The five nominees for the 2022 Edgar Award for Best Mystery Novel are: Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby, The Venice Sketchbook by Rhys Bowen, Five Decembers by James Kestrel, How Lucky by Will Leitch, and No One Will Miss Her by Kat Rosenfield. Click on the hyperlinks above to view my review of each book. The Mystery Writers of America will announce the winner on April 28, 2022. This blog post will reveal my personal favorite and the rational for my choice.
I would like to say that this year's nominees presented a pleasant surprise for me. I usually dislike at least one of the novels, and in some years, I have had a challenging time finishing one or more of them. This year, I enjoyed all the books and found each of them to be very entertaining. The quality of writing is outstanding in all five. The locales were all interesting and different from the usual urban settings of most crime and mystery novels. So, which one is my winner?
I enjoyed reading Rhys Bowen's The Venice Sketchbook. It had an interesting plot, and the descriptions of Venice were outstanding. This book made me want to hop on a plane to Italy. That said, I don't think this is really a "mystery" book. Nobody is murdered. No one goes missing. There are old family secrets which are ferreted out, but I just couldn't really figure out why this was nominated for a best mystery novel.
Razorblade Tears was another well-plotted novel. I enjoyed the setting in and around my new hometown of Richmond, Virginia. The author combined a good story with an agenda to discuss LGBTQ issues and the combination generally succeeds. I was a bit put off by the brutal violence sequences. I suppose they were necessary to define the wickedness of the story's protagonists, but I was put off by it.
Kat Rosenfeld's No One Will Miss Her had nifty plot twists and the story moved along at a brisk pace. The rural setting in Maine was a plus. I thought the characters were a bit stereotyped. The rich girl versus poor girl struggle gets turned on its head and that makes this nominee a real contender for the Edgar Award.
How Lucky contains totally unique and intriguing characters. The backbone of the novel is a basic missing girl story, but the charming and one-of-a-kind narrator makes this nominee special. What S.A. Cosby does for LGBTQ issues, Will Leitch does here for prejudices and pre-conceived notions regarding physically handicapped people. In my opinion, the violent conclusion detracted from the story, but all the mysteries were resolved.
Five Decembers was my favorite of the five and if I had a vote, I would vote for this nominee to be the winner. The settings in Honolulu, Manila, Singapore, and Tokyo were exciting. The historical context of World War II added importance. The characters were very sympathetic and extremely well developed. Again, I enjoyed all five of these nominees and won't argue with any of the other four if they are voted the 2022 Edgar Winner, but Five Decembers by James Kestrel was my clear favorite.
May 2, 2022 -
The Mystery Writers of America announced their winners and in the best novel category they concur with me! Five Decembers by James Kestrel is the 2022 Edgar Award Winner in the Best Novel category!
