The Mystery Writers of America announced the winners of the 2025 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, given annually to “the best in mystery fiction, nonfiction and television,” at a ceremony in New York on Thursday.
Charlotte Vassell won the best novel prize for The In Crowd, which follows London detective Caius Beauchamp as he tries to solve a pair of cold cases. A critic for Kirkus called the book “a stellar sophomore outing for an intriguing detective.”
The award for best first novel by an American author went to Henry Wise for Holy City, while Kimberly Belle won the best paperback original prize for The Paris Widow.
Margaret Peterson Haddix won in the juvenile category for Mysteries of Trash and Treasure: The Stolen Key, and Natalie D. Richards took home the young adult prize for 49 Miles Alone. Erika Krouse won the short story award for “Eat My Moose.”
Steven Johnson was named winner of the fact crime award for The Infernal Machine: A True Story of Dynamite, Terror, and the Rise of the Modern Detective, while Nathan Ashman won in the critical/biographical category for James Sallis: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction.
Novelists Laura Lippman and John Sandford were recognized as Grand Masters, a lifetime achivement honor that was previously announced.
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards were established in 1946. Previous winners include Jess Walter for Citizen Vince; Attica Locke for Bluebird, Bluebird; and Jason Reynolds for Long Way Down. A full list of this year’s winners is available at the MWA website.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
