2009 Edgar Winners

The Mystery Writers of America have announced the winners of the 2009 Edgars Award.


BEST NOVEL Blue Heaven by C.J. Box (St. Martin's Minotaur)

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR The Foreigner by Francie Lin (Picador)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL China Lake by Meg Gardiner (New American Library ­Obsidian Mysteries)

BEST FACT CRIME American Lightning: Terror, Mystery, The Birth of Hollywood, and the Crime of the Century by Howard Blum (CrownPublishers)

BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL Edgar Allan Poe: An Illustrated Companion to His Tell-Tale Stories by Dr. Harry Lee Poe (Metro Books)

BEST SHORT STORY "Skinhead Central" - The Blue Religion by T. Jefferson Parker (Hachette Book Group ­ Little, Brown and Company)

BEST JUVENILE The Postcard by Tony Abbott (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)

BEST YOUNG ADULT Paper Towns by John Green (Penguin Young Readers Group ­ Dutton Children'sBooks)

BEST PLAY The Ballad of Emmett Till by Ifa Bayeza (Goodman Theatre, Chicago, IL)

BEST TELEVISION EPISODE TELEPLAY "Prayer of the Bone" ­ Wire in the Blood, Teleplay by Patrick Harbinson (BBC America)

BEST MOTION PICTURE SCREENPLAY In Bruges, Screenplay by Martin McDonagh (Focus Features)

ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD "Buckner's Error" - Queens Noir by Joseph Guglielmelli (Akashic Books)

GRAND MASTER
James Lee Burke and Sue Grafton

RAVEN AWARDS Edgar Allan Poe Society, Baltimore, Maryland Poe House, Baltimore, Maryland

THE SIMON SCHUSTER - MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD The Killer's Wife by Bill Floyd (St.Martin's Minotaur)

Nominees as well as winners are at http://www.theedgars.com/nominees.html

Of the winners, the only book I had read at all was BLUE HEAVEN. Readers of my reviews know I am a big fan of C. J. Box. Unfortunately, that book was one I hated and I gave up on it after reading the first seventy pages or so. I almost never quit a book once started, but I thought it was cliched and worthless. Clearly, I am in the minority opinion on that.

Under the Pest Paperback Original category, I had read and reviewed MONEY SHOT by Christa Faust. I really liked that book a lot and was hoping it would win. That isn't saying the winner didn't deserve to win. Just that I hadn't read it so I can't make any comparison.

Considering the number of books here to be read and reviewed, it might be awhile before I get to any of the nominees.

Kevin
(who isn't doing nearly enough of his own fiction work)