Congratulations to Megan Abbott, left, and Sarah St. Vincent, below left, the recipients of the 2019 Pinckley Prizes for Crime Fiction.

The Pinckley Prizes for Crime Fiction for women writers were established in 2012 by the Women’s National Book Association of New Orleans.

The prizes honor the memory of Diana Pinckley (1952-2012), a longtime crime fiction columnist for The New Orleans Times-Picayune, and her passion for mysteries. Pinckley was a founding member of the Women’s National Book Association of New Orleans, as well as a civic activist for local and national causes.

The author of 10 novels, Megan Abbott is the winner of the Pinckley Prize for Distinguished Body of Work.

Her books include Give Me Your Hand depicting the rivalry between two female graduate students in the world of high-stakes science. You Will Know Me about competitive gymnastics and Dare Me, currently being produced as a USA Network series.

Abbott's  novels often delve the dark side of female friendship and ambition.

She also is the author of the nonfiction, The Street Was Mine: White Masculinity in Hardboiled Crime Fiction, and the editor of the anthology, A Hell of a Woman. Her novels have either won or have been nominated for the CWA Steel Dagger, the International Thriller Writers Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and five Edgar awards, Abbott also is a writer on HBO's The Deuce.

According to the press release, the judges praised Abbott's fierce feminism, her brilliant prose style, and her laser-sharp insight into female friendships and ambition, particularly in her treatment of striving and gifted adolescent girls.

I would agree. Abbott is one of the top writers and her novels are terrific.

Sarah St. Vincent is the winner of the Pinckley Prize for Debut Novel for her novel Ways to Hide in Winter, published by Melville house.

Ways to Hide in Winter was one of my picks for best debut of 2018.

In my review, I wrote “widow Kathleen McElwain’s hermit-like life is upended by a stranger who appears at the store at which she works ‘tucked away in the forgotten forests of Pennsylvania.’ The man claims to be a student from Uzbekistan and his stories make Kathleen consider finally leaving the area. The tightly plotted tale combines a story of regret with the war on terror.”

St. Vincent is a human rights attorney, working for survivors of domestic violence. She also researches national security and surveillance for Human Rights Watch. Her first novel blends her concerns with domestic violence and human rights in a chilling tale of a fugitive and the woman who gets to know him over a wintry season in a state park.

According to the press release, “St. Vincent's exquisitely written novel is eerily timely, said the judges, as issues of domestic violence and immigration continue to lead the news.”

Both authors are well deserving of this honor.

Previous winners include Ellen Hart, Louise Penny, Laura Lippman, Sara Paretsky, among others.