Edgar AwardsAs we gear up for our Summer Reading Program (details available at the library), you might want to consider reviewing a mystery. The Mystery Writers of America recently announced the winners of the 2010 Edgar awards at a gala banquet in New York City (no murders have been reported from this event).
The awards are presented annually to the best in the mystery genre and are named in honor of Edgar Allan Poe, who some argue invented the detective story with his Murders in the Rue Morgue (1841). In this tale, the Parisian C. August Dupin solves the mysterious and brutal murder of two women through "ratiocination" -- or the process of logical reasoning. The story was very influential and many critics argue that Dupin served as a template for later fictional detectives, including Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot.
Here are the winners:
Best Novel : The Last Child by John Hart
Best First Novel by an American Author : In the Shadow of Gotham by Stefanie Pintoff
Best Paperback Original : Body Blows by Marc Strange
Best Critical/Biography : The Lineup: The World's Greatest Crime Writers Tell the Inside Story of Their Greatest Detectives edited by Otto Penzler
For a complete list of winners and nominees, click here.
Cold Cases
Poe's legacy has also inspired a great publishing company, The Rue Morgue Press. They specialize in "mystery books from the golden age of detective fiction." These reprints bring back some of the outstanding mysteries of the 20th century. The authors include Gladys Mitchell, responsible for the Mrs. Bradley mysteries, Nicholas Blake (Nigel Strangeways), and Michael Gilbert, whose Smallbone Deceased I recently reread and can assure you that it's one of the wittiest and best plotted mysteries I've ever had the pleasure of reading. We hope you enjoy them.
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