Finalists for the 2015 Edgar Awards are announced

The Mystery Writers of America have announced the finalists for the 2015 Edgars, or more formally, the Edgar Allan Poe Awards. The awards, which celebrate writing for print and screen, will be presented at a gala ceremony in New York on April 29.

James Ellroy and Lois Duncan were named grand masters. Duncan, who began writing in the 1950s and has been recently reissued by Lizzie Skurnick Books, has won five previous Edgars, all in the juvenile category. Ellroy has previously won one Edgar; in 2014 he returned to his Los Angeles Quartet with the prequel “Perfidia.”

Finalists include longtime favorites such as Stephen King, Karin Slaughter and Ian Rankin, all of whom are nominated in the novel category.

Newcomer Lacy Johnson’s “The Other Side” is a finalist in the fact crime category. Published by independent Tin House Books, the memoir was also announced as a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in autobiography this week.

The complete list of Edgar nominees:

Novel

“This Dark Road to Mercy” by Wiley Cash (HarperCollins Publishers – William Morrow)
“Wolf” by Mo Hayder (Grove/Atlantic – Atlantic Monthly Press)
“Mr. Mercedes” by Stephen King (Simon & Schuster – Scribner)
“The Final Silence” by Stuart Neville (Soho Press)
“Saints of the Shadow Bible” by Ian Rankin (Hachette Book Group – Little, Brown)
“Coptown” by Karin Slaughter (Penguin Randomhouse – Ballantine Books)

First novel by an American author

“Dry Bones in the Valley” by Tom Bouman (W.W. Norton)
“Invisible City” by Julia Dahl (Minotaur Books)
“The Life We Bury” by Allen Eskens (Prometheus Books – Seventh Street Books)
“Bad Country” by C.B. McKenzie (Minotaur Books – A Thomas Dunne Book)
“Shovel Ready” by Adam Sternbergh (Crown Publishers)
“Murder at the Brightwell” by Ashley Weaver (Minotaur Books – A Thomas Dunne Book)

Paperback original

“The Secret History of Las Vegas” by Chris Albani (Penguin Randomhouse – Penguin Books)
“Stay With Me” by Alison Gaylin (HarperCollins Publishers – William Morrow)
“The Barkeep” by William Lashner (Amazon Publishing – Thomas and Mercer)
“The Day She Died” by Catriona McPherson (Llewellyn Worldwide – Midnight Ink)
“The Gone Dead Train” by Lisa Turner (HarperCollins Publishers – William Morrow)
“World of Trouble” by Ben H. Winters (Quirk Books)

Fact crime

“Kitty Genovese: The Murder, the Bystanders, the Crime that Changed America” by Kevin Cook (W.W. Norton)
“The Savage Harvest: A Tale of Cannibals, Colonialism, and Michael Rockefeller’s Tragic Quest for Primitive Art” by Carl Hoffman (HarperCollins Publishers – William Morrow)
“The Other Side: A Memoir” by Lacy M. Johnson (Tin House Books)
“Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood” by William Mann (HarperCollins Publishers – Harper)
“The Mad Sculptor: The Maniac, the Model, and the Murder that Shook the Nation” by Harold Schechter (Amazon Publishing – New Harvest)

Critical/biographical

“The Figure of the Detective: A Literary History and Analysis” by Charles Brownson (McFarland & Company)
“James Ellroy: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction” by Jim Mancall (Oxford University Press)
“Kiss the Blood Off My Hands: Classic Film Noir” by Robert Miklitsch (University of Illinois Press)
“Judges & Justice & Lawyers & Law: Exploring the Legal Dimensions of Fiction and Film” by Francis M. Nevins (Perfect Crime Books)
“Poe-Land: The Hallowed Haunts of Edgar Allan Poe” by J.W. Ocker (W.W. Norton – Countryman Press)

Short story

“The Snow Angel” – Ellery Queen Mystery magazine by Doug Allyn (Dell Magazines)
“200 Feet” – Strand magazine by John Floyd (Strand)
“What Do You Do?” – Rogues by Gillian Flynn (Penguin Randomhouse Publishing – Ballantine Books)
“Red Eye” – Faceoff by Dennis Lehane vs. Michael Connelly (Simon & Schuster)
“Teddy” – Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine by Brian Tobin (Dell Magazines)

Juvenile

“Absolutely Truly” by Heather Vogel Frederick (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)
“Space Case” by Stuart Gibbs (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)
“Greenglass House” by Kate Milford (Clarion Books – Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers)
“Nick and Tesla’s Super-Cyborg Gadget Glove” by “Science Bob” Pflugfelder and Steve Hockensmith (Quirk Books)
“Saving Kabul Corner” by N.H. Senzai (Simon & Schuster – Paula Wiseman Books)
“Eddie Red, Undercover: Mystery on Museum Mile” by Marcia Wells (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers)

Young adult

“The Doubt Factory” by Paolo Bacigalupi (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
“Nearly Gone” by Elle Cosimano (Penguin Young Readers Group – Kathy Dawson Books)
“Fake ID” by Lamar Giles (HarperCollins Children’s Books - Amistad)
“The Art of Secrets” by James Klise (Algonquin Young Readers)
“The Prince of Venice Beach” by Blake Nelson (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)

Television episode teleplay

“The Empty Hearse” – “Sherlock,” teleplay by Mark Gatiss (Hartswood Films/Masterpiece)
“Unfinished Business” – “Blue Bloods,” teleplay by Siobhan Byrne O’Connor (CBS)
“Episode 1” – “Happy Valley,” teleplay by Sally Wainwright (Netflix)
“Dream Baby Dream” – “The Killing,” teleplay by Sean Whitesell (Netflix)
“Episode 6” – “The Game,” teleplay by Toby Whithouse (BBC America)

Robert L. Fish Memorial Award

“Getaway Girl” – Ellery Queen Mystery magazine By Zoë Z. Dean (Dell Magazines)

Grand masters

Lois Duncan
James Ellroy

Raven awards

Ruth & Jon Jordan, Crimespree Magazine
Kathryn Kennison, Magna Cum Murder

Ellery Queen Award

Charles Ardai, editor and founder, Hard Case Crime

Simon & Schuster-Mary Higgins Clark Award (presented at MWA’s agents and editors party April 28)

“A Dark and Twisted Tide” by Sharon Bolton (Minotaur Books)
“The Stranger You Know” by Jane Casey (Minotaur Books)
“Invisible City” by Julia Dahl (Minotaur Books)
“Summer of the Dead” by Julia Keller (Minotaur Books)
“The Black Hour” by Lori Rader-Day (Prometheus Books – Seventh Street Books)

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