Warren EasleyWarren Easley has been chosen as the recipient of the annual Friends of Mystery Spotted Owl Award. Easley is receiving the award for his book, No Witness, published in August 2021 by Poisoned Pen Press.

The Spotted Owl Award was established in 1995 and is given to the best mystery novel of the year by an author who lives in the Pacific Northwest (Alaska, British Columbia, Canada, Idaho, Oregon or Washington.) Previous winners include Bill Cameron, Robert Dugoni, Earl Emerson, G.M. Ford, Dana Haynes, Mike Lawson, Phil Margolin and Jon Talton.

Members of the committee considered 50 novels by authors living in the Pacific Northwest in 2021. Runners-up for the award were:

  1. Robert Dugoni for In Her Tracks
  2. Martin Limon for War Women
  3. Dana Haynes for Sirocco
  4. John Straley for So Far and Good
  5. (tie) Valerie Geary for The Ophelia Killer
    Michael Niemann for The Last Straw
  6. Marc Cameron for Bone Rattle
  7. (tie) Dana Stabenow for Spoils of the Dead
    Amy Stewart for Miss Kopp Investigates

The Friends of Mystery is a non-profit literary/educational organization headquartered in Portland, Oregon. We have presented lectures, organized conferences and sponsored reading groups. We also publish a regular newsletter. Our purpose is to promote the study, understanding and reading enjoyment of mystery literature.