Edgar Awards 2025: What Mystery Writers Selected as The Best

The annual Edgar awards, named for Edgar Allen Poe and bestowed by the Mystery Writers of America (MWA), may be the most prestigious honors for mystery writers. Winners are selected by volunteer committees of professional writers in a broad range of categories, from best novel to best young adult to best episode in a TV series. This year’s winners were announced at a May 1 banquet in New York City.

I’ve included what I believe to be the top awards for mystery novels below, but you can see a complete list of all categories, nominees and winners here. Of the six categories listed below, winners in four categories featured female sleuths — but not the first two, so scroll down to Best Paperback Original to start with those.

BEST NOVEL

The In Crowd by Charlotte Vassell: Book 2 in the Detective Inspector Caius Beauchamp series by the British author of The Other Half. According to the blurb, it’s “[a]n electrifying, whip-smart whodunit about the dastardly misbehavior of London’s high society — where being “in” or “out” can be a life-and-death matter.”

The other nominees: 

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR

Holy City by Henry Wise: After a decade of exile, Will Seems returns home to Southern Virginia to work as a deputy sheriff. “Holy City is an amazing piece of work. A Southern novel that examines the pathos and ethos of small-town life and the weight of both grief and hatred.”— S.A. Cosby. High praise from the acclaimed author known as the king of Southern Noir.

The other nominees:

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

The Paris Widow by Kimberly Belle:  “A dream vacation turns deadly when secrets from the past catch up to a married couple in Paris in this new edge-of-your-seat thriller from USA Today bestselling author, Kimberly Belle,” according to the blurb.

The other nominees:

THE MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD

*Criteria for this award include an independent protagonist who solves problems by her own courage and intelligence, no on-scene violance, strong four-letter words or explicit sex scenes, according to this MWA webpage.

The Mystery Writer by Sulari Gentill: “A literary thriller about an aspiring writer who meets and falls in love with her literary idol — only to find him murdered the day after she gave him her manuscript to read,” according to the blurb. Gentill also was nominated for an Edgar for The Woman in the Library. 

The other nominees:

THE SUE GRAFTON MEMORIAL AWARD

*To qualify for this award, the book must feature “a strong, independent woman who is a professional investigator,” according to MWA.

The Comfort of Ghosts by Jacqueline Winspear: The last in Winspear’s acclaimed series featuring PI Maisie Dobbs, mostly set in England in the aftermath of World War I and II. In her final outing (book 18), in 1945, Maisie investigates the decades-old death of her first husband, who was killed while flying an experimental aircraft.

The other nominees:

THE LILIAN JACKSON BRAUN MEMORIAL AWARD

*This categories honors the author of “The Cat Who …” novels and is awarded to the best cozy in a modern setting. 

The Murders in Great Diddling by Katarina Bivald: Author Berit Gardner has moved to the small village of Great Diddling because she feels certain there are stories to be told there, and she’s desperately in need of inspiration for the sequel she’s long promised. Then murder strikes and Berit and her newfound neighbors decide to take advantage with a books and murder festival.

The other nominees:

  • Death and Fromage by Ian Moore
  • Booked for Murder by P.J. Nelson
  • Murder on Devil’s Pond by Ayla Rose
  • The Treasure Hunters Club by Tom Ryan

For more Edgar winners and nominees, read my posts from 2024 and 2023. To see annual winners and nominees stretching back to 1946, visit the database.

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