Edgars out, and I’m reading, reviewing, and ranking!

Too crazy busy with new job, new house, new name it to be timely with the Lunchbox blog, so you likely already know that (drum roll, please) THE EDGARS NOMINEE LIST IS OUT!   This will be my fifth year to read, review, and rank the nominees for Best Novel and Best First Novel, and then wait with bated breath to see whether I call the winners.   I have had mixed results.

My first year out (2010), I called them both.  I felt 1) validated and 2) psychic.  In 2011:  0 for 2.  I consoled myself that my picks could easily have won, if the judges had any discernment at all.  In 2012,  I called one and not the other.  In 2013, total wipe-out. As a result, you should probably view the Lunchbox rankings as “for entertainment purposes only,” and not bet any actual cash money.

I’ll be starting with Best First Novel.  Because I read so widely, I pretty much expect to have read these novels… and once again, I proved to myself that this is not the case when it comes to first-time authors.  Of the five, I had only picked up Reconstructing Amelia, and because it dealt with a mother whose daughter committed suicide… I just couldn’t face it and didn’t get past the first couple of chapters. Now I’ll give it the careful read it deserves as a finalist.  Very excited to read the other four debut novels, as well.

The line-up for Best Novel is fabulous.  I had read five of the six finalists, and blogged about several of them.  Lori Roy won an Edgar last year for her debut novel, I’ve been a giant Rankin fan for years, Louise Penny’s How the Light Gets In blew me away, and Sandrine’s Case was a twisty tale with an unreliable narrator.  Ordinary Grace was beautiful and memorable.  I’m looking forward to reading these five with a new perspective, as well as The Humans!