The Brainstorm Plus: Brainstorm 279: Edgar Award Winners

Looking for a good mystery read for the end of October? Why not try an Edgar Award winner or nominee? The Edgar Awards are nominated and voted on by the Mystery Writers of America, but do not have to have been written by American authors. They hand out awards for a variety of topics, from best mystery novel to best critical/biography to best mystery paperback to best fact crime to best juvenile novel (K-8th) and even best episode in a TV series. Here are some of my favorite award winners, and I had a really hard time not including some of my favorites that garnered nominations. You can check out the full list of Edgar Award winners here, and I encourage you to search the award winners by category so you can check out the nominees for categories as well, there are some great picks in there for whatever kind of mystery reader you or your students/kids/loved ones are. As always, click on the titles to see my full reviews and any content notes/trigger warnings.

The Cabinets of Barnaby Mayne by Elsa Hart

Barnaby Mayne is renowned for his natural history collection. It is 1703, and the race is on to have the best cabinets and collections in England. Barnaby has been at it for decades and has one of the best in England. Thus the reason Lady Cecily Kay has come to his house in London from Smyrna where her husband is the British Consul. Lady Kay has her own little botany collection as one of her hobbies. It may not be the most popular or fitting hobby for a woman, but Cecily can't help it. She's fascinated by plants. She is eager to identify some specimens she has spotted in her travels, and her best hope of doing so is comparing them with the Mayne collection. But on her first day at the Mayne house, Lady Kay and the others on the tour that day find a disastrous end to their perusal of Sir Barnaby's specimens. They find Sir Barnaby dead in his study. His curator is standing over him with a knife and confesses, and the powers that be deem it an open and shut case. But as Lady Kay stays on in the house in the hopes of finishing her scientific studies before the collection is moved, she becomes increasingly convinced the curator was not the murderer. With a childhood friend she is reunited with at the house, Lady Kay's curiosity leads her to seek out the truth. But truth can be dangerous.

So far this is a standalone mystery though the ending hints there may be more coming. It kept me guessing for quite a while.

Target Readers:
Mystery Fans, Historical Fiction Fans, Likable Sleuth Fans, Adult Fiction (though approachable to YA)

Concealed by Christina Diaz Gonzalez

Katrina (well, that's her most recent name) has been on the run with her parents for years. Katrina doesn't remember all the details since the bad accident that wiped her memories a few years ago, but she knows a drug cartel is involved, and if they don't keep moving every few months and change their names regularly, it will be very bad. She's become an expert at being unnoticeable, but despite her best efforts she's made a friend in their new community. And when her dad goes out of town and her mom gets hauled away by men claiming to be the Feds, Katrina knows she needs to get to the safe house in Georgia ASAP. But getting there is not going to be easy. With the help of her new friend Parker, Katrina is on the run again. But will they be able to find a safe spot?

It is hard to talk about this one without spoilers, so the less said the better.

Target Readers:
Thriller Fans, Mystery Fans, Touch of Scifi Fans, Middle Grade Readers

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson

Larson chronicles the Worlds Fair of 1893 from the moment of conception through till its close and aftermath, the life and crimes of Dr. H.H. Holmes and how Geyer eventually uncovered his evil deeds, and the assassination of the Chicago mayor in October 1893. For much of the book Larson alternates chapters between plans for the fair and the key people involved (foremost Burnham & Olmstead) with all that H.H. Holmes was up to unbeknownst to anyone. Every once in a while a chapter on Prendergrast (assassain of the mayor) would appear.

Larson is a master in writing history that just leaps off the page.

Target Readers:
True Crime Fans, Chicago History Buffs, Worlds Fair History Buffs, Serial Killer Story Fans, Nonfiction Fans, Adult Readers (approachable to mature YA readers)

Icefall by Matthew J. Kirby

Solveig is the "unimportant" princess in a royal family with three children. Her older sister, Asa, is the beauty who will get married off to help establish peace. Her younger brother, Harald, is the heir and future king. And she...well, she's no great beauty and since she isn't an heir or a political pawn so she often just gets ignored by her father (mother died some time in the past). But when the kingdom is attacked and the king sends the three royal children up to a hidden fortress for safety, they will face hidden dangers never expected and find out what they're all really made of. After several weeks food starts to run low, and instead of the restocking ship they expect, they get a boatload of berserkers that come to join them in hiding. As if being stuck in a frozen hideout wasn't bad enough, now they're stuck in a frozen hideout with dozens of warriors who at the slightest provocation might go crazy and kill everyone. And just when you think that isn't bad enough, it turns out someone is a traitor, and they may be in more danger from someone inside the fort than the potential enemies outside.

This is a Viking-inspired reimagined history that balances Solveig’s self-discovery with a very tricky mystery.

Target Readers:
Standalone Mystery Fans, Reimagined History Fans, Magical Realism Fans, Viking-ish Culture Fans, Wintery Setting Fans, Middle Grade Fiction

Killers of the Flower Moon: the Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann

Back in the 1920s, the Osage tribe started becoming very wealthy, thanks to terms that made them the owners of all the stuff that came out from under their territory, including oil. And in the 1920s, there was a whole lot of oil coming out. But as the Osage grew wealthier, they didn't necessarily grow healthier and members of the tribe started dying at an alarming rate, and when two shootings happened, people started to realize that maybe all those deaths weren't so natural after all. But anyone who went in to investigate the murders seemed to end up in an early grave themselves. Local law enforcement wasn't getting any results, and the Osage's cries for justice eventually brought J. Edgar Hoover's new investigators on the scene. This is the story of how horrible injustice and hatred was brought to justice despite a seemingly invincible web of corruption. And then the author relates how many other Osage likely were the victims of greedy people, out for a share of their oil money...any way they could.

This is such a heartbreaking but important true story. If you aren’t ready for all the details in the adult version, there is now a young readers version of this book you can hunt down. There’s a movie slated to come out next year based on this book.

Target Readers:
True Crime Fans, Osage History Buffs, FBI History Buffs, Nonfiction Fans, Adult Readers

One Came Home by Amy Timberlake

Georgie refuses to believe the body in the box that the sheriff brought home is her sister Agatha. Some would say she is in denial, but Georgie would say others are too easily convinced. The body was too badly mangled by animals and a shot to the face to really identify as anyone, let alone Agatha. Yes, the dress shreds found with the body definitely did once belong to Agatha, but maybe someone took it from her. Ma and Grandpa are way too willing to bury the body and leave it at that, but Georgie wants more answers. So she makes a plan to sneak off to the place where the body was found. The only problem is that Billy McCabe doesn't deliver a horse like she paid him to do, he brings her a mule of all things and he insists that he's coming with her. After hemming and hawing and plotting to lose Billy fast as can be, Georgie (and Billie) set out. But along the way Georgie realizes it can be rather handy to have another person along, and once they arrive in the area where the alleged body of Agatha was found, Georgie has to confront some cold hard facts she'd rather just ignore. Eventually, Billy and Georgie start off for home deciding to make just one tiny detour on a hunch. That detour could change both of their lives forever, and makes Georgie start to wonder if any of them will make it home.

This feels like True Grit meets Little Town on the Prairie, and really transports you in time by having huge flocks of passenger pigeons (a now extinct bird) as an integral part of the story.

Target Readers:
Historical Fiction Fans, Western Fans, Mystery Fans, Award Winner Readers (this also won a Newbery Honor), Upper Middle Grade/YA Readers

Premeditated Myrtle (Myrtle Hardcastle, #1) by Elizabeth C. Bunce

Myrtle Hardcastle has trouble with being a Young Woman of Quality thanks to her morbid fascinations. While making Observations of the neighborhood. Myrtle realizes there is something very wrong at the Redgraves estate next door. No one is following their usual routine, and that is unheard of. It is so startling Myrtle makes a little call to the police, and sure enough they show up to discover the old lady next door, Miss Wodehouse is quite dead. Of course, Myrtle must go make her own Observations, and when her evidence fails to match up with that of the local police's ruling of death by heart attack, she must help them see the error of their ways. For Myrtle is quite convinced that someone did Miss Wodehouse in. But who? And why were her prize lilies destroyed? And where is her cat? With the help of her trusty governess, Miss Judson, Myrtle is determined to see justice served.

Myrtle is a delightfully precocious young sleuth to follow around. (Her governess and her cat are also splendid assistants.) Her 4th book just came out this month and I can’t wait to read it.

Target Readers:
Mystery Fiction, Historical Fiction, Classic-feeling British Mystery Fans, Middle Grade Readers

Vanished! (Framed!, #2) by James Ponti

The elite Chatham Academy has had a string of strange pranks. The headmaster is an old friend of the FBI director, so they ask Florian and Margaret to go in undercover as two week exchange students from Deal Middle School. Florian and Margaret feel like they have too many suspects and not enough leads, and that possibly this isn't as serious as they first thought. Are they just being led on a wild goose chase or is someone in serious danger?

Florian and Margaret have a huge fan base at our school. This entire 3 book series is frequently checked out. Actually, almost all of James Ponti’s series are pretty constantly checked out. His City Spies series is so popular I think I’m going to have to buy another set to keep the masses happy.