Ken Follett and Margaret Maron Named Grand Masters by Mystery Writers of America

Posted on December 14, 2012

The Mystery Writers of America (MWA) announced that Ken Follett and Margaret Maron have been chosen as this year's Grand Masters. The Grand Master Award recognizes excellence in mystery writing. Honorees have made important contributions to the genre and have a body of work that is consistently excellent.

The authors will receive their awards at the Edgar Awards Banquet on Thursday, May 2, 2013 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City. Follett had this to say about the award: "I am delighted and honoured. My first successful book, Eye of the Needle, won the Edgar for Best Novel more than thirty years ago. I'm thrilled to know that my fellow writers still hold me in such high regard." Follett has sold more than 100 million books worldwide.

Margaret Maron was shocked when she got the call, saying, "Me? It still hasn't fully sunk in. I keep remembering my first MWA dinner when I was half-afraid that I would be asked to leave because I only had a few short stories and a half-published book to my name, so how could I possibly belong there with those luminaries? Grand Master? Wow!"

She is being incredibly modest, of course. She is the author of twenty-six novels and two short story collections. She has won many awards, including an Edgar, an Agatha, an Anthony and am Macavity award. Her books have been translated into 16 languages and are on many college reading lists for contemporary Southern literature.

Authors who have been named Grand Masters include Martha Grimes, Sara Paretsky, Dorothy Gilman, James Lee Burke, Sue Grafton, Bill Pronzini, Stephen King, Marcia Muller, Dick Francis, Mary Higgins Clark, Lawrence Block, P.D. James, Ellery Queen, Daphne du Maurier, Alfred Hitchcock, Graham Greene, and Agatha Christie.