Tag Archives: Malice Domestic

Agatha Award Nominees 2024

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Malice Domestic announced the 2024 Agatha Award nominees on February 5.

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.” 

A ballot listing each category’s nominees will be given to all members of Malice Domestic 36, which will be held April 26-28, 2024 in Bethesda, MD.

The Agatha Award Nominees (for works published in 2023)

BEST CONTEMPORARY MYSTERY NOVEL

  • Ellen Byron. Wined and Died in New Orleans
  • Annette Dashofy. Helpless
  • Tara Laskowski. The Weekend Retreat
  • Korina Moss. Case of the Bleus
  • Gigi Pandian. The Raven Thief

BEST HISTORICAL MYSTERY NOVEL

  • Susanna Calkins. Death Among the Ruins
  • Celeste Connally. Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Lord
  • Amanda Flower. I Heard A Fly Buzz When I Died
  • Cheryl Head. Time’s Undoing
  • Sujata Massey. The Mistress of Bhatia House

DEBUT

  • Danielle Arceneaux. Glory Be
  • Kristin Kisska. The Hint of Light
  • Josh Pachter. Dutch Threat
  • Daphne Silver. Crime and Parchment
  • Nina Simon. Mother-Daughter Murder Night

NONFICTION

  • Anjili Babbar. Finders: Justice, Faith, and Identity in Irish Crime Fiction
  • David Bordwell. Perplexing Plots: Popular Storytelling and the Poetics of Murder
  • Mark Dawidziak. A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe
  • Robert Morgan. Fallen Angel: The Life of Edgar Allan Poe

CHILDREN | YOUNG ADULT

  • Elizabeth C. Bunce. Myrtle, Means, and Opportunity
  • Kate Jackson. The Sasquatch of Hawthorne Elementary
  • Alex Segura. Araña/Spider-Man 2099: Dark Tomorrow
  • Nancy Springer. Enola Holmes and the Mark of the Mongoose
  • Taryn Souders. The Mystery of the Radcliffe Riddle

SHORT STORY

  • Shelley Costa, “The Knife Sharpener” in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Jul/Aug 2023
  • Tina deBellegarde. “A Good Judge of Character” in Malice Domestic: Mystery Most Traditional
  • Barb Goffman. “Real Courage” in Black Cat Mystery Magazine issue 14
  • Dru Ann Love and Kristopher Zgorski. “Ticket to Ride” in Happiness Is a Warm Gun: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of the Beatles
  • Richie Narvaez. “Shamu, World’s Greatest Detective” in Killin’ Time in San Diego: Bouchercon 2023

Malice Domestic #35 Report

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Guest of Honor Hank Phillipi Ryan (right) being interviewed

By Teresa Peschel: Bill and I are Peschel Press. This was our third Malice Domestic. If you’re a fan of cozy mysteries and looking for your tribe, Malice is the place to be.

Officially, it runs Friday morning through Sunday afternoon at the end of April. This year’s dates were April 28-30. Unofficially, Malice gets started on Thursday evening when Maureen Jennings hosts a showing of a current Murdoch Mysteries episode. In this case, she wrote the episode we saw but I don’t know if that’s always true. Afterwards, Maureen Jennings answers questions from the audience about the episode, how TV adapts her books, and similar topics.

Maureen Jennings (right) at one of the many, many panels

Malice runs about 600 people attending, roughly divided between true-blue fans and authors. The authors range wildly from debut authors (including indies) to longtime stalwarts in the mystery world. There’s always a guest of honor, lifetime achievement guest, international guest of honor, fan guest of honor, toastmaster, Poirot award (sometimes), Amelia award, toastmaster, and of course, the Agatha awards in five categories.

Events start promptly Friday at 9 a.m. with the first round of panels on dozens of subjects. At the same time, the Dealer Room, Hospitality Suite, and Silent Auction Room open for the day.

Silent Auction room

Other programs include introducing Malice to first-time attendees, volunteer information, speed-dating with authors, and Kensington handing out armloads of free books. During the day, a rotating cast of authors show up in the Dealers’ Room to sign books.

Having the authors sign in the Dealers’ Room means more traffic and a better chance of sales.

Author signings

Saturday and Sunday have a similar, fully-packed schedule with panels, interviews, signings, speed-dating, and swag galore.

Friday’s evening events include Opening Ceremonies, Dinner on your own, a memorial program for Elizabeth Peters, and the live charity auction with an exquisite array of fancy pastries on each table. Many people attend for the auction. Others of us attend to scarf up the pastries.

Live auction pastry tray

Saturday morning started with a fancy breakfast (The Last Croissant Disappears at Nine). The evening events started with cocktails in the grand foyer, followed by the Agatha Awards Banquet including awarding the prize teapots to the winners, followed by the Agatha Afterward party.

Saturday evening events had a musical background courtesy of Georgetown Prep’s prom going on in the ballroom next door. You could really tell the difference between the Malice crowd and Georgetown Prep. Our average age was 60. Theirs was 18.

Sunday began with a free breakfast sponsored by Kensington to promote all the debut authors. The day ended on Sunday afternoon with the Agatha tea and closing ceremonies.

There are Malice attendees who’ve been to all 35 conventions. It’s a fun crowd, full of old friends meeting each other again. Attendees come from across the U.S., along with Canada and a few from further away.

You never know who you will meet. I got a picture of myself with noted local author, Misty Simon (aka Gabby Allan). We took the picture with me holding The Sun, ensuring we’ll get our picture in The Sun (circulation is about 7,000+).

Misty Simon (aka Gabby Allan), left, The Sun, and Teresa Peschel, right.

Will we go next year? Yes, we will. It’s fun and we sell books. We debuted Agatha Christie, She Watched: One Woman’s Plot to Watch 201 Agatha Christie Movies Without Murdering the Director, Screenwriter, Cast, or Her Husband and it did well.

Should you go? If you like mysteries and you’re in the area, you can dip your toe in the water by buying a day pass on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday and getting a feel for the convention.

Visit Malice’s website for more details covering everything from registration to advertising.

Mechanicsburg Mystery Bookshop table
Peschel Press Dealer’s table
The Sisters in Crime table
Author swag in the hospitality suite

2022 Agatha Awards

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Malice Domestic announced the 2022 Agatha Award winners on April 29.

BEST CONTEMPORARY NOVEL

  • A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny (Minotaur)

BEST HISTORICAL NOVEL

  • Because I Could Not Stop for Death by Amanda Flower (Berkley)

BEST FIRST NOVEL

  • Cheddar Off Dead by Korina Moss (St. Martin’s)

BEST SHORT STORY

  • “Beauty and the Beyotch,” by Barb Goffman (Sherlock Holmes Magazine, Feb. 2022)

BEST NON-FICTION

  • Promophobia: Taking the Mystery Out of Promoting Crime Fiction, Diane Vallere Ed.(Sisters in Crime)

BEST CHILDREN’S/YA MYSTERY

  • Enola Holmes and the Elegant Escapade by Nancy Springer (Wednesday Books)

2022 Agatha Award Nominees

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Malice Domestic announced the 2022 Agatha Award nominees on January 28.

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.” 

A ballot listing each category’s nominees will be given to all members of Malice Domestic 35, which will be held April 28-30, 2023. The winners will be announced April 29.

The Agatha Award Nominees (for works published in 2022)

BEST CONTEMPORARY NOVEL

  • Bayou Book Thief by Ellen Byron (Berkley Prime Crime)
  • Death By Bubble Tea by Jennifer J. Chow (Berkley)
  • Fatal Reunion by Annette Dashofy (Level Best Books)
  • Dead Man’s Leap by Tina de Bellegarde (Level Best Books)
  • A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny (Minotaur)

BEST HISTORICAL NOVEL

  • The Counterfeit Wife by Mally Becker (Level Best Books)
  • Because I Could Not Stop for Death by Amanda Flower (Berkley)
  • The Lindbergh Nanny by Mariah Fredericks (Minotaur)
  • In Place of Fear by Catriona McPherson (Mobius)
  • Under a Veiled Moon by Karen Odden (Crooked Lane Books)

BEST FIRST NOVEL

  • Cheddar Off Dead by Korina Moss (St. Martin’s)
  • Death in the Aegean by M. A. Monnin (Level Best Books)
  • The Bangalore Detectives Club by Harini Nagendra (Constable)
  • Devil’s Chew Toy by Rob Osler (Crooked Lane Books)
  • The Finalist by Joan Long (Level Best Books)
  • The Gallery of Beauties by Nina Wachsman (Level Best Books)

BEST SHORT STORY

  • “Beauty and the Beyotch,” by Barb Goffman (Sherlock Holmes Magazine, Feb. 2022)
  • “There Comes a Time,” by Cynthia Kuhn (Malice Domestic Murder Most Diabolical) Wildside Press
  • “Fly Me to the Morgue,” by Lisa Q Mathews,( Malice Domestic Mystery Most Diabolical) Wildside Press
  • “The Minnesota Twins Meet Bigfoot,” by Richie Narvaez, (Land of 10,000 Thrills, Bouchercon Anthology) Down & Out Books
  • “The Invisible Band,” by Art Taylor (Edgar & Shamus Go Golden) Down & Out Books

BEST NON-FICTION

  • The Life of Crime: Detecting the History of Mysteries and Their Creators by Martin Edwards (HarperCollins)
  • The Handbook to Agatha Christie: The Bloomsbury Handbook to Agatha Christie by Mary Anna Evans and J. C. Bernthal (Bloomsbury Academic)
  • The Science of Murder: The Forensics of Agatha Christie by Carla Valentine (Sourcebooks)
  • Promophobia: Taking the Mystery Out of Promoting Crime Fiction, Diane Vallere Ed.(Sisters in Crime)
  • Agatha Christie: An Elusive Woman, by Lucy Worsley (Pegasus Crime)

BEST CHILDREN’S/YA MYSTERY

  • Daybreak on Raven Island by Fleur Bradley (Viking Books for Young People)
  • In Myrtle Peril by Elizabeth C. Bunce (Algonquin Young Readers)
  • #shedeservedit by Greg Herren (Bold Strokes Books)
  • Sid Johnson and the Phantom Slave Stealer by Frances Schoonmaker (Auctus Publishers)
  • Enola Holmes and the Elegant Escapade by Nancy Springer (Wednesday Books)

The 2021 Agatha Awards

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The 2021 Agatha Awards were presented April 23 during Malice Domestic in Bethesda, MD.

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.” 

THE AGATHA AWARDS (for works published in 2021)

BEST CONTEMPORARY NOVEL

  • Cajun Kiss of Death by Ellen Byron (Crooked Lane Books)

BEST HISTORICAL NOVEL

  • Death at Greenway by Lori Rader-Day (HarperCollins)

BEST FIRST NOVEL

  • Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala (Berkley)

BEST SHORT STORY

  • “Bay of Reckoning” by Shawn Reilly Simmons in Murder on the Beach (Destination Murders)

BEST NON-FICTION

  • How to Write a Mystery: A Handbook from Mystery Writers of America by MWA with editors Lee Child and Laurie R. King (Simon & Schuster)

BEST CHILDREN’S/YA MYSTERY

  • I Play One on TV by Alan Orloff (Down & Out Books)

Crime Fiction Awards News To Begin 2022

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Crime fiction award season is gearing up and the finalists for the 2022 Barry Awards and 2021 Agatha Awards have been announced.

2022 BARRY AWARDS

BEST MYSTERY/CRIME NOVEL

  • The Dark Hours, Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)
  • Razorblade Tears, S. A. Cosby (Flatiron Books)
  • Last Redemption, Matt Coyle (Oceanview)
  • Clark and Division, Naomi Hirahara (Soho Crime)
  • Billy Summers, Stephen King (Scribner)
  • We Begin at the End, Chris Whitaker (Henry Holt)

BEST FIRST MYSTERY/CRIME NOVEL

  • Who Is Maude Dixon?, Alexandra Andrews (Little, Brown)
  • Girl A, Abigail Dean (Viking)
  • Down Range, Taylor Moore (William Morrow)
  • Falling, T. J. Newman (Simon & Schuster)
  • Sleeping Bear, Connor Sullivan (Emily Bestler/Atria)
  • Steel Fear, Brandon Webb & John David Mann (Bantam)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

  • The Hunted, Gabriel Bergmoser (Harpercollins)
  • Arsenic and Adobo, Mia P. Manansala (Berkley)
  • Black Coral, Andrew Mayne (Thomas & Mercer)
  • The Good Turn, Dervla Mctiernan (Blackstone)
  • Search For Her, Rick Mofina (Mira)
  • Bound, Vanda Symon (Orenda Books)

BEST THRILLER

  • The Devil’s Hand, Jack Carr (Emily Bestler/Atria)
  • The Nameless Ones, John Connolly (Emily Bestler/Atria)
  • Dead By Dawn, Paul Doiron (Minotaur)
  • Relentless, Mark Greaney (Berkley)
  • Slough House, Mick Herron (Soho Crime)
  • Five Decembers, James Kestrel (Hardcase Crime)

The winners of these awards will be announced at the Opening Ceremonies at the Minneapolis Bouchercon on September 8, 2022.

THE 2021 AGATHA AWARD NOMINEES

BEST CONTEMPORARY NOVEL

  • Cajun Kiss of Death by Ellen Byron (Crooked Lane Books)
  • Watch Her by Edwin Hill (Kensington)
  • The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny (Minotaur)
  • Her Perfect Life by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Forge)
  • Symphony Road by Gabriel Valjan (Level Best Books)
  • BEST HISTORICAL NOVEL
  • Murder at Mallowan Hall by Colleen Cambridge (Kensington)
  • Clark and Division by Naomi Hirahara (Soho Crime)
  • The Bombay Prince by Sujata Massey (Soho Crime)
  • Death at Greenway by Lori Rader-Day (HarperCollins)
  • The Devil’s Music by Gabriel Valjan (Winter Goose Publishing)
  • BEST FIRST NOVEL
  • The Turncoat’s Widow by Mally Becker (Level Best Books)
  • A Dead Man’s Eyes by Lori Duffy Foster (Level Best Books)
  • Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala (Berkley)
  • Murder in the Master by Judy L. Murray (Level Best Books)
  • Mango, Mambo, and Murder by Raquel V. Reyes (Crooked Lane Books)
  • BEST SHORT STORY
  • “A Family Matter” by Barb Goffman (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine Jan/Feb 2021)
  • “A Tale of Two Sisters” by Barb Goffman in Murder on the Beach (Destination Murders)
  • “Doc’s at Midnight” by Richie Narvaez in Midnight Hour (Crooked Lane Books)
  • “The Locked Room Library” by Gigi Pandian (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine July/Aug 2021)
  • “Bay of Reckoning” by Shawn Reilly Simmons in Murder on the Beach (Destination Murders)
  • BEST NON-FICTION
  • The Combat Zone: Murder, Race, and Boston’s Struggle for Justice by Jan Brogan (Bright Leaf Press)
  • Murder Most Grotesque: The Comedic Crime Fiction of Joyce Porter by Chris Chan (Level Best Books)
  • The Irish Assassins: Conspiracy, Revenge, and the Phoenix Park Murders that Stunned Victorian England by Julie Kavanaugh (Atlantic Monthly Press)
  • How to Write a Mystery: A Handbook from Mystery Writers of America by MWA with editors Lee Child and Laurie R. King (Simon & Schuster)
  • BEST CHILDREN’S/YA MYSTERY
  • ?Cold-Blooded Myrtle by Elizabeth C. Bunce (Algonquin Young Readers)
  • The Forest of Stolen Girls by June Hur (Fiewel and Friends/Macmillan)
  • I Play One on TV by Alan Orloff (Down & Out Books)
  • Leisha’s Song by Lynn Slaughter (Fire and Ice/Melange Books)
  • Enola Holmes and the Black Barouche by Nancy Springer (Wednesday Books)

The awards will be presented during Malice Domestic, which is being held April 22-24 in Bethesda, MD.

[Thanks to Cora Buhlert and Todd Mason for the information.]

2020 Agatha Awards

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Malice Domestic announced the 2020 Agatha Award winners on July 17.

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.” 

THE AGATHA AWARDS (for works published in 2020)

BEST CONTEMPORARY NOVEL

  • All the Devils are Here by Louise Penny (Minotaur)

BEST HISTORICAL NOVEL

  • The Last Mrs. Summers by Rhys Bowen (Berkeley)

BEST FIRST NOVEL

  • Murder at the Mena House by Erica Ruth Neubauer (Kensington)

BEST SHORT STORY

  • “Dear Emily Etiquette” by Barb Goffman (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine Sep/Oct)

BEST NON-FICTION

  • Phantom Lady: Hollywood Producer Joan Harrison, the Forgotten Woman Behind Hitchcock by Christina Lane (Chicago Review Press)

BEST CHILDREN’S/YA MYSTERY

  • Holly Hernandez and the Death of Disco by Richard Narvaez (Piñata Books)

[Thanks to Cora Buhlert for the story.]

MWA’s 2021 Grand Masters Are Charlaine Harris and Jeffery Deaver

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Mystery Writers of America (MWA) announced the recipients of two special awards on November 23. Charlaine Harris and Jeffery Deaver are the 2021 Grand Masters, and the 2020 Raven Award recipient is Malice Domestic, a mystery convention. The awards will be presented at the 75th Annual Edgar Awards Ceremony on April 29, 2021.

One of the new grand masters is of sff interest as well, because Charlaine Harris has written a lot of paranormal mysteries, most notably the Sookie Stackhouse series.

MWA Grand Master Award

MWA President Meg Gardiner said —

Mystery Writers of America is thrilled to honor Jeffery Deaver and Charlaine Harris as MWA’s 2021 Grand Masters. Over the course of decades, Deaver and Harris have gripped tens of millions of readers while broadening the reach of the genre with transformative books—notably, Deaver’s Lincoln Rhyme series, and Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse novels—and while generously encouraging and supporting fellow writers and the reading public. We’re delighted to recognize their achievements.

MWA’s Grand Master Award “represents the pinnacle of achievement in mystery writing and was established to acknowledge important contributions to this genre, as well as for a body of work that is both significant and of consistent high quality. “

Jeffery Deaver has published more than forty novels since the early 1990’s, including two series besides the Lincoln Rhyme novels, numerous stand-alone and short story collections.  

Crime author Jeffery Deaver in 2012. By Garry Knight – Flickr: Jeffery Deaver, CC BY-SA 2.0,

On being notified of the honor, Deaver said:

When I was a (relatively) young writer new to this business of penning novels, many years ago, the first professional organization I joined was Mystery Writers of America. Signing on felt to me like coming home—being welcomed into a community of fellow authors willing to share their expertise and offer support in a profession that was largely, well, a ‘mystery’ to me. Besides, how could I not join? MWA was the real deal; for proof, one had only to look at those in the ranks of the Grand Masters: Agatha Christie, Rex Stout, Ellery Queen, James M. Cain . . . and so many others whose works populated my bookshelves. Yet it never once occurred to me, in all my years as a member and my two terms as president, that I might be invited into those very ranks. I wish to express by boundless gratitude to MWA for this honor, which stands, without question, as the highpoint of my career.

Charlaine Harris has published 13 novels in the Southern Vampire series (adapted into the popular HBO series True Blood), which proved so popular that at one point her novels took half of the top ten slots on New York Times’ bestseller list. Her other series include the Aurora Teagarden novels, the Lily Bard (Shakespeare) books, the Midnight Texas trilogy (adapted for television) and numerous others, as well as several standalones.

Charlaine Harris. Photo by Omaha Star. Public Domain,

Harris said of her selection:

This is like winning the lottery and the Pulitzer Prize in one day. I am so honored and thrilled to join the ranks of revered writers who are Grand Masters. I thank the MWA Board from the bottom of my heart.

The Raven Award

Malice Domestic mystery conference, founded in 1989 and held every spring since, will receive the 2021 Raven Award, which recognizes outstanding achievement in the mystery field outside the realm of creative writing. 

Malice Domestic focuses primarily on traditional mysteries, their authors and fans, and also presents the Agatha Awards, with six categories.

[Thanks to Cora Buhlert for the story.]

2019 Agatha Award Winners

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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)

2019 Agatha Award Nominees

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Malice Domestic announced the 2019 Agatha Award nominees on January 21.

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.” 

A ballot listing each category’s nominees will be given to all attendees of Malice Domestic 32, which will be held May 1-3, 2020. Attendees will vote by secret ballot and the winners will be announced at the Agatha Awards Banquet.

The Agatha Award Nominees (for works published in 2019)

Best Contemporary Novel

  • Fatal Cajun Festival by Ellen Byron (Crooked Lane Books)
  • The Long Call by Ann Cleeves (Minotaur)
  • Fair Game by Annette Dashofy (Henery Press)
  • The Missing Ones by Edwin Hill (Kensington)
  • A Better Man by Louise Penny (Minotaur)
  • The Murder List by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Forge)

Best First Mystery Novel

  • A Dream of Death by Connie Berry (Crooked Lane Books)
  • One Night Gone by Tara Laskowski (Graydon House, a division of Harlequin)
  • Murder Once Removed by S. C. Perkins (Minotaur)
  • When It’s Time for Leaving by Ang Pompano (Encircle Publications)
  • Staging for Murder by Grace Topping (Henery Press)

Best Historical Mystery

  • Love and Death Among the Cheetahs by Rhys Bowen (Penquin)
  • Murder Knocks Twice by Susanna Calkins (Minotaur)
  • The Pearl Dagger by L. A. Chandlar (Kensington)
  • Charity’s Burden by Edith Maxwell (Midnight Ink) 
  • The Naming Game by Gabriel Valjan (Winter Goose Publishing)

Best Nonfiction

  • Frederic Dannay, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and the Art of the Detective Short Story by Laird R. Blackwell (McFarland)
  • Blonde Rattlesnake: Burmah Adams, Tom White, and the 1933 Crime Spree that Terrified Los Angeles by Julia Bricklin (Lyons Press)
  • Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud and the Last Trial of Harper Lee by Casey Cep (Knopf)
  • The Mutual Admiration Society: How Dorothy L. Sayers and her Oxford Circle Remade the World for Women by Mo Moulton (Basic Books)
  • The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold (Houghton, Mifflin, Harcourt)

Best Children/Young Adult

  • Kazu Jones and the Denver Dognappers by Shauna Holyoak (Disney Hyperion)
  • Two Can Keep a Secret by Karen MacManus (Delacorte Press)
  • The Last Crystal by Frances Schoonmaker (Auctus Press)
  • Top Marks for Murder (A Most Unladylike Mystery)
  • by Robin Stevens (Puffin)
  • Jada Sly, Artist and Spy by Sherri Winston (Little Brown Books for Young Readers)

Best Short Story 

  • “Grist for the Mill” by Kaye George in A Murder of Crows (Darkhouse Books)
  • “Alex’s Choice” by Barb Goffman in Crime Travel (Wildside Press)
  • “The Blue Ribbon” by Cynthia Kuhn in Malice Domestic 14: Mystery Most Edible (Wildside Press)
  • “The Last Word” by Shawn Reilly Simmons, Malice Domestic 14: Mystery Most Edible (Wildside Press)
  • “Better Days” by Art Taylor in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine