To kick-off, I thought I'd look at award-winning crime novels - starting with one of the most prestigious accolades, the Edgar Award for Best Novel, given by the Mystery Writers of America each year. The list of winners this decade is:
- 2000: Jan Burke, BONES
- 2001: Joe R. Lansdale, THE BOTTOMS
- 2002: T. Jefferson Parker, SILENT JOE
- 2003: S. J. Rozan, WINTER AND NIGHT
- 2004: Ian Rankin, RESURRECTION MEN
- 2005: T. Jefferson Parker, CALIFORNIA GIRL
- 2006: Jess Walter, CITIZEN VINCE
- 2007: Jason Goodwin, THE JANISSARY TREE
- 2008: John Hart, DOWN RIVER
- 2009: C. J. Box, BLUE HEAVEN
On this list alone, it seems T. Jefferson Parker has had a pretty good decade, Edgars-wise. Like James Lee Burke in the 1990s, he's picked up multiple Edgar awards (as a sidenote, James Lee Burke seemed to still be shortlisted a lot in the 2000s for several of his books for several high-ranking awards, if not getting the 'wins' as much this time around).
Have you read any of these titles? Which is your favourite? Which do you think is the best out of all ten Edgar Award winners this decade?
I've only read the 2000 and 2009 winners - both excellent books actually. Of the two my vote would go to Blue Heaven as being more evocative, it's beautifully written.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed John Hart's THE LAST CHILD this year, so will be interested to see what DOWN RIVER is like. I'm also looking forward to TJP's CALIFORNIA GIRL, which is near the top of my TBR pile...
ReplyDeleteI have read five of the books and seven of these authors. Which proves that I have far too much time on my hands.
ReplyDeleteOf those five winning books Joe R Lansdale's The Bottoms [Texas in the 1920s], closely followed by Jess Walter's Citizen Vince were in my opinion the best.
Hi, i also have read all of Edgar awards winner this decade, but unlike the Daggers which i have read each and every book nominated, i haven't finished reading all the nominated books for the Edgars.. I only read all the nominated books starting from 2005.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite winner would be 2006,2008,2009. I dislike 2004 and 2007. Rankin (2003) is good but one has to read the previous books in the series first. There are only 2 female winner : Burke and Rozan, both which i enjoyed very much.