Annal:1976 Edgar Allan Poe Award® for Best First Novel
From AwardAnnals
Results of the Edgar Allan Poe Award® in the year 1976. For a ranked list of books, try an honor roll:
- 1976 Edgar-1st Novel winner
- Score: 10.26
Detective Gabriel Wager of the Denver Police Department is very interested in the Rare Things Import Shop. He’s working on a tip that 500 to 1000 pounds of marijuana is coming into Denver each week, using the shop as a front. Its owner, a little old man named Montoya, seems harmless, but Rafael Alvarez is another story.
The file on Alvarez says it all: arrested for possession of marijuana; arrested for suspicion of burglary; and arrested for smuggling marijuana. Wager realizes pretty quickly that the case isn’t going to be an easy one, for Alvarez is a professional—and slippery. Wager is working with a new partner, Detective Denby, and he’s not finding that very easy either.
