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.”
BEST CONTEMPORARY MYSTERY NOVEL
Tara Laskowski. The Weekend Retreat
BEST HISTORICAL MYSTERY NOVEL
Sujata Massey. The Mistress of Bhatia House
DEBUT
Daphne Silver. Crime and Parchment
NONFICTION
Anjili Babbar. Finders: Justice, Faith, and Identity in Irish Crime Fiction
CHILDREN | YOUNG ADULT
Kate Jackson. The Sasquatch of Hawthorne Elementary
SHORT STORY
Dru Ann Love and Kristopher Zgorski. “Ticket to Ride” in Happiness Is a Warm Gun: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of the Beatles
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
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 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)
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)
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 More Than Malice, which will be held virtually July 14-17, 2021. The winners will be announced July 17t.
The Agatha Award Nominees (for works published in 2020)
Best Contemporary Novel
Gift of the Magpie by Donna Andrews (Minotaur)
Murder in the Bayou Boneyard by Ellen Byron (Crooked Lane Books)
From Beer to Eternity by Sherry Harris (Kensington)
All the Devils are Here by Louise Penny (Minotaur)
The Lucky One by Lori Rader-Day (William Morris)
Best Historical Novel
The Last Mrs. Summers by Rhys Bowen (Berkeley)
The Fate of a Flapper by Susanna Calkins (Griffin)
A Lady’s Guide to Mischief and Murder by Dianne Freeman (Kensington)
Taken Too Soon by Edith Maxwell (Beyond the Page Publishing)
The Turning Tide by Catriona McPherson (Quercus)
Best First Novel
A Spell for Trouble by Esme Addison (Crooked Lane Books)
Winter Witness by Tina deBellegarde (Level Best Books)
Derailed by Mary Keliikoa (Epicenter Press, Inc.)
Murder at the Mena House by Erica Ruth Neubauer (Kensington)
Murder Most Sweet by Laura Jensen Walker (Crooked Lane Books)
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 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