Book Log 2023 #11: The Lock Artist by Steve Hamilton

Mike (not his real name) is an 18 year old, who as an 8 year old experienced a trauma so profound that it has left him mute. As he grows up, Mike discovers that he has two significant talents - art and lock picking.  Art leads him to a kindred spirit, but the lock picking threatens to take him away from her, so he has to devise a plan that will both free him of the criminal gang making use of his lock picking and allow him to return to the one person he loves.

I liked the book well enough, but not as much as reviewers or award committees, as it did quite well with those groups. I do see why it would win an Alex Award, given to adult fiction that also has a "special interest" for YA readers (I picked this book to satisfy a reading challenge involving Alex Award winners). But I really don't see how it won an Edgar Award for best novel over Faithful Place, part of Tana French's Dublin Murder Squad series.