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Edgar Award Winners 2024: Few Female Sleuths, Few Surprises
Familiar names and titles dominated the list of award recipients but I think this annual winners’ roundup — described as “the Oscars of mystery awards” — is always worth a look.
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Left Coast Crime Award Winners: Female Sleuths Win Big
It’s time for the 2023 best mystery awards season, and winners can be a great source for new additions to your TBR (to be read) list. Female sleuths swept the “Lefty” awards.
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The Expectant Detectives: Very Pregnant Women Track a Killer
I am not now, nor have I ever been, nine months pregnant. But it doesn’t matter. This is a hilarious modern take on a cozy, wherein a waddle of women tackle a mystery to distract from the terror of impending childbirth.
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Murder Crossed Her Mind: A Series Keeps Getting Better
I feel no regrets about stopping a series if my interest lags. But this fourth book in the Pentecost & Parker mystery series, featuring a Nero Wolfe-like detective pair in 1940s New York, is every bit as good as the first, second and third.
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If You’re A Fan of Kinsey Millhone, Please Meet Cass Raines
Tough, headstrong, caring. Cass Raines is a no-nonsense Chicago cop turned PI who’s determined to right the wrongs she sees around her — and there are plenty. A past winner of the Sue Grafton Memorial Award.
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What Mystery Writers Selected as Their Best Books of 2023
Members of the Mystery Writers of America nominated books in several categories for the annual Edgar Awards, named in honor of Edgar Allen Poe. Winners will be announced in May.
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A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder: How to Ace Your Senior Project
I fell hard for Pippa, the “good girl” who decides to investigate the murder-suicide of two classmates for her high school senior project. If you haven’t read a young adult mystery lately, I encourage you to give this one a try.
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What Lies in the Woods: A Survivor’s Suspenseful Tale
A twist-filled tale about the resilience of little girls and the adults who are supposed to take care of them. I was cheering for our tough protagonist by the end, a grand finale I definitely didn’t see coming.
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Becoming a Writer: Getting Over That Imposter Feeling
I had a career based on words but never considered myself a “real” writer. It’s time to recover writing as a practice for everyone, and not the domain of an elite few.
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Scorched Grace: A Poet Pens a Lyrical Debut
Lush language, an atmospheric setting and the most original protagonist in many a mystery. There’s so much to love in this intense noir debut featuring a queer punk rock nun in the sweltering heat of New Orleans.
