What to Read Next: Edgar Award Nominees, Part 1

Issue #317, featuring "Bright Young Women" and more

Happy Friday, readers!

Besides the Pulitzers, the other literary awards I most enjoy following are the Edgar Awards. These are given each year by the Mystery Writers of America to the best books in the “Crime” category, for both fiction and non-fiction. Books with that broad label often end up in my favorites lists and tend to be my go-to reads when I want something I know I’ll enjoy. To that end, I decided this year to read all the Edgar nominees for “Best Novel” and “Best Fact Crime” before the May 1 awards ceremony.

There are thirteen books between the two categories and I’ve only previously read two (The River We Remember and All the Sinners Bleed), so I obvioulsy have some catching up to do in the next couple months. Featured below are two more that I’ve recently read, as well as my previously published review of The River We Remember.

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Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll

Published: 2023 | Pages: 376

Though never naming him in this dynamic and confident novel, Jessica Knoll takes on the popular memory of Ted Bundy—especially the media and judicial treatment of him in the 70s. Bundy was portrayed as an “all-American boy” and “Kennedyesque,” but knoll repaints that picture and casts him as the stupid, leering, sociopathic killer that he was.

There are some fictional storylines here, but most of it is rooted in real narratives. After Bundy escaped prison in Colorado (twice, actually), he made it to Florida where he killed two students at a Florida State sorority house and brutally injured two others. The primary story follows Pamela, the sorority president who unwaveringly fights to get the police to believe what she saw that awful night.

The structure is interesting (there a few storylines woven together) and even though there are timejumps that were a *little* hard to follow at times, it worked really well overall. There's nothing cliche or trope-y to be found here.

Women are so often accused of anger and hysteria when it comes to crimes against them; but, as Knoll so poignantly asks, aren’t anger and hysteria warranted when awful things happen?

I quite enjoyed this fresh take on the serial killer genre, which is not the only title in this year’s Edgar nominations to take on that niche (All the Sinners Bleed is the other). Bright Young Women lives up to its name and truly shines.

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Number Go Up by Zeke Faux

Published: 2023 | Pages: 304

This crypto takedown unites two of my favorite non-fiction subjects: true crime and big tech. It’s a potent combination that has produced a number of my favorites from recent years: Bad Blood, Tracers in the Dark, Super Pumped (not quite crime, but close), and others.

As a crypto reporter, Faux has been front and center for a number of the scams that have taken down crypto exchanges, imprisoned executives, and left thousands of people with lost investments.

But the crypto bros keep on starting companies and holding to the mantra that “number go up” no matter what.

Tracing a number of crypto failures, Faux primarily focuses on Tether and FTX, the latter of which was Sam Bankman-Fried’s exchange. I also rather enjoyed sidetracks into NFTs and Axie Infinity, which look increasingly like plot points straight out of the movie Idiocracy.

Faux is irreverant and often funny, which means that the main characters come across more as dopey schlubs than true criminals. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, but it did make Number Go Up less of a thrill and more of an entertaining send-up. I’m not sure it has what it takes to win the Edgar for “Fact Crime,” but I quite enjoyed it.

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The River We Remember by William Kent Kreuger

Published: 2023 | Pages: 421

In mid-century southern Minnesota, a prominent citizen and landowner has been murdered. Nobody particularly liked the guy, but Sheriff Brody Dern is nonetheless tasked with finding out what happened. From the start, Dern had a hunch that the case wouldn’t be cut and dry. He was right.

This is a small community that’s still haunted by the ghosts of World War II. Stereotypes abound; messy but protective families hamper the investigation; the land itself cries out to reveal its bloody history.

The murder mystery had me hooked, to be sure, but Krueger really excels at giving readers a glimpse into mid-century American life — both its nostalgic charms and its darker current of swept-under-the-rug abuses.

By the end, I thought Krueger was delving into one too many story threads (a common occurrence in modern murder mysteries; Agatha would be rolling in her grave), but the entire experience was delightfully satisfying nonetheless. I can’t guarantee I’ll keep up with his Cork O’Connor series, but any William Kent Krueger standalone is a must-read for me.

The River We Remember is fantastic for readers of all stripes, but I don’t see it being quite unique enough to win the “Best Novel” award.

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Thanks so much for the time and inbox space — I deeply appreciate it.

-Jeremy