2022 Agatha Award Nominees

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)

2 thoughts on “2022 Agatha Award Nominees

  1. Pingback: AMAZING NEWS FROM FANDOM: January 29, 2023 - Amazing Stories

  2. If you’re a cozy mystery fan, Malice (we’ve been twice) is a great place to meet your tribe. It’s small, rarely over 500 people, divided between authors at various stages in their careers and fans.

    It’s easy to enjoy breakfast next to Charlaine Harris and her husband or chat with Maureen Jennings!

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