2019 Agatha Award Winners

Malice Domestic announced the 2019 Agatha Awards on May 2.

The Agatha Awards honor the “traditional mystery,” books typified by the works of Agatha Christie and others. The genre is loosely defined as mysteries that contain no explicit sex, excessive gore or gratuitous violence, and are not classified as “hard-boiled.” 

Since the COVID-19 outbreak prevented fans from gathering for Malice Domestic 32 this weekend, the awards were revealed during a ceremony streamed on Zoom.

The Agatha Awards (for works published in 2019)

Best Contemporary Novel

  • The Long Call by Ann Cleeves (Minotaur)

Best First Mystery Novel

  • One Night Gone by Tara Laskowski (Graydon House, a division of Harlequin)

Best Historical Mystery

  • Charity’s Burden by Edith Maxwell (Midnight Ink) 

Best Nonfiction

  • The Mutual Admiration Society: How Dorothy L. Sayers and her Oxford Circle Remade the World for Women by Mo Moulton (Basic Books)

Best Children/Young Adult

  • The Last Crystal by Frances Schoonmaker (Auctus Press)

Best Short Story 

  • “The Last Word” by Shawn Reilly Simmons, Malice Domestic 14: Mystery Most Edible (Wildside Press)