The last week in April/first weekend in May is always our busiest time at the Dell mystery magazines. This year, it all got going a day earlier than usual. On Tuesday, April 28, we hosted a bagel breakfast in our new offices on Wall Street for those of our nominees and Readers Award winners who’d come into town in advance of Wednesday’s Edgar Allan Poe Awards. As always, it was a cozy, comfortable gathering, which began at nine A.M. —and continued into midafternoon! While AHMM editor Linda Landrigan and I were whiling away the day in pleasant conversation, senior assistant editor Jackie Sherbow was representing us at the annual Edgars Symposium. We joined her in early evening for the MWA’s Agents and Editors Cocktail Party, where we were pleased to run into many of our magazines’ contributors.

Wednesday, of course, was the big day. Our annual cocktail party, at which we present the EQMM Readers Awards, and honor the Robert L. Fish Award winner and nominees for the Edgar and Agatha awards, was held in the afternoon. Third-place Readers Award winner Miriam Grace Monfredo (“The Tavern Keeper’s Daughter, December 2014) was unable to travel from Rochester for the occasion, unfortunately, but second- and first-place winners Marilyn Todd (“Blood Red Roses, September/October 2014) and Doug Allyn (“The Snow Angel, January 2014) were present, along with Fish Award winner Lauren James (a.k.a. Zoë Z. Dean). Doug Allyn was also a nominee for the Edgar for best short story for his Readers Award winning tale, as was Brian Tobin, whose work commitments prevented him from attending, for “Teddy,” EQMM May 2014. In attendance at the party were several other Edgar nominees in other categories. They included John Floyd, for a story in The Strand, Francis M. Nevins in the critical/biographical category, Steve Hockensmith for best juvenile mystery, and Charles Ardai, winner of the Ellery Queen Award. You’ll find photos of most of them in the following selections from the cameras of Carol Demont and Jackie Sherbow in NYC, and Josh Pachter and Tara Laskowski at Malice.

The Edgars banquet this year was a star-studded event, with Sara Paretsky, incoming MWA President, as master of ceremonies and Stephen King presenting the Ellery Queen Award and then claiming the Edgar for best novel. Zoë Z. Dean’s Robert L. Fish Award (for “Getaway Girl” EQMM November 2014) was presented by past Fish Award winner Ted Hertel. The short-story Edgar went to Gillian Flynn for “What Do You Do?”, from the anthology Rogues. Congratulations to winners and nominees alike!

With the events in New York over, many writers, editors, and agents went on to Bethesda, Maryland for the Malice Domestic Convention. I had the pleasure, while there, of catching up with many of my favorite authors, including Charlaine Harris, Toni and Steve Kelner, Dana Cameron, Martin Edwards, Ann Cleeves, Josh and Laurie Pachter, EQMM’s fabulous reviewer (and author) Steve Steinbock, Doug Greene, Margaret Maron, Dorothy Cannell, Terrie Farley Moran, and many others, not least—and saved for last because he was this year’s short-story Agatha Award winner (for his November 2014 EQMM story “The Odds Are Against Us”)—Art Taylor, along with his wife author Tara Laskowski.

Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the short-story panel moderated by my colleague at AHMM, Linda Landrigan, but I understand it was an interesting and lively session. Congratulations to Art Taylor and all of the other Agatha Award winners, including the winner for best first novel, Terrie Farley Moran, who got the idea for the setting for that winning book from Dell Magazines’ own Christine Begley, Vice President for Editorial.

I wish we could have obtained photos of all of our guests, friends, colleagues, winners, and nominees, but we did capture a good number of them. Enjoy—and let us know if you have any photos of the events that you’d like to share.—Janet Hutchings

Kevin Todd, Sheila Williams, and Marilyn Todd

Sarah Weinman, S. J. Rozan, Jonathan Santlofer, and Katia Lief

Peter Kanter and Barry Zeman

Zoë Z. Dean and Susanna French

Linda Landrigan, David Dean, and Janet Hutchings

Linda Landrigan, William Burton McCormick, and Abigail Browning

Richard Dannay, Janet Hutchings, and Otto Penzler

Doug and Eve Allyn and Peter Kanter

Abigail Browning and David Toth

Larry Light and Meredith Anthony

Abigail Browning, Christine Begley, and Carol Demont

Joshua Bilmes and Trevor Quachri

Richard Koreto, Marilyn Todd, and Dorothy Cummings

David Dean, Dale Andrews, and Liz Zelvin

Joseph Goodrich

Charles Ardai and Ken Wishnia

Sarah Weinman and Kate Stine

Kevin and Marilyn Todd and Jay Carey

Tara Hart

Terrie Farley Moran and Christine Begley

Francis M. Nevins

Parnell Hall and S.J. Rozan

Kevin Egan and Meredith Anthony

Emily Hockaday, Jackie Sherbow, and Deanna McLafferty

Marilyn Todd accepting her EQMM Readers Award

Doug Allyn accepting his EQMM Readers Award

Crowd at the Dell Magazines Pre-Edgars Cocktail Party

Sarah Weinman at the Edgars

View from the Dell table of Stephen King presenting the Ellery Queen Award to Charles Ardai

The Chocolate Edgar

Josh Pachter, Art Taylor, Janet Hutchings, and Steve Steinbock in Bethesda

Deadly dessert at the Agathas

Art Taylor and Tara Laskowski at the Agatha banquet

Art Taylor with his Agatha Award