The Mystery Writers of America will be announcing the winners of the 2006 Edgar Awards tonight in New York. I have no idea who'll win, but if I were to pick the winners out of the short-listed books, here are my choices:
Best Novel Nominees
The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)
Red Leaves by Thomas H. Cook (Harcourt)
Vanish by Tess Gerritsen (Ballantine Books)
Drama City by George Pelecanos (Little, Brown)
Citizen Vince by Jess Walter (Regan Books)
This is a two-horse race. Although I enjoyed Tess Gerritsen's Vanish, I thought both The Lincoln Lawyer and Drama City were true stand-outs. (I didn't read the other two nominees.) I would be very pleased to see either of those books win, but if I had to pick just one, it would be The Lincoln Lawyer. Not only was it a terrific, entertaining read, but it was a new direction for Connelly and he deserves to win on that basis.
Best First Novel By An American Author
Die A Little by Megan Abbott (Simon & Schuster)
Immoral by Brian Freeman (St. Martin's Minotaur)
Run the Risk by Scott Frost (G.P. Putnam's Sons)
Hide Your Eyes by Alison Gaylin (Signet)
Officer Down by Theresa Schwegel (St. Martin's Minotaur)
This is a tough category. I read four of the nominated books and they're all competent, but far from extraordinary. (2005 was a difficult year for debuts.) The only one I can really get behind as a winner is Theresa Schwegel's Officer Down. It has its rough edges, but it's the best of the bunch.
Best Paperback Original
Homicide My Own by Anne Argula (Pleasure Boat Studio)
The James Deans by Reed Farrel Coleman (Penguin - Plume)
Girl in the Glass by Jeffrey Ford (Dark Alley)
Kiss Her Goodbye by Allan Guthrie (Hard Case Crime)
Six Bad Things by Charlie Huston (Ballantine Books)
This is the easiest category for me to pick a winner. I only read two of the nominees -- Kiss Her Goodbye and The James Deans -- but even if I'd read them all, I doubt it would change the results. The Guthrie book is good, but the Coleman is really something special. One of the best of the year, in fact. This is the book that, more than any other, I hope wins tonight.
(Note: There are several other categories up for awards tonight, but I'm not familiar enough with the nominees to offer opinions about them.)