Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Critical/Biographical Work

The Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Critical/Biographical Work, established in 1977, is a literary award presented as part of the Edgar Awards for a nonfiction critical or biographical hardcover, paperback, or electronic book.

To be eligible, biographical books should be "biographies of mystery writers or other notable practitioners of the genre, not to criminals."[1] Criminal biographies are eligible for the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Fact Crime.[1]

The Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Critical/Biographical Work winners are listed below.

Recipients edit

2000s edit

2000s Best Critical/Biographical Work winners[2]
YearAuthorTitleResultRef.
2008Jon Lellenberg, Daniel Stashower, and Charles FoleyArthur Conan Doyle: A Life in LettersWinner[3]
2009Dr. Harry Lee PoeEdgar Allan Poe: An Illustrated Companion to his Tell-Tale StoriesWinner[4]

2010s edit

2010s Best Critical/Biographical Work winners[2]
YearAuthorTitleResultRef.
2010Otto PenzlerThe Lineup: The World's Greatest Crime Writers Tell the Inside Story of Their Greatest DetectivesWinner
2011Yunte HuangCharlie Chan: The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and His Rendezvous with American HistoryWinner
Rafael AlvarezThe Wire: Truth Be ToldShortlist
John Curran Agatha Christie’s Secret Notebooks: 50 Years of Mysteries in the MakingShortlist
Stephen Doyle and David A. CrowderSherlock Holmes for DummiesShortlist
David Morrell and Hank Wagner (editors)Thrillers: 100 Must ReadsShortlist
2012Michael DirdaOn Conan Doyle; or, The Whole Art of StorytellingWinner[5][6]
Dan Burstein, Arne de Keijzer, and John-Henri HolmbergThe Tattooed Girl: The Enigma of Stieg Larsson and the Secrets Behind the Most Compelling Thrillers of our TimeShortlist[6]
John CurranAgatha Christie: Murder in the MakingShortlist[6]
Philippa GatesDetecting Women: Gender and the Hollywood Detective FilmShortlist[6]
Walter Raubicheck and Walter SrebnickScripting Hitchcock: Psycho, The Birds and MarnieShortlist[6]
2013James O'BrienThe Scientific Sherlock Holmes: Cracking the Case with Science and ForensicsWinner[7]
John Paul AthanasourelisRaymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe: The Hard-Boiled Detective TransformedShortlist
John Connolly (editor)Books To Die For: The World’s Greatest Mystery Writers on the World’s Greatest Mystery NovelsShortlist
Otto Penzler (editor)In Pursuit of Spenser: Mystery Writers on Robert B. Parker and the Creation of an American HeroShortlist
2014Erik DussereAmerica Is Elsewhere: The Noir Tradition in the Age of Consumer CultureWinner[8][9]
Bill AlderMaigret, Simenon and France: Social Dimensions of the Novels and StoriesShortlist[9]
Justin GiffordPimping Fictions: African American Crime Literature and the Untold Story of Black Pulp PublishingShortlist[9]
Andrew LycettIan FlemingShortlist[9]
Melissa SchaubMiddlebrow Feminism in Classic British Detective FictionShortlist[9]
2015J. W. OckerPoe-Land: The Hallowed Haunts of Edgar Allan PoeWinner[10][11]
Charles BrownsonThe Figure of the Detective: A Literary History and AnalysisShortlist[10]
Jim MancallJames Ellroy: A Companion to the Mystery FictionShortlist[10]
Robert MiklitschKiss the Blood Off My Hands: Classic Film NoirShortlist[10]
Francis M. NevinsJudges & Justice & Lawyers & Law: Exploring the Legal Dimensions of Fiction and FilmShortlist[10]
2016Martin EdwardsThe Golden Age of MurderWinner[12][13]
Frederick ForsythThe Outsider: My Life in IntrigueShortlist
Suzanne Marrs and Tom NolanMeanwhile There Are Letters: The Correspondence of Eudora Welty and Ross MacdonaldShortlist
Matthew ParkerGoldeneye: Where Bond Was Born: Ian Fleming’s JamaicaShortlist
Nathan WardThe Lost Detective: Becoming Dashiell HammettShortlist
2017Ruth FranklinShirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted LifeWinner[14]
Peter AckroydAlfred Hitchcock: A Brief LifeShortlist
Mitzi M. BrunsdaleEncyclopedia of Nordic Crime: Works and Authors of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden Since 1967Shortlist
David J. SkalSomething in the Blood: The Untold Story of Bram Stoker, the Man Who Wrote DraculaShortlist
2018Lawrence P. JacksonChester B. Himes: A BiographyWinner[15]
Mattias BostromFrom Holmes to Sherlock: The Story of the Men and Women who Created an IconShortlist
Tatiana de RosnayManderley Forever: A Biography of Daphne du MaurierShortlist
Curtis EvansMurder in the Closet: Essays on Queer Clues in Crime Fiction Before StonewallShortlist
Michael SimsArthur and Sherlock: Conan Doyle and the Creation of HolmesShortlist
2019Leslie S. KlingerClassic American Crime Fiction of the 1920sWinner[16]
Laird R. BlackwellThe Metaphysical Mysteries of G.K. Chesterton: A Critical Study of the Father Brown Stories and Other Detective FictionShortlist
Alice BolinDead Girls: Essays on Surviving an American ObsessionShortlist
Yasuhiro TakeuchiMark X: Who Killed Huck Finn’s Father?Shortlist
Laura ThompsonAgatha Christie: A Mysterious LifeShortlist

2020s edit

2020s Best Critical/Biographical Work winners and shortlists[2]
YearAuthorTitleResultRef.
2020John BillheimerHitchcock and the CensorsWinner[17][18]
Ursula BuchanBeyond the Thirty-Nine Steps: A Life of John BuchanShortlist
John CurranThe Hooded Gunman: An Illustrated History of Collins Crime ClubShortlist
Anne McKendryMedieval Crime Fiction: A Critical OverviewShortlist
Mo MoultonThe Mutual Admiration Society: How Dorothy L. Sayers and her Oxford Circle Remade the World for WomenShortlist
2021Christina LanePhantom Lady: Hollywood Producer Joan Harrison, the Forgotten Woman Behind HitchcockWinner[19][20]
Martin EdwardsHowdunit: A Masterclass in Crime Writing by Members of the Detection ClubShortlist[20]
Erin E. MacDonaldIan Rankin: A Companion to the Mystery & FictionShortlist[20]
Elizabeth Mannion and Brian CliffGuilt Rules All: Irish Mystery, Detective, and Crime FictionShortlist[20]
Jacqueline WinspearThis Time Next Year We’ll be LaughingShortlist[20]
2022Edward WhiteThe Twelve Lives of Alfred Hitchcock: An Anatomy of the Master of SuspenseWinner[21]
Mark AldridgeAgatha Christie’s Poirot: The Greatest Detective in the WorldShortlist
Richard GreeneThe Unquiet Englishman: A Life of Graham GreeneShortlist
James McGrath MorrisTony Hillerman: A LifeShortlist
John TreschThe Reason for the Darkness of the Night: Edgar Allan Poe and the Forging of American ScienceShortlist
2023Martin EdwardsThe Life of Crime: Detecting the History of Mysteries and Their CreatorsWinner[22]
Mary Anna Evans and J. C. Bernthal (editors)The Bloomsbury Handbook to Agatha ChristieShortlist
David GeherinThe Crime World of Michael Connelly: A Study of His Works and Their AdaptationsShortlist
Andrew NeidermanThe Woman Beyond the Attic: The V.C. Andrews StoryShortlist
Lucy WorsleyAgatha Christie: An Elusive WomanShortlist
2024Steven PowellLove Me Fierce in Danger: The Life of James EllroyWinner[23][24]
David BordwellPerplexing Plots: Popular Storytelling and the Poetics of MurderShortlist[24]
Max Allan Collins and James L. TraylorSpillane: King of Pulp FictionShortlist[24]
Mark DawidziakA Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan PoeShortlist[24]
Robert MorganFallen Angel: The Life of Edgar Allan PoeShortlist[24]

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Edgar Award Category Information". Mystery Writers of America. Archived from the original on 2022-12-14. Retrieved 2022-12-14.
  2. ^ a b c "Edgar Awards". Stop, You're Killing Me. Archived from the original on June 30, 2023. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  3. ^ "Awards: The Edgars; Arthur C. Clarke Prize". Shelf Awareness. May 2, 2008. Archived from the original on 2022-09-20. Retrieved 2022-12-10.
  4. ^ "Awards: Edgars; Arthur C. Clarke". Shelf Awareness. May 1, 2009. Archived from the original on 2023-06-03. Retrieved 2022-12-10.
  5. ^ "2012 Nominees and Winners". Edgar Awards. Archived from the original on 2012-11-03.
  6. ^ a b c d e Cogdill, Oline. "2012 Edgar Award Winners". Mystery Scene Magazine. Archived from the original on 2022-07-12. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
  7. ^ "2013 Nominees and Winners". Edgar Awards. Archived from the original on 2013-11-02.
  8. ^ "2014 Nominees and Winners". Edgar Awards. Archived from the original on 2014-11-10.
  9. ^ a b c d e "The 2014 Edgar Award Nominations and Winners". Heights Libraries. Archived from the original on 2022-12-10. Retrieved 2022-12-14.
  10. ^ a b c d e "2015 Nominees and Winners". Edgar Awards. Archived from the original on 2015-11-08.
  11. ^ "Awards: Edgar Winners; Ridenhour Book". Shelf Awareness. May 1, 2015. Archived from the original on 2022-09-21. Retrieved 2022-12-10.
  12. ^ "2016 Nominees and Winners". Edgar Awards. Archived from the original on 2016-11-05.
  13. ^ "Awards: Edgar Winners". Shelf Awareness. May 2, 2016. Archived from the original on 2022-09-15. Retrieved 2022-12-11.
  14. ^ "2017 Nominees and Winners". Edgar Awards. Archived from the original on 2017-11-07.
  15. ^ "2018 Nominees and Winners". Edgar Awards. Archived from the original on 2018-11-10.
  16. ^ "2019 Nominees and Winners". Edgar Awards. Archived from the original on 2019-08-18.
  17. ^ "Edgar Award Nominees". www.theedgars.com. Archived from the original on 2012-03-07. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
  18. ^ "Edgar Allan Poe Awards 2020 winners announced". Books+Publishing. 2020-05-05. Archived from the original on 2020-05-06. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
  19. ^ "2021 Edgar Allan Poe Award Winners". Mystery Writers of America. Archived from the original on 2021-04-29. Retrieved 2022-12-14.
  20. ^ a b c d e "Congratulations to the Winners of the 2021 Edgar Awards". CrimeReads. 2021-04-29. Archived from the original on 2021-06-21. Retrieved 2022-12-14.
  21. ^ "2022 Edgar Allan Poe Award Winners". Mystery Writers of America. Archived from the original on 2024-05-06. Retrieved 2022-12-14.
  22. ^ Schaub, Michael (2023-04-28). "Edgar Award Winners Are Revealed". Kirkus Reviews. Archived from the original on 2023-04-30. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  23. ^ Schaub, Michael (2024-05-02). "Winners of the 2024 Edgar Awards Are Revealed". Kirkus Reviews. Archived from the original on 2024-05-02. Retrieved 2024-05-06.
  24. ^ a b c d e "2024 Edgar Winners" (PDF). Edgar Awards. May 4, 2024. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 2, 2024. Retrieved May 4, 2024.