Loyalty is thrilled to partner with the Mystery Writers of America to present the 2021 Edgar nominees for Best First Novel by an American Author! Nominees Nev March (Murder in Old Bombay), Caitlin Mullen (Please See Us), Elisabeth Thomas (Catherine House), David Heska Wanbli Weiden (Winter Counts), and Stephanie Wrobel (Darling Rose Gold) will join us for a reading and panel discussion via Crowdcast. Click here to register for the virtual event. You can get a copy of the books from our website and there will also be an option to snag the books during the event.

Nev March is the recipient of the Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America Award for Best First Crime Fiction with her debut novel, Murder in Old Bombay. She started writing in her teens, inspired by writers like Arthur Conan-Doyle, Rudyard Kipling, Mary Stewart and Neville Shute. After a long career in business analysis, she returned to her passion of writing fiction and now teaches creative writing at Rutgers-Osher Institute. Nev immigrated from India 30 years ago and lives in New Jersey with her husband and two sons.

Caitlin Mullen earned a BA in English and creative writing from Colgate University, an MA in English from NYU, and an MFA in fiction from Stony Brook University. While at Stony Brook, she taught undergraduate creative writing, served as an editor and contributing writer for The Southampton Review, and worked as a bookseller at WORD in Greenpoint. She grew up in upstate New York and the Jersey Shore and currently lives in Brooklyn. Please See Us is her debut novel.

Elisabeth Thomas grew up in Brooklyn, New York, where she still lives and now writes. She graduated from Yale University and currently works as an archivist for a modern art museum. Catherine House is her first novel.

David Heska Wanbli Weiden, an enrolled citizen of the Sicangu Lakota Nation, is the author of the novel Winter Counts (Ecco, 2020), a New York Times Editors’ Choice, main selection of the Book of the Month Club, and named a Best Book of 2020 by Publishers Weekly, NPR, and other outlets. He lives in Denver, Colorado, with his family.

Stephanie Wrobel grew up in Chicago but has been living in London for four years with her husband and her dog, Moose Barkwinkle. Before turning to fiction, she worked as a creative copywriter at various advertising agencies. Darling Rose Gold is her debut novel.

Please note Loyalty has a zero tolerance policy for harassment or intimidation of any kind during this virtual event.

MWA 2021 Edgar Awards: Best First Novel by an American Author