Authors Katherine Hall Page and R.L. Stine will receive some of the mystery world’s highest honors at this year’s Edgar Awards.
On Thursday the Mystery Writers of America, the group that administers the Edgars, announced that Page and Stine are the recipients of its prestigious Grand Master awards, representing the “pinnacle of achievement in mystery writing.” Previous Grand Masters include Agatha Christie, Sue Grafton, Walter Mosley, Sara Paretsky, Stephen King, and Michael Connelly.
Page will be honored for her long line of “The Body in the…” titles, which launched in 1990 with her debut mystery, The Body in the Belfry. Stine is best known for his Goosebumps series of children’s books, which have sold more than 400 million copies in 32 languages.
“The first Grand Master was Agatha Christie in 1955. I am stunned to be standing in her—and all the others’—shoes,” Page said in the release. “Thank you MWA for the thrill of a lifetime.”
Stine similarly evoked past greats in his statement: “Tony Hillerman. Elmore Leonard. Mickey Spillane. Ruth Rendell: Those were the MWA Grand Masters when I first started attending the Edgar Awards over 30 years ago. If you had told me then I’d be on that list someday, would I have believed you? I don’t think so. I’m surprised and truly honored.”
The release also noted that Michaela Hamilton, executive editor at Kensington and editor in chief of Citadel, will receive its Ellery Queen Award, honoring “outstanding writing teams and outstanding people in the mystery-publishing industry.”
The awards will be presented as part of this year’s Edgars ceremony, scheduled for May 1 in New York.
Mark Athitakis is a journalist in Phoenix.
