I just finished reading the nominees for the 2007 Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Mystery, and Best First Mystery. (These awards will be presented by the Mystery Writers of America during a banquet on April 26, 2007.) Many of these books have offered me some terrific reads!

The nominees for Best Mystery include
• The Pale Blue Eye by Louis Bayard. In 1830, a retired detective investigates a murder at West Point Military Academy; the young cadet assigned to help him navigate through this closed and hostile society is none other than Edgar Allan Poe.
• The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodwin. In Istanbul in 1836, a eunuch uses his unlimited access to secret places within the sultan’s court to investigate a series of political murders that threaten to tear the city apart.
• Gentlemen & Players by Joanne Harris. An aging teacher at an exclusive British private school for boys must unmask another teacher who seeks to destroy the school through murder and scandal.
• The Dead Hour by Denise Mina. In 1984, a reporter working the night shift in Glasgow Scotland must solve a murder that she partially witnessed.

I’m hoping that The Pale Blue Eye wins the Edgar for best mystery. It was the first of all the nominees that I read, and it continued to have the greatest impact upon me. The story is haunting, and the character of young Edgar Allan Poe is unforgettable. If this doesn’t win, then the Edgar should go to Gentlemen & Players. This novel started slow, but had an amazing ending that just knocks your socks off.

The nominees for Best First Mystery include
• The Faithful Spy by Alex Berenson. An American spy, who has infiltrated the upper levels of al-Qaeda, is ordered back to the United States to participate in a terrorist plot.
• Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn. A Chicago reporter risks her sanity when she returns to the setting of her horrific childhood to investigate the disappearance of a young girl.
• Holmes on the Range by Steve Hockensmith. On a Montana ranch in 1892, two cowboys who are brothers investigate a murder using the methods of Sherlock Holmes.
• A Field Of Darkness by Cornelia Read. A former debutante now working for a Syracuse NY newspaper investigates a 19 year-old murder to clear her cousin’s name.

I’m hoping that A Field of Darkness wins the Edgar for best first mystery. The writing is vivid and witty and the character of Maddie is filled with subtle complexities. She is fascinating and believable. If this doesn’t win, then the Edgar should go to Holmes on the Range for sheer fun. This novel was a delight to read.
You can find both books at Amazon through these links: The Pale Blue Eye: A Novel (P.S.) and A Field of Darkness