shoulder who seems convinced that Luke is the culprit. There are secrets buried in Crescent Cove, and the more Luke digs, the more he fears they might change the town forever. This is Book One in the ‘Crescent Cove Mystery’ series.
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