First Crime Novel Competition Announced During Edgar Awards Week

NEW YORK, April 25 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Daniel J. Hale, Executive
Vice President of Mystery Writers of America (MWA), and Andrew Martin, Vice
President and Publisher of St. Martin's Minotaur, today announced the first
annual St. Martin's Minotaur/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel
Competition.

This contest provides a previously unpublished writer an opportunity to
launch his or her career with a major mystery imprint, St. Martin's
Minotaur. The winner will receive a one-book, $10,000 contract.

The competition will be officially announced during MWA's April 2007
Edgar(R) Award festivities by Mr. Martin. Entries will be accepted
immediately through December 15, 2007. The winner will be recognized at the
2008 Edgar Awards banquet, and his or her novel published in 2009.
"We at Mystery Writers of America are excited to partner with St.
Martin's Minotaur in offering this terrific opportunity to get an
unpublished writer's career off the ground... way off the ground!" said Mr.
Hale.

Mr. Martin commented, "For more than 60 years MWA has been recognized
as the preeminent organization devoted to the craft of writing mysteries
and crime fiction. For more than 50 years, St. Martin's Press and Minotaur
have been a publishing well-spring of award-winning crime fiction. Now we
come together to discover great new talent. Only one question: What took us
so long? I'm thrilled to begin this exciting new program with MWA and can't
wait to announce our first winner at next year's Edgar Award ceremony."

The competition is open to any writer who has never been the author of
a published novel. Details, rules and specific guidelines on eligibility,
as well as entry forms, are available at the St. Martin's Minotaur website:
http://www.minotaurbooks.com.

Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is the premier organization for
mystery writers, professionals allied to the crime writing field, aspiring
crime writers, and those who are devoted to the genre:
http://www.mysterywriters.org.

St. Martin's Minotaur is an imprint of St. Martin's Press which
launched in 1999 and which publishes 130 hardcover crime fiction titles a
year. St. Martin's Minotaur grew out of a fifty-year tradition of
publishing quality crime fiction at St. Martin's Press.

St. Martin's Press is part of Holtzbrinck Publishers, the U.S.
publishing group owned by Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck GMBH of
Stuttgart, Germany.