Edgar Award

Hard Town

Adam Plantinga

Unforgiving desert setting

The Dream Hotel

Laila Lalami

Presumed Guilty

Scott Turow

Wild Dark Shore

Charlotte McConaghy

Eloquent nature writing

Fagin the Thief

Allison Epstein

The Inheritance

Trisha Sakhlecha

The God of the Woods

Liz Moore

Beautiful and dangerous wilderness

Listen for the Lie

Amy Tintera

Small-town Texas setting

My Favorite Scar

Nicolás Ferraro

Things Don't Break on Their Own

Sarah Easter Collins

The In Crowd

Charlotte Vassell

A police-procedural whodunit featuring DI Caius Beauchamp, set among London's wealthy and well-connected. It suits readers who like crime fiction that mixes a puzzle with social comedy about class and status.

Rough Trade

Katrina Carrasco

Evocative historical setting

My Flawless Life

Yvonne Woon

A fit for readers seeking a character-focused YA mystery with social scandal and serious themes; that reading-fit assessment is inferred from the review’s description.