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