2020 Edgar Award for the Best Mystery Novel To The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffith

If you are a passionate crime mystery fan, then you are definitely acquainted with Edgar Allan Poe and his pioneering of detective fiction. And, of course, there's no surprise for you that the name of this prominent poet and writer has been converted into a title of the most prestigious awards honoring the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction and television.

Every April the Mystery Writers of America based in New York City announces the winners of the Edgar Allan Poe Awards (the Edgars) in ten categories, including best novel, best first novel by an American author, best short story, best television episode teleplay and others.

This year, celebrating the 211th anniversary of Poe's birth, the award for the best novel was handed to The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths. It has beat other four shortlisted nominees: Fake Like Me by Barbara Bourland, The River by Peter Heller, Smoke and Ashes by Abir Mukherjee, and Good Girl, Bad Girl by Michael Robotham.

Elly Griffiths is actually a "crime name" of a popular UK writer Domenica de Rosa who is also known for her Dr. Ruth Galloway Mysteries and Stephens & Mephisto novels. The Stranger Diaries is her stand-alone crime novel, which reminds of a Gothic thriller: English teacher Clare Cassidy’s friend Ella has just been murdered. Clare and Ella had recently fallen out. Found beside the body was a line from The Stranger, a story by the Gothic writer Clare teaches, and the murder scene is identical to one of the deaths in the story.

See all 2020 Edgar Allan Poe Awards here.

Source: www.theeadgars.com