2019 Best Novel Edgar Award - Updated

     Only to Sleep by Lawrence Osborne, The Liar's Girl by Catherine Ryan Howard, House Witness by Mike Lawson, Down to the River Unto the Sea by Walter Mosley,  A Gambler's Jury by Victor Methos and A Treacherous Curse by Deanna Raybourne are the six novels nominated for the 2019 Best Mystery Novel Edgar Award.  I have reviewed each individually and you can read those reviews by clicking on each link.  The Mystery Writers of America announced the 2019 winner on April 25.  My pick is as follows:

     First let me say that I enjoyed every one of these novels and that is not the case for all Edgar nominees in previous years.  Each novel has its unique strengths and every one was entertaining.  Here's a condensed review of each nominee:


     The quality of the writing and the ringing clarity of the descriptions of everything from the characters to the setting keep the reader turning the pages even when the plot lags a bit.  Staying true to the "bewilderingly dreamlike plots" of Raymond Chandler makes the pace of this almost glacial in spots.  The splendid writing, however, saves the day.






     Set in Victorian London, this book is a cat and mouse game of puzzling clues and misdirection.  The book has exciting twists of plot and a tumultuous ending.  A Treacherous Curse was the one novel of the six which I though I would enjoy the least, but it was great.  I read it quickly and would recommend it highly.







     The setting for A Gambler's Jury is Salt Lake City and its surrounding counties.  This is a nice change from the usual Los Angeles or New York locales for mystery novels.  The author, a seasoned criminal-defense and civil-rights lawyer himself, deftly describes the peculiarities of the justice system in Utah.  The characters are all very human and very believable.  The ending has a neat twist of plot which was actually fairly predictable almost from the outset.  I enjoyed A Gambler's Jury and found it to be a very worthy nominee for the 2019 Edgar for best mystery novel.  I will look forward to reading other books by this author.



     Mike Lawson actually has you rooting for the bad guys (although who the bad guys are in this book is a fluid notion).  The plot is so believable, the characters are so exceptionally well developed, the pace is so fast (though not hurried) and the dialogue is so genuine that the book is nearly impossible to put down.  Add to this the New York setting and in my opinion you have the perfect crime novel!  If Ed McBain was alive and writing, he would have written House Witness.  This book is that good!





     Read Down the River unto the Sea by Walter Mosley for the spectacular writing.  Read it because of the astute social commentaries contained within.  Read it because it is a great story.  Read it because it may very well be the 2019 Edgar Award winner for the best mystery novel of the year.  Just read it!

    This is a serial killer story with a twist.  A man is in jail for murders committed ten years ago.  When new murders occur, are they copycats or is the wrong man in jail?  I really enjoyed the author's descriptions of Dublin and Cork, two places I have never been but would love to visit.  They added a lot to what is a very enjoyable and entertaining mystery.  This is a worthy nominee for the 2019 Best Novel Edgar.  

     I enjoyed every one of these novels.  They are all worthy of nomination and any could win the Edgar for Best Mystery Novel.  My pick, however, would be Mike Lawson's House Witness.  The combination of tight plotting, great dialogue and superb character development made it my favorite.  My second place (and just as good, really) is Walter Mosley's Down the River Unto the Sea.  We will see which is the actual winner later this week!

   Well, I was half right.  The Mystery Writers of America chose Walter Mosley's Down the River Unto the Sea as the 2019 Edgar Award Winner for the Best Mystery Novel.  I can't disagree but would reiterate that all of the nominees were worthy of nomination and quite capable of being the award winner.