The Edgar Allan Poe Award:
Down River by John Hart. Best Novel. A man reluctantly returns to his North Carolina hometown at a friend's request: five years earlier, he got acquitted of a murder charge, but the entire town, including his stepmother who testified against him at the trial, still thinks he's guilty. When his friend disappears and others begin to suffer the same fate, he must solve the mystery to clear his name.

In the Woods by Tana French. Best First Novel. Two Irish cops in Dublin, Ireland must solve the murder of a girl from a troubled family. Soon they find that her case has disturbing connections with the unsolved disappearances of two childhood friends of theirs from 20 years ago.

The Agatha Award for Cozy Mystery:
A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny. Inspector Gamache returns to Three Pines village in Quebec to investigate the murder of a spiritual guidance counselor whom everyone hated. Sequel to Still Life

The Dilys Award:
Thunder Bay by William Kent Krueger. An elderly Ojibwa medicine man asks private investigator Cork O'Connor to find his long-lost son, not suspecting that this request will stir up dark secrets and threaten his life. This is the seventh Cork O'Connor novel in a private-eye series.

What are the Dilys Awards, you might ask? The Dilys Awards have been given each year since 1993 by the members of the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association. The Dilys Award goes to the mystery novel that members of the IMBA most enjoyed selling to customers in the previous year. The other nominees were as follows. Don't miss The Spellman Files, a very funny mystery!

Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen. This cozy mystery opens in London in 1930 with an impoverished noblewoman wondering what to do when her brother the Duke cuts off her meager allowance. She decides to become a career woman and launches a cleaning business featuring herself as the only employee. But when her brother is framed for murder, it's up to her to clear his name.

The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz. Our 28 year-old heroine wants out of her large family's private-investigator business because she can no longer handle working with her nosy and eccentric relatives. They agree to honor her wishes – but only after she helps them solve a baffling cold-case. This is the first novel in a new comic mystery series.

Silent in the Grave by Dianna Raybourn. In 1886 when a London noblewoman's husband dies suddenly of heart disease, she starts to wonder if he died of natural causes after all. Helped by a sympathetic detective, she questions servants and relatives and uncovers some dark secrets. This may appeal to fans of British mysteries and historical mysteries.

The Blade Itself by Marcus Sakey. In Chicago, two teenaged friends try to rob a pawnshop: a horrible mistake that sends one to prison and inspires the other to turn his life around and work hard, eventually securing a management position at a construction company. When the first guy gets out of prison, he comes looking for payback and his former friend must do everything possible to survive. This sounds like a gritty thriller that may appeal to fans of Dennis Lehane.

Thunder Bay is available on Amazon through this link: Thunder Bay: A Cork O'Connor Mystery (Cork O'Connor Mysteries) and The Spellman Files is available on Amazon through this link: The Spellman Files: A Novel