By Philip R. Devlin
(January 23, 2025) — Katie (Devlin) Tietjen, a 1999 Haddam-Killingworth High School graduate, married to Matt Tietjen, a 1998 HKHS graduate from Killingworth, has been nominated to receive a prestigious Edgar Award in the category of an award named after Mary Higgins Clark.
The nomination was announced on January 22, 2025 just after the 216th anniversary of the birth of Edgar Allan Poe, America’s first published mystery writer, the man for whom the award gets its name. The award honors the best books published in 2024 in mystery fiction, non-fiction, and television. Winners will be announced at the 79th Annual Edgar Awards ceremony to be held at the New York Marriott in Times Square on May 1, 2025.
Here are the finalists for the award:
The Rose Arbor by Rhys Bowen (Amazon Publishing – Lake Union)
The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco by Michelle Chouinard (Macmillan Publishers – Minotaur Books)
The Mystery Writer by Sulari Gentill (Sourcebooks – Poisoned Pen Press)
Return to Wyldcliffe Heights by Carol Goodman (HarperCollins – William Morrow Paperbacks)
Death in the Details by Katie Tietjen (Crooked Lane Books)
Her book was first published in April of 2024 after receiving a rare starred review from Kirkus. The Kirkus Reviews publication is one of the most respected review publications in the world and has been around for nearly 100 years. Additionally, the Library Journal also gave her book a starred review. One reviewer on Amazon called her book “a stunning debut novel.”
Her book is a work of historical fiction and mystery that is set in Vermont in the immediate aftermath of World War II. Katie submitted it to a literary agency about two years ago. It was one of more than 450 submissions received that year. Hers was one of only two of that were recommended for publication. The main character in her book is a young woman whose husband has just been killed in the war. She now has the problem of going forward with her life and making a living. Though trained as a lawyer, she can’t get anyone to hire her in that field. She has a strong commitment to justice, an incredible eye for detail, and a strong work ethic. Katie’s main source of inspiration for her book is a woman named Frances Glessner Lee, a simply remarkable person who is called the “mother of forensic science.”
Death in the Details was published in paperback on October 8, 2024. Katie is the daughter of Phil and Betty Devlin, two long-time residents of Higganum. Both are retired teachers from the Haddam-Killingworth school system. Katie currently is the high school librarian in East Hampton and lives in Durham with her husband, Matt, and two sons, Liam and Sean.
Photo above provided by Philip Devlin
