There’s almost universal agreement now that the detective story, and literature’s entire mystery genre, started in the mind of Edgar Allen Poe when he penned “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” in 1841. The hard-drinking writer lived in Philadelphia at the time – then the epicenter of American Letters – as he scribbled away in a row house on North 7^th Street to invent the first great inspector of the page, C. Auguste Dupin.

The years went on and Poe became linked in the world’s imagination with Baltimore’s black-feathered raven of his nightmares, while the author’s other creation – Dupin – inspired Author Conan Doyle to change the course of popular entertainment with his Sherlock Holmes mysteries in 1887. Today, crime fiction is one of the most-widely embraced forms of storytelling in the world, with sub-genres thriving in Scandinavia, Italy, Cuba, Northern Ireland and Scotland (the nation Conan Doyle hailed from). But in the long chain of causality – and the creative flow of ideas over 184 years – it all goes back to Poe, the man with his haunting raven.  

This week, a small but dedicated independent bookstore in the Sacramento region that helps readers find the prefect tome and have chances to meet crime writers in-person learned it was a recipient of the Raven Award from the Mystery Writers of America. The distinction puts its owner, Tina Ferguson, and her staff, in the same conversation as the likes of former winners Angela Lansbury and Alfred Hitchcock.

The Mystery Writers of America is the premier organization for mystery and crime writers and professionals allied to the crime-writing field. In addition to providing support and resources for its members, it is the granting organization for the prestigious Edgar and Raven Awards. The 2025 winners were just announced.

Ferguson opened Face in a Book in El Dorado Hills in 2012. She was prompted to do so partly by watching Borders Books in Folsom meet an untimely end. Worried about the implications of neighborhoods from Gold River to Shingle Springs not having a good bookstore, Ferguson opened her tidy business in the El Dorado Town Center. After assembling a crack team of book nerds to work with her, Ferguson built up a business that features six book clubs, a writers’ coffee house meet-up and some of the biggest live literary events in the Sacramento area. Plenty of these get-togethers have featured mystery writers. In some cases, her guests have been fictional crime authors like Claire Booth. In other instances, they’ve been nonfiction historical mystery writers like Susan Wels, whose book “Assassin in Utopia” drew a big crowd to Ferguson’s store last March.

Such efforts have obviously not gone unnoticed. 

“I am utterly shocked, humbled, and delighted to hear the news that Face in a Book is receiving the Raven Award from the Mystery Writers of America,” Ferguson said of the development. “We work hard to create an atmosphere of partnership with the mystery writers in our community but never expected to be honored in this way.”

The Raven Award recognizes outstanding achievement by non-writers and institutions deemed to have made a significant contribution to the mystery genre. Awarded since 1953, it is not bestowed every year. Previous recipients include artists like Tom Lehrer and Alfred Hitchcock and organizations including Left Coast Crime, the Center for the Book at the Library of Congress, and Sisters in Crime. A handful of bookstores have received the recognition too.

“All of us at Face in a Book are thrilled to be included in the ranks with outstanding bookstores like The Mystery Galaxy Bookstore in San Diego, Once Upon a Crime in Minneapolis, and The Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale, Arizona,” Ferguson went on. “Since opening our doors, our goal has been to create a vibrant, welcoming space for both mystery writers and readers.”

Face in a Book continues to be a hub for fans of the mystery genre, while Ferguson’s own love for the style is apparent in the carefully curated selection of books she has in that section of the store.

“I grew up wanting to be Nancy Drew!” she recalled. “But I’m forever grateful that I grew up to be a bookstore owner in a community abounding with writers and readers who love a good whodunit.”

The awards ceremony will be on May 1 at the Marriott Marquis Times Square New York, where Ferguson will receive the Raven Award alongside the 2025 Grand Masters, Laura Lippman and John Sandford.

James L’Etoile, a crime writer and board member of Mystery Writers of America, knows first-hand how much work Face in a Book puts into supporting his genre. James L’Etoile himself recently held a launch even there for his latest novel.

“Independent bookstores are the backbone of the mystery community,” L’Etoile reflected. “On behalf of the entire Board of Directors, we were thrilled to select Face in a Book as this year’s Raven Award recipient. Tina Ferguson, Janis Herbert, and the staff go above and beyond to support the writing community. Face in a Book is so much more than a bookstore—it’s become a place of learning, engaging, and celebrating all things mystery. We couldn’t be happier with this year’s recognition of Face in a Book.”