This was to have been the week to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Mystery Writers of America (MWA).

It was to have been the week of Edgar Awards festivities to celebrate that anniversary with parties around New York City at bookstores, restaurants and apartments, a terrific symposium to discuss genre trends and culminating with the banquet to honor the books, short stories and films nominated for the Edgar.

That was the plan.

But as we all know, the pandemic has forced the cancellation of many high-profile events, forcing traditions to be put aside—or revised—as we concentrate on staying healthy and sheltering in place.

But what hasn’t been canceled is that MWA’s 75th anniversary will still be celebrated.

And what hasn’t been canceled is that MWA will still honor the Edgar Awards nominees—just in a different format.

The 2020 Edgar Awards will be announced on April 30, 2020, beginning at 11 a.m. EDT on the MWA Twitter page.

Here is the link https://twitter.com/EdgarAwards.

At the same Twitter address, MWA has been sharing videos of authors reading their nominated works.

I won’t say it’s almost like being there because nothing beats the excitement of being in the room where the Edgar Awards happen, of cheering on those who take home the statue, or hearing leaders of the genre discuss mysteries and being able to answer questions during the symposium.

But this is a terrific way to honor those works and authors, following the trend that countless other organizations are doing not only across the country but worldwide.

The tradition continues, just in another format.

And that is important.

“We've never not given out the awards, no matter what is going on in the world. And even though there is a global pandemic, honoring and recognizing our finalists and winners seems even more important than ever before,” said Greg Herren, Executive Vice President of Mystery Writers of America.

Naturally, the awards ceremony will be reformatted. “We're just doing a banner, not voice, on the individual awards category announcements,” said Herren.

As usual, the winners will be secret until announced, but we will get to hear from them. All the finalists were asked to record an acceptance speech, which will air after their category is announced.

Other Edgar traditions will continue

The "In Memoriam" will be put up on the MWA YouTube channel.

The Edgar Annual will still be published.

Plans for the symposium are, at present, on hold.

"We are exploring options right now on how to present the symposium; whether it will be done as a live on-line event will depend on whether we can find a way to do it with the high level of quality everyone expects from Mystery Writers of America. We can't mirror the actual in-person live dynamic of the usual symposium, but we want to come as close as possible," added Herren.

All these events will be available on the MWA YouTube Channel. MWA plans to have the videos on YouTube within an hour after all the honorees have been announced. Facebook will only be a link to the website and YouTube.

“I'm actually very pleased with how this is all turning out,” added Herren.

Mystery Scene also will post the winners here by noon on April 30.

And this shows when crisis arise, clever ways can be found to keep traditions going.

Stay healthy, everyone. And keep reading. The Edgar nominees are a great resource to update your reading list.

And here are the Edgar nominees.

Mystery Scene congratulates all the nominees.

BEST NOVEL
Fake Like Me, by Barbara Bourland (Hachette Book Group – Grand Central Publishing)
The Stranger Diaries, by Elly Griffiths (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
The River, by Peter Heller (Penguin Random House – Alfred A. Knopf)
Smoke and Ashes, by Abir Mukherjee (Pegasus Books)
Good Girl, Bad Girl, by Michael Robotham (Simon & Schuster – Scribner)

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR
My Lovely Wife, by Samantha Downing (Penguin Random House – Berkley)
Miracle Creek, by Angie Kim (Farrar Straus and Giroux)
The Good Detective, by John McMahon (Penguin Random House – G.P. Putnam’s Sons)
The Secrets We Kept, by Lara Prescott (Penguin Random House – Alfred A. Knopf)
Three-Fifths, by John Vercher (Polis Books – Agora Books)
American Spy, by Lauren Wilkinson (Penguin Random House – Random House)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL
Dread of Winter, by Susan Alice Bickford (Kensington Publishing)
Freedom Road, by William Lashner (Amazon Publishing – Thomas & Mercer)
Blood Relations, by Jonathan Moore (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt – Mariner Books)
February’s Son, by Alan Parks (Europa Editions – World Noir)
The Hotel Neversink, by Adam O’Fallon Price (Tin House Books)
The Bird Boys, by Lisa Sandlin (Cinco Puntos Press)

BEST FACT CRIME
The Ghosts of Eden Park: The Bootleg King, the Women Who Pursued Him, and the Murder that Shocked Jazz-Age America, by Karen Abbott (Penguin Random House - Crown)
The Less People Know About Us: A Mystery of Betrayal, Family Secrets, and Stolen Identity, by Axton Betz-Hamilton (Hachette Book Group – Grand Central Publishing)
American Predator: The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st Century, by Maureen Callahan (Penguin Random House - Viking)
Norco '80: The True Story of the Most Spectacular Bank Robbery in American History, by Peter Houlahan (Counterpoint Press)
Indecent Advances: A Hidden History of True Crime and Prejudice Before Stonewall, by James Polchin (Counterpoint Press)

BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL
Hitchcock and the Censors, by John Billheimer (University Press of Kentucky)
Beyond the Thirty-Nine Steps: A Life of John Buchan, by Ursula Buchan (Bloomsbury Publishing)
The Hooded Gunman: An Illustrated History of Collins Crime Club ,by John Curran (Collins Crime Club)
Medieval Crime Fiction: A Critical Overview, by Anne McKendry (McFarland)
The Mutual Admiration Society: How Dorothy L. Sayers and her Oxford Circle Remade the World for Women, by Mo Moulton (Hachette Book Group – Basic Books)

 BEST SHORT STORY
“Turistas," from Paque Tu Lo Sepas, by Hector Acosta (Down & Out Books)
“One of These Nights," from Cutting Edge: New Stories of Mystery and Crime by Women Writers, by Livia Llewellyn (Akashic Books)
“The Passenger," from Sydney Noir, by Kirsten Tranter (Akashic Books)
“Home at Last," from Die Behind the Wheel: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Music of Steely Dan, by Sam Wiebe (Down & Out Books)
“Brother’s Keeper," from Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, by Dave Zeltserman (Dell Magazine)

BEST JUVENILE
The Collected Works of Gretchen Oyster, by Cary Fagan (Penguin Random House Canada – Tundra Books
Eventown, by Corey Ann Haydu (HarperCollins Children’s Books – Katherine Tegen Books)
The Whispers by Greg Howard (Penguin Young Readers – G.P. Putnam’s Sons BFYR)
All the Greys on Greene Street, by Laura Tucker (Penguin Young Readers – Viking BFYR)
Me and Sam-Sam Handle the Apocalypse, by Susan Vaught (Simon & Schuster Children’s Books – Paula Wiseman Books)
 
BEST YOUNG ADULT
Catfishing on CatNet, by Naomi Kritzer (Tom Doherty Associates – Tor Teen)
Killing November, by Adriana Mather (Random House Children’s Books – Alfred A. Knopf BFYR)
Patron Saints of Nothing, by Randy Ribay (Penguin Young Readers - Kokila)
The Deceivers, by Kristen Simmons (Tom Doherty Associates – Tor Teen)
Wild and Crooked, by Leah Thomas (Bloomsbury Publishing)

BEST TELEVISION EPISODE TELEPLAY
“Season 5, Episode 3” – Line of Duty, Teleplay by Jed Mercurio (Acorn TV)
“Season 5, Episode 4” – Line of Duty, Teleplay by Jed Mercurio (Acorn TV)
“Episode 1” – Dublin Murders, Teleplay by Sarah Phelps (STARZ)
“Episode 1” – Manhunt, Teleplay by Ed Whitmore (Acorn TV)
“Episode 1” – The Wisting, Teleplay by Katherine Valen Zeiner & Trygve Allister Diesen (Sundance Now)
 
ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD
“There’s a Riot Goin’ On," from Milwaukee Noir, by Derrick Harriell (Akashic Books)

THE SIMON & SCHUSTER MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD
The Night Visitors, by Carol Goodman (HarperCollins – William Morrow)
One Night Gone, by Tara Laskowski (Harlequin – Graydon House)
Strangers at the Gate, by Catriona McPherson (Minotaur Books)
Where the Missing Go, by Emma Rowley (Kensington Publishing)
The Murder List, by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Tom Doherty Associates – Forge Books)

 THE G.P. PUTNAM’S SONS SUE GRAFTON MEMORIAL AWARD
Shamed, by Linda Castillo (Minotaur Books)
Borrowed Time, by Tracy Clark (Kensington Publishing)
The Missing Ones, by Edwin Hill (Kensington Publishing)
The Satapur Moonstone, by Sujata Massey (Soho Crime)
The Alchemist’s Illusion, by Gigi Pandian (Midnight Ink)
Girl Gone Missing, by Marcie R. Rendon (Cincos Puntos Press)

The Agatha Awards are presented annually during the Malice Domestic convention and are to honor books and stories first published in the United States during the previous calendar year (January 1-December 31, 2019), either in hardcover, as a paperback original, or as an e-book by an e-publishing firm, according to the website.

But of course, 2020 has forced the conference organizers to have to reevaluate Malice Domestic and, eventually, canceling the conference.

The cancellation was, of course, the right thing to do.

But the authors and their books nominated for an Agatha still must be honored.

The Agatha were announced via Zoom on the evening of May 2, 2020, the same night the awards banquet would have been held.

The Agatha Awards honor the Traditional Mystery, books typified by the works of Agatha Christie. For our purposes, the genre is loosely defined as mysteries that contain no explicit sex, excessive gore or gratuitous violence, and are not classified as "hard-boiled."

Mystery Scene congratulates the nominees and the winners. We hope next year the awards can be presented live. Authors honored this year also will be honored during the 2021 Malice.

The Agatha Award winners are in bold with a ** in front of the name.

Agatha Award winners
Best Contemporary Novel
**The Long Call by Ann Cleeves (Minotaur)
Fatal Cajun Festival by Ellen Byron (Crooked Lane Books)
Fair Game by Annette Dashofy (Henery Press)
The Missing Ones by Edwin Hill (Kensington)
A Better Man by Louise Penny (Minotaur)
The Murder List by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Forge)

Best First Mystery Novel
**One Night Gone by Tara Laskowski (Graydon House, a division of Harlequin)
A Dream of Death by Connie Berry (Crooked Lane Books)
Murder Once Removed by S. C. Perkins (Minotaur)
When It’s Time for Leaving by Ang Pompano (Encircle Publications)
Staging is Murder by Grace Topping (Henery Press)


Best Historical Mystery
**Charity’s Burden by Edith Maxwell (Midnight Ink)
Love and Death Among the Cheetahs by Rhys Bowen (Penquin)
Murder Knocks Twice by Susanna Calkins (Minotaur)
The Pearl Dagger by L. A. Chandlar (Kensington)
The Naming Game by Gabriel Valjan (Winter Goose Publishing)

Best Nonfiction
**The Mutual Admiration Society: How Dorothy L. Sayers and her Oxford Circle Remade the World for Women by Mo Moulton (Basic Books)
Frederic Dannay, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and the Art of the Detective Short Story by Laird R. Blackwell (McFarland)
Blonde Rattlesnake: Burmah Adams, Tom White, and the 1933 Crime Spree that Terrified Los Angeles by Julia Bricklin (Lyons Press)
Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud and the Last Trial of Harper Lee by Casey Cep (Knopf)
The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold (Houghton, Mifflin, Harcourt)

Best Children/Young Adult
**The Last Crystal by Frances Schoonmaker (Auctus Press)
Kazu Jones and the Denver Dognappers by Shauna Holyoak (Disney Hyperion)
Two Can Keep a Secret by Karen MacManus (Delacorte Press)
Top Marks for Murder (A Most Unladylike Mystery) by Robin Stevens (Puffin)
Jada Sly, Artist and Spy by Sherri Winston (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)

Best Short Story
**"The Last Word" by Shawn Reilly Simmons, Malice Domestic 14: Mystery Most Edible (Wildside Press)
"Grist for the Mill" by Kaye George in A Murder of Crows (Darkhouse Books)
"Alex’s Choice" by Barb Goffman in Crime Travel (Wildside Press)
"The Blue Ribbon" by Cynthia Kuhn in Malice Domestic 14: Mystery Most Edible (Wildside Press)
"Better Days" by Art Taylor in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine

Paul Levine is among the authors who can be credited with launching the current wave of Florida mysteries, beginning with To Speak for the Dead, which introduced linebacker-turned-lawyer Jake Lassiter.

Hard to believe that To Speak for the Dead celebrates its 30th anniversary during 2020.

Seems like yesterday I reviewed that novel, captivated by how well Levine captured the nuances of Florida. And this was long before the public discovered that unique and not to bright species called Florida Man (and Woman).

Levine, the author of 22 novels, won the John D. MacDonald Fiction Award and has been nominated for the Edgar, Macavity, International Thriller, Shamus, and James Thurber prizes.

A former trial lawyer, he wrote 20 episodes of the CBS military drama JAG and co-created the Supreme Court drama First Monday starring James Garner and Joe Mantegna. He is also the author of the critically acclaimed Solomon VS. Lord legal capers. He divides his time between Santa Barbara and Miami.

Levine’s latest book is Cheater’s Game, which digs deep into the college admissions scandal.

In Cheater’s Game, Lassiter returns to the Miami courtroom when his nephew Kip needs his help. Kip has been working with millionaire Max Ringle in a shady scheme to help wealthy kids gain admission to elite universities. The mastermind of the fraud, Ringle cops a plea to save his own hide and shifts the blame to Kip who's charged with multiple federal crimes.

In this essay for Mystery Scene, Levine takes a look at the college scandal and its influence on his novel.


COLLEGE SCANDAL: WHO’S REALLY ON TRIAL?
By Paul Levine

“Have those parents lost their minds?”

That was my first thought when a few dozen well-educated, well-respected, well-off parents were handcuffed, perp-walked and booked for their roles in the college admissions scandal. Then this question. How many other privileged families might be bribing their kids into elite universities with fabricated resumes and rigged test scores?

When the news broke, how many cinnamon lattes were spilled by nervous parents in Beverly Hills, Napa, and Miami?

Call me naive, but I was astonished that parents could be so morally bankrupt as to willingly – and sometimes gleefully, if you listen to wiretaps—cheat, bribe, and lie their children into the University of Southern California rather than, say, Southern Methodist University.
What messages were they sending? That money and connections are the keys to success? That faking it is making it and cheaters win?

Public outrage has been fast and furious with a hefty dose of schadenfreude that rich folks are getting their comeuppance. The news media have covered the cases breathlessly, doubtless because celebrities are involved. A non-fiction book with a weighty title, Unacceptable: Privilege, Deceit & the Making of the College Admissions Scandal, by two Wall Street Journal reporters, is due out in July.

A limited series on television is in the works, though I doubt that Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman, actors/defendants, will play themselves.

My just-published fictional take on the scandal, Cheater’s Game, brings aging lawyer Jake Lassiter into the fray.

But now I wonder...were any crimes committed? Could the parents’ conduct—clearly immoral and unethical—not necessarily be illegal?

Sure, many parents have already pleaded guilty to fraud. Facing a federal judge in Boston, they expressed remorse in scripted speeches that might be summarized this way: I just loved my child so much, I lost my moral compass. And yes, we all scoffed. The parents’ regretted getting caught, that’s all.

Now, with several cases poised for trial later this year, I wonder if there are shades of gray where I initially saw only black and white. Are the universities themselves at least partly to blame? Did their admissions practices invite this type of fraud?

Defense lawyers claim that both UCLA and the University of Southern California basically sell admissions slots to children of wealthy donors. One case involves Miami investor Robert Zangrillo, charged with using bribery and fraud to ease his daughter’s admission into USC. As reported by the Los Angeles Times, the “defense hinges on the theory that USC routinely shunts the children of donors and prospective donors into a VIP pool of applicants.”

Meanwhile, across town, lawyers for the former UCLA soccer coach accused of taking $200,000 in bribes, have fired this broadside: “UCLA’s own internal documents reveal that, for many years, its Athletic Department has facilitated the admission of unqualified applicants through the student-athlete admissions process in exchange for huge ‘donations’ by the students’ wealthy parents.”

Why put the word “donations” in quotation marks?

Simple. The lawyers claim those aren’t donations at all. They’re the ticket prices for admitting unqualified students to UCLA.    

How does any of this affect the fate of the parents who paid bribes and the coaches who accepted them? For any of the defendants to be guilty of fraud, there has to be a victim.

The universities cannot be considered victims, the defense lawyers claim, because they routinely sell admissions slots to donors. The universities actually received some of the bribe money paid by the parents.

LASSITER’S TAKE
It’s a fascinating argument. In fact, it’s the one defense lawyer Jake Lassiter makes in Cheater’s Game.

Here he is, cross-examining a university admissions director:

“This so-called fraud didn’t cost the university any money, correct?”

“Correct.”

“Isn’t it true the university actually made money? Millions of dollars funneled to the athletic department.”

“We received money, that’s true.”

“So there’s no real difference in gaining admission through bribery and the university selling admissions slots to the children of high-rolling donors, is there?”

“We don’t sell slots.”

“Then, what’s the difference between bribing the university directly or bribing a coach?”

“Objection! Irrelevant.” The prosecutor was on her feet, ready for battle. “The admissions system isn’t on trial here.”

“Sure it is,” Lassiter said. “That’s exactly what’s on trial.”

RESULT OF TRIALS
With jury trials expected in coming months, we’ll know soon enough what’s on trial.

Whether the defendants are convicted or acquitted, the universities’ reputations will surely suffer.

Perhaps it is time to erect a wall between applicants and donors, between admissions departments and the euphemistically named “development” offices. Let the applicants stand on their own and the donors contribute without a quid pro quo.

In short, let’s make higher education a meritocracy.

Photo: Paul Levine with Bojangles. Photo courtesy Paul Levine

As most of us have been working at home, a new reality has emerged: Many couples have no idea what their partner does.

Seriously.

You may know that the other person goes to work every day.

You may even know the name of the business where person works. Probably even the address.

But do you actually know what he or she does?

How they fill up those hours? Who do they interact with? What constitutes a job well done? Even do they go to work?

This was the subject of a recent New York Times article in which several couples mentioned that, while they know their partner so well, they can’t really say what their job is.

I don’t think that is uncommon. I was talking with my favorite cousin a few weeks ago and he mentioned that his daughters’ husbands were still working. But he wasn’t quite sure what those jobs entailed.

I remember a conversation with neighbors when I was just a couple years into my career as a journalist. What do you do all day, they asked. When I explained that I interviewed people, wrote articles, thought up story ideas, well, let’s just say they still didn’t get it.

Chris Pavone took this idea and turned it into his debut The Expats, which won the 2013 Edgar Award for best first novel. In The Expats, Kate Moore resigns her job to follow her husband Dexter from Washington, D.C., to Luxembourg where he has a lucrative job offer.

A financial systems expert, Dexter’s skills are in high demand. But Kate’s skills are even more valuable—she’s a CIA operative, though her husband knows nothing about that.

In Luxembourg, Kate plans to leave her spying days behind and concentrate on her family, which includes their two sons.

But Kate isn’t the only with secrets. Dexter may be a thief who has stolen millions through online banking transactions, drawing Kate back to her old job.

Pavone mixes the spy novel with a tense domestic drama, keeping his character believable. The reader totally buys into how they have kept their double lives secrets.

Granted, most of us don’t have a spy or a thief for a partner.

At least I hope we don’t.

But what The Expats pinpoints is that we get so caught up with just the daily details it is easy to neglect or even ignore the big picture.

Just getting out the door—when we could get out the door—is a trial in itself, one which I think each of us would welcome again.

Secret lives have been the foundation of many a mystery. Maybe that’s why they are called mysteries!

Imagine going to a psychiatrist like Hannibal Lecter.

Blood expert Dexter Morgan’s side hobby made perfect sense, especially in the Showtime series Dexter.

Breaking Bad’s Walter White hid his sideline of making meth for a long time, at least six years, trying to justify making poison to support his family.

In True Lies, Jamie Lee Curtis had no idea that her husband, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, was a secret agent.

Law & Order: Criminal Intent had a plot in which a man told his family he worked at the United Nations when, in fact, he spent much of his days in the park. Those secrets, of course, led to murder.

So many secrets—the details of a job just seem mild.

And fiction never trumps reality.

How often do we learn that killers have kept their proclivities from their family, friends and neighbors. Think BTK or Ted Bundy. Remember the phrase we hear so often—“but he was such a nice guy,” who, of course, always kept to himself.

Many husbands or wives keep their affairs secret or drain the family bank accounts to cover their undetected gambling habit.

For the record, I know exactly what my husband does since he also is a journalist. And he knows what I do, too.

My husband is now a theater critic. Although theaters are on hiatus, he is finding many things to write about theater, like a true journalist.

Either that, or he is a CIA operative.

Hi Everyone,

The world has changed since our last issue made its way to you and we hope this finds you safe and well.

As a result of the coronavirus social distancing requirements, our team has been scattered and working from home these last two months. It’s been challenging, to say the least. As a reader, you won’t find anything very different about this issue except for some reviews in the MS Reviews section. A few books have been delayed which we only discovered right before going to press. There’s going to be a lot of disruption in the book business for the rest of 2020, so check with your local bookseller and/or librarian if you have trouble finding a book.

Ivy Pochoda calls her latest novel, These Women, “a serial killerless version of what is the traditional serial killer book.” Instead of focusing on the criminal, it focuses on the lives of the women around him. Pochoda has an interesting background for a mystery writer: she was a professional squash player from 1998–2007. She also studied classical Greek drama at Harvard. The violence, structure, and drive inherent in each of these areas of endeavor intersect in contemporary mystery fiction she believes. Find out more in Oline Cogdill’s profile of this up-and-coming writer.

Grand Guignol is “dramatic entertainment featuring the gruesome or horrible.” Take that concept and add some of Hollywood’s biggest divas—Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Barbary Stanwyck—and you have Grand Dame Guignol, a type of movie dear to the heart of our contributor Michael Mallory. Beginning with What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? in 1962, these grisly dramas were popular with audiences for almost a decade.

There’s an ineffable bond between creator and character. Take author Lawrence Block and Bernie Rhodenbarr, his burglar/bookseller who has starred in 11 novels and four short stories since 1977. These two old friends met recently at Barnegat Books and had a conversation about the last 40 years and the foreseeable future. Don’t miss it!

“Cozies certainly provide solace from many of the dark edges of the actual world,” says author Edith Maxwell, aka Maddie Day. “I know many readers want a book where justice is restored to the community by the end. Where they don’t have to read about torture, other graphic violence, or child abuse....The legions of cozy fans out there know they won’t feel worse about the world when they finish the story.” What could be better these days? Find out more in John B. Valeri’s chat with Maxwell.

Acclaimed for his Sailor and Lula stories, including Wild at Heart, Barry Gifford is well known to fans of modern noir. But it was his stint as a book publisher at the influential Black Lizard imprint that revived the work of such masters as Jim Thompson, Helen Nielsen, and Charles Willeford. Joseph Goodrich talks to the author about his love for “the beautiful dark.”

While big city crime gets all the attention, there’s still plenty of mayhem in small-town America. In this issue, Ben Boulden offers up four private eyes who live and work in the small towns and rural areas where so many of us spend our lives.

Decades as a journalist in the Big Apple are what inspire R. G. Belsky. “I try and capture the magnitude of the New York City experience wherever I can in my books,” he says. “Setting scenes at places like Rockefeller Center or Central Park or Times Square and all the rest.” Belsky talks with John B. Valeri in this issue.

Scottish author Val McDermid is a giant of contemporary crime fiction. Craig Sisterson offers an appreciation of McDermid’s work over the last 30 years along with some intriguing insights from the author herself.

Also in this issue, we have interesting My Book essays contributed by Al Pessin and Dana King.

Enjoy—and stay safe!

Kate Stine
Editor-in-chief