John Hart’s “The King of Lies,” set in Salisbury, has been nominated for Best First Novel by an American Author by the Mystery Writers of America.

The group announced the nominees Friday, the 198th anniversary of Edgar Allan Poe’s birthday. The Edgar Allan Poe Awards are commonly referred to as the Edgars.

The awards honor the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction, television and film published or produced in 2006. The Edgars will be presented April 26 in New York City.

Best Novel

“The Pale Blue Eye” by Louis Bayard.

“The Janissary Tree” by Jason Goodwin.

“Gentleman and Players” by Joanne Harris.

“The Dead Hour” by Denise Mina.

“The Virgin of Small Plains” by Nancy Pickard.

“The Liberation Movements” by Olen Steinhauer.

Best First Novel by an American Author

“The Faithful Spy” by Alex Berenson.

“Sharp Objects” by Gillian Flynn.

“The King of Lies” by John Hart.

“Holmes on the Range” by Steve Hockensmith.

“A Field of Darkness” by Cornelia Read.

Best Paperback Original

“The Goodbye Kiss” by Massimo Carlotto.

“The Open Curtain” by Brian Evenson.

“Snakeskin Shamisen” by Naomi Hirahara.

“The Deep Blue Alibi” by Paul Levine .

“City of Tiny Lights” by Patrick Neate.

Best Fact Crime

“Strange Piece of Paradise” by Terri Jentz.

“A Death in Belmont “by Sebastian Junger.

“Finding Amy: A True Story of Murder in Maine by Capt. Joseph K. Loughlin & Kate Clark Flora.

“Ripperology: A Study of the World’s First Serial Killer” by Robin Odell.

“The Beautiful Cigar Girl: Mary Rogers, Edgar Allan Poe and the Invention of Murder” by Daniel Stashower

“Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer” by James L. Swanson.

Best Critical/Biographical

“Unless the Threat of Death is Behind Them: Hard-Boiled Fiction and Film Noir” by John T. Irwin.

“The Science of Sherlock Holmes: From Baskerville Hall to the Valley of Fear” by E.J. Wagner.

Best Short Story

“The Home Front” in “Death Do Us Part” by Charles Ardai.

“Rain” in “Manhattan Noir” by Thomas H. Cook.

“Cranked” in “Damn Near Dead” by Bill Crider.

“White Trash Noir” in “Murder at the Foul Line” by Michael Malone.

“Building” in Manhattan Noir by S.J. Rozan.

Best Juvenile

“Gilda Joyce: The Ladies of the Lake” by Jennifer Allison.

“The Stolen Sapphire: A Samantha Mystery” by Sarah Masters Buckey.

“Room One: A Mystery or Two” by Andrew Clements.

“The Bloodwater Mysteries: Snatched” by Pete Hautman & Mary Logue.

“The Case of the Missing Marquess: An Enola Holmes Mystery” by Nancy Springer.

Best Young Adult

“The Road of the Dead” by Kevin Brooks .

“The Christopher Killer” by Alane Ferguson.

“Crunch Time” by Mariah Fredericks.

“Buried” by Robin Merrow MacCready.

“The Night My Sister Went Missing” by Carol Plum-Ucci.

Best Play

“Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure” by Steven Dietz.

“Curtains” by Rupert Holmes.

“Ghosts of Ocean House” by Michael Kimball.

Best Television Episode Teleplay

“The Closer” — “Blue Blood,” teleplay by James Duff & Mike Berchem .

“Dexter” — “Crocodile,” teleplay by Clyde Phillips.

“House” — “Clueless,” teleplay by Thomas L. Moran.

“Life on Mars – Episode 1,” teleplay by Matthew Graham.

“Monk” — “Mr. Monk Gets a New Shrink,” teleplay by Hy Conrad.

“Conviction,” teleplay by Bill Gallagher.

“Cracker: A New Terror,” teleplay by Jimmy McGovern.

“Messiah: The Harrowing,” teleplay by Terry Cafolla.

“Secret Smile,” teleplay by Kate Brooke, based on the book by Nicci French.

“The Wire,” Season 4, teleplays by Ed Burns, Kia Corthron, Dennis Lehane, David Mills, Eric Overmyer, George Pelecanos, Richard Price, David Simon & William F. Zorzi.

Best Motion Picture Screenplay

“Casino Royale,” screenplay by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade & Paul Haggis, based on novel by Ian Fleming.

“Children of Men,” screenplay by Alfonso Cuarón, Timothy J. Sexton, David Arata, Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby, based on a novel by P.D. James.

“The Departed,” screenplay by William Monahan.

“The Good Shepherd,” teleplay by Eric Roth, based on a novel by Joseph Kanon.

“Notes on a Scandal,” screenplay by Patrick Marber.

Robert L. Fish Memorial Award

William Dylan Powell “Evening Gold” — EQMM November 2006.

Grand Master

Stephen King

Raven Awards

Books & Books (Mitchell Kaplan, owner).

Mystery Loves Company Bookstore (Kathy & Tom Harig, owners).

The Simon & Schuster-Mary Higgins Clark Award

“Bloodline” by Fiona Mountain.