The Mystery Writers of America have announced the nominees for the 2020 Edgar Awards, considered some of the most prestigious in the mystery genre.
Finalists in the best novel category include Fake Like Me by Barbara Bourland, The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths, The River by Peter Heller, Smoke and Ashes by Abir Mukherjee, and Good Girl, Bad Girl by Michael Robotham.
Nominated for best first novel by an American author are My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing, Miracle Creek by Angie Kim, The Good Detective by John McMahon, The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott, Three-Fifths by John Vercher, and American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson.
In the fact crime category, finalists include The Ghosts of Eden Park: The Bootleg King, the Women Who Pursued Him, and the Murder that Shocked Jazz-Age America by Karen Abbott, The Less People Know About Us: A Mystery of Betrayal, Family Secrets, and Stolen Identity by Axton Betz-Hamilton, American Predator: The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st Century by Maureen Callahan, Norco '80: The True Story of the Most Spectacular Bank Robbery in American History by Peter Houlahan, and Indecent Advances: A Hidden History of True Crime and Prejudice Before Stonewall by James Polchin.
A full list of Edgar nominees is available on the MWA’s website. The winners of the awards will be announced at a gala banquet in New York on April 30.
Michael Schaub is an Austin, Texas–based journalist and regular contributor to NPR.
