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Pumpkin Spice Season Crime Awards News

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MACAVITY AWARDS 2024

Sample of award trophy

Mystery Readers International announced the winners of the 2024 Macavity Awards on October 7.

The Macavity Award is named for the “mystery cat” of T.S. Eliot (Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats).

Each year the members of Mystery Readers International, subscribers to Mystery Readers Journal, and “friends of MRI” nominate and vote for their favorite mysteries in five categories.

Best Mystery

  • All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby (Flatiron Books)

Best First Mystery

  • The Peacock and the Sparrow by I.S. Berry (Atria)

Best Mystery Short Story

  •  “Ticket to Ride” by Dru Ann Love and Kristopher Zgorski, (Happiness is a Warm Gun: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of The Beatles, ed. Josh Pachter, Down & Out Books)

Sue Feder Memorial Award For Best Historical Mystery

  • The Mistress of Bhatia House by Sujata Massey (Soho Crime)

Best Mystery-Related Nonfiction/Critical 

  • Finders: Justice, Faith, and Identity in Irish Crime Fiction by Anjili Babbar (Syracuse University Press)

NED KELLY AWARDS

The Australian Crime Writers Association announced the winners of the Ned Kelly Awards. 

Best International Crime Fiction

  • The Only Suspect by Louise Candlish

Best True Crime

  • Crossing the Line by Nick McKenzie

Best Crime Fiction

  • Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth

Best Debut Crime Fiction

  • Murder in the Pacific: Ifira Point by Matt Francis

PETRONA AWARD

The 2024 shortlist for the Petrona Award for Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year has been released.

The award is open to crime fiction in translation, either written by a Scandinavian author or set in Scandinavia and published in the UK in the previous calendar year. The winning title will be announced on 14 November 2024. 

Yrsa Sigurðardottir – The Prey, Translated by Victoria Cribb (Iceland, Hodder & Stoughton) 

Anne Mette Hancock – The Collector, Translated by Tara F Chace (Denmark, Swift Press)

Jørn Lier Horst – Snow Fall, Translated by Anne Bruce (Norway, Michael Joseph)

Arnaldur Indriðason – The Girl by the Bridge, Translated by Philip Roughton (Iceland, Harvill Secker) 

Jógvan Isaksen – Dead Men Dancing, Translated by Marita Thomsen (Faroe Islands (Denmark), Norvik Press)

Åsa Larsson – The Sins of our Fathers, Translated by Frank Perry (Sweden, MacLehose Press) 

2024 Macavity Award Nominees

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Mystery Readers International announced the finalists for the 2024 Macavity Awards on May 29.

The Macavity Award is named for the “mystery cat” of T.S. Eliot (Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats).

Each year the members of Mystery Readers International, subscribers to Mystery Readers Journal, and “friends of MRI” nominate and vote for their favorite mysteries in five categories.

MACAVITY NOMINEES 2024

BEST MYSTERY

  • Dark Ride by Lou Berney (William Morrow)
  • Hide by Tracy Clark (Thomas & Mercer)
  • All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby (Flatiron Books)
  • Happiness Falls by Angie Kim (Hogarth)
  • Murder Book by Thomas Perry (Mysterious)
  • Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead (Penguin Random House – Doubleday)

BEST FIRST MYSTERY

  • The Peacock and the Sparrow by I.S. Berry (Atria)
  • The Golden Gate by Amy Chua (Macmillan Publishing – Minotaur)
  • Scorched Grace by Margot Douaihy (Zando/Gillian Flynn Books)
  • Murder by Degrees by Ritu Mukerji (Simon & Schuster)
  • Dutch Threat by Josh Pachter (Genius Book Publishing)
  • Mother-Daughter Murder Night by Nina Simon (William Morrow)

BEST MYSTERY SHORT STORY

  • “Real Courage” by Barb Goffman (Black Cat Mystery Magazine #14, Oct. 2023)
  • “Green and California Bound” by Curtis Ippolito (Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Sept/Oct 2023)
  • “Ticket to Ride” by Dru Ann Love and Kristopher Zgorski, (Happiness is a Warm Gun: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of The Beatles, ed. Josh Pachter, Down & Out Books)
  • “Pigeon Tony’s Last Stand” by Lisa Scottoline (Amazon Original Stories)
  • “One Night in 1965” by Stacy Woodson (More Groovy Gumshoes: Private Eyes in the Psychedelic Sixties, ed. Michael Bracken, Down & Out Books)

SUE FEDER MEMORIAL AWARD FOR BEST HISTORICAL MYSTERY

  • Time’s Undoing by Cheryl Head (Dutton)
  • Evergreen by Naomi Hirahara (Soho Crime)
  • The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger (Simon & Schuster-Atria Books)
  • Our Lying Kin by Claudia Hagadus Long (Kasva Press)
  • The Mistress of Bhatia House by Sujata Massey (Soho Crime)
  • The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride (Riverhead Books)

BEST MYSTERY-RELATED NONFICTION/CRITICAL 

  • Finders: Justice, Faith, and Identity in Irish Crime Fiction by Anjili Babbar (Syracuse University Press)
  • Spillane: King of Pulp Fiction by Max Allan Collins & James L. Traylor (Mysterious Press/Penzler Publishers)
  • A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe by Mark Dawidziak (St. Martin’s Press)
  • Number Go Up: Inside Crypto’s Wild Rise and Staggering Fall by Zeke Faux (Crown Currency)
  • Fallen Angel: The Life of Edgar Allan Poe, by Robert Morgan (LSU Press)

2023 Macavity Awards

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Mystery Readers International announced the winners of the 2023 Macavity Awards on October 23.

The Macavity Award is named for the “mystery cat” of T.S. Eliot (Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats). Each year the members of Mystery Readers International, subscribers to Mystery Readers Journal, and “friends of MRI” nominate and vote for their favorite mysteries in five categories.

BEST MYSTERY NOVEL

  • Louise Penny: A World of Curiosities (Minotaur)

BEST FIRST MYSTERY

  • Nita Prose: The Maid (Ballantine)

BEST MYSTERY SHORT STORY

  • Barb Goffman: “Beauty and the Beyotch” (Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, Jan 2022)

BEST NONFICTION/CRITICAL

  • Martin Edwards: The Life of Crime: Detecting the History of Mysteries and Their Creators (Collins Crime Club)

SUE FEDER MEMORIAL AWARD FOR BEST HISTORICAL MYSTERY

  • Lev A.C. Rosen: Lavender House (Forge)

2023 Macavity Awards Nominees

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Mystery Readers International announced the finalists for the 2022 Macavity Awards on July 20.

The Macavity Award is named for the “mystery cat” of T.S. Eliot (Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats).

Each year the members of Mystery Readers International, subscribers to Mystery Readers Journal, and “friends of MRI” nominate and vote for their favorite mysteries in five categories.

BEST MYSTERY NOVEL

  • Laurie R. King: Back to the Garden (Bantam)
  • Chris Pavone: Two Nights in Lisbon (MCD)
  • Louise Penny: A World of Curiosities (Minotaur)
  • Ian Rankin: A Heart Full of Headstones (Little, Brown)
  • Deanna Raybourn: Killers of a Certain Age (Berkley)
  • Alex Segura: Secret Identity (Flatiron Books)

BEST FIRST MYSTERY

  • Jacqueline Bublitz: Before You Knew My Name  (Atria/EmilyBestler)
  • A.J. Devlin: Five Moves of Doom (NeWest Press)
  • Ramona Emerson: Shutter (Soho Crime)
  • Rob Osler: Devil’s Chew Toy (Crooked Lane Books)
  • Jane Pek: The Verifiers (Vintage Books)
  • Nita Prose: The Maid (Ballantine)

BEST MYSTERY SHORT STORY

  • Brendan DuBois: “The Landscaper’s Wife” (Mystery Tribune, Aug/Sep 2022)
  • Barb Goffman: “Beauty and the Beyotch” (Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, Jan 2022)
  • Donna Moore: “First You Dream, Then You Die” (Black is the Night, Titan Books)
  • Anna Scotti: “Schrödinger, Cat” (Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Mar/Apr 2022)
  • Catherine Steadman: “Stockholm” (Amazon Original Stories)
  • Jess Walter: “The Angel of Rome” (in The Angel of Rome and Other Stories, Harper)
  • Melissa Yi: “My Two-Legs” (Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Sep/Oct 2022)

BEST NONFICTION/CRITICAL

  • Martin Edwards: The Life of Crime: Detecting the History of Mysteries and Their Creators (Collins Crime Club)
  • Mary Anna Evans & J.C. Bernthal, editors: The Bloomsbury Handbook to Agatha Christie (Bloomsbury Academic)
  • David Geherin: The Crime World of Michael Connelly: A Study of His Works and Their Adaptations (McFarland)
  • Lucy Worsley: Agatha Christie: An Elusive Woman (Pegasus Crime)

SUE FEDER MEMORIAL AWARD FOR BEST HISTORICAL MYSTERY

  • Mariah Fredericks: The Lindbergh Nanny (Minotaur)
  • Catriona McPherson: In Place of Fear (Hodder & Stoughton)
  • Wanda M. Morris: Anywhere You Run (William Morrow)
  • Ann Parker: The Secret in the Wall (Poisoned Pen Press)
  • Gary Phillips: One-Shot Harry (Soho Crime)
  • Lev A.C. Rosen: Lavender House (Forge)

2022 Macavity Awards

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The 2022 Macavity Awards winners were announced at Bouchercon on September 8.

The Macavity Award is named for the “mystery cat” of T.S. Eliot (Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats). Each year the members of Mystery Readers International nominate and vote for their favorite mysteries in five categories.

BEST MYSTERY NOVEL

  • S.A. Cosby: Razorblade Tears (Flatiron Books)

BEST FIRST MYSTERY

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

BEST MYSTERY SHORT STORY

  • Richard Helms: “Sweeps Week” (EQMM, July/August 2021)

BEST NONFICTION/CRITICAL

  • Lee Child with Laurie R. King, editors: How to Write a Mystery: A Handbook from Mystery Writers of America (Scribner)

SUE FEDER MEMORIAL AWARD FOR BEST HISTORICAL MYSTERY

  • Naomi Hirahara: Clark and Division (Soho Crime)

2022 Macavity Awards Nominees

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Mystery Readers International announced the finalists for the 2022 Macavity Awards on July 25.

The Macavity Award is named for the “mystery cat” of T.S. Eliot (Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats). Each year the members of Mystery Readers International nominate and vote for their favorite mysteries in five categories.

BEST MYSTERY NOVEL

  • Michael Connelly: The Dark Hours (Little, Brown and Co.)
  • S.A. Cosby: Razorblade Tears (Flatiron Books)
  • Val McDermid: 1979 (Atlantic Monthly)
  • Alan Parks: Bobby March Will Live Forever (World Noir)
  • Chris Whitaker: We Begin at the End (Henry Holt)
  • Colson Whitehead: Harlem Shuffle (Doubleday)

BEST FIRST MYSTERY

  • Alexandra Andrews: Who is Maude Dixon? (Little, Brown)
  • Abigail Dean: Girl A (Viking)
  • Erin Flanagan: Deer Season (University of Nebraska Press)
  • Mia P. Manansala: Arsenic and Adobo (Berkley)
  • Wanda M. Morris: All Her Little Secrets (William Morrow)

BEST MYSTERY SHORT STORY

  • Tracy Clark: “Lucky Thirteen” (Midnight Hour, Crooked Lane Books)
  • Richard Helms: “Sweeps Week” (EQMM, July/August 2021)
  • Steve Hockensmith: “Curious Incidents” (EQMM, January/February 2021)
  • R.T. Lawton: “The Road to Hana” (AHMM, May/June 2021)
  • G.M. Malliet: “The White Star” (EQMM, July/August 2021)
  • Gigi Pandian: “The Locked Room Library” (EQMM, July/August 2021)
  • Dave Zeltserman: “Julius Katz and the Two Cousins” (EQMM, July/August 2021)

BEST NONFICTION/CRITICAL

  • Mark Aldridge: Agatha Christie’s Poirot: The Greatest Detective in the World (HarperCollins)
  • Lee Child with Laurie R. King, editors: How to Write a Mystery: A Handbook from Mystery Writers of America (Scribner)
  • Margalit Fox: The Confidence Men: How Two Prisoners of War Engineered the Most Remarkable Escape in History (Random House)
  • Richard Greene: The Unquiet Englishman: A Life of Graham Greene (W.W. Norton)
  • James McGrath Morris: Tony Hillerman: A Life (University of Oklahoma)
  • John Tresch: The Reason for the Darkness of the Night: Edgar Allan Poe and the Forging of American Science (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
  • Edward White: The Twelve Lives of Alfred Hitchcock: An Anatomy of the Master of Suspense (W.W. Norton)

SUE FEDER MEMORIAL AWARD FOR BEST HISTORICAL MYSTERY

  • Rhys Bowen: The Venice Sketchbook (Lake Union)
  • Naomi Hirahara: Clark and Division (Soho Crime)
  • Susan Elia MacNeal: The Hollywood Spy (Bantam)
  • Sujata Massey: The Bombay Prince (Soho Crime)
  • Silvia Moreno-Garcia: Velvet was the Night (Del Rey)
  • Lori Rader-Day: Death at Greenway (William Morrow)

2021 Macavity Awards

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Mystery Readers International announced the winners of the 2021 Macavity Awards on August 25.

The Macavity Award is named for the “mystery cat” of T.S. Eliot (Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats). Each year the members of Mystery Readers International nominate and vote for their favorite mysteries in five categories.

Best Mystery Novel:

  • S.A. Cosby: Blacktop Wasteland (Flatiron Books)

Best First Mystery:

  • David Heska Wanbli Weiden: Winter Counts (Ecco)

Best Mystery Short Story:

  • Gabriel Valjan: “Elysian Fields” (California Schemin’: The 2020 Bouchercon Anthology, edited by Art Taylor; Wildside Press)

Best Mystery Critical/Biographical:

  • Sheila Mitchell: H.R.F. Keating: A Life of Crime (Level Best Books)

Sue Feder Memorial Award for Best Historical Mystery:

  • James Ziskin: Turn to Stone (Seventh Street Books)

[Thanks to Cora Buhlert for the story.]

March of Crime Fiction Awards

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The weed of crime bears award-winning fiction!

THEAKSTON OLD PECULIER CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR SHORTLIST

The six shortlisted books for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2021 were named on June 15:

  • The Lantern Men by Elly Griffiths (Quercus, Quercus Fiction)
  • Three Hours by Rosamund Lupton (Penguin Random House UK, Viking)
  • The Last Crossing by Brian McGilloway (Little, Brown Book Group, Constable)
  • Death in the East by Abir Mukherjee (VINTAGE, Harvill Secker)
  • We Begin At The End by Chris Whitaker (Bonnier Books UK, Zaffre)
  • The Man on the Street by Trevor Wood (Quercus, Quercus Fiction)

The public is invited to vote for the winner here. The award will be announced Thursday July 22. The author will receive £3,000, and a handmade, engraved beer barrel provided by Theakston Old Peculier.

MCILVANNEY PRIZE LONGLIST

The McIlvanney Prize recognizes excellence in Scottish crime writing, and includes a prize of £1,000 and nationwide promotion in Waterstones.. Here is the McIlvanney Prize 2021 longlist:

  • The Cut, Chris Brookmyre (Little,Brown)
  • The Silent Daughter, Emma Christie (Wellbeck)
  • Before the Storm, Alex Gray (Little, Brown)
  • Dead Man’s Grave, Neil Lancaster (HarperCollins, HQ)
  • The Coffinmaker’s Garden, Stuart MacBride (HarperCollins)
  • Still Life, Val McDermid (Little,Brown)
  • Bad Debt, William McIntyre (Sandstone)
  • The Less Dead, Denise Mina (Vintage)
  • How To Survive Everything, Ewan Morrison (Saraband)
  • Edge of the Grave, Robbie Morrison (Macmillan)
  • The April Dead, Alan Parks (Canongate)
  • Hyde, Craig Russell (Constable)
  • Waking the Tiger, Mark Wightman (Hobeck Books)

MACAVITY AWARDS FINALISTS

Mystery Readers International announced the finalists for the 2021 Macavity Awards on June 1.

The Macavity Award is named for the “mystery cat” of T.S. Eliot (Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats). Each year the members of Mystery Readers International nominate and vote for their favorite mysteries in five categories.

Best Mystery Novel:

  • Caroline B. Cooney: Before She Was Helen (Ecco)
  • S.A. Cosby: Blacktop Wasteland (Flatiron Books)
  • Matt Coyle: Blind Vigil (Oceanview Publishing)
  • Louise Penny: All the Devils Are Here (Minotaur)
  • Ivy Pochoda: These Women (Poisoned Pen Press)
  • Michael Robotham: When She Was Good (Scribner)

Best First Mystery:

  • Deepa Anappara: Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line (Random House)
  • Nev March: Murder in Old Bombay (Minotaur)
  • Richard Osman: The Thursday Murder Club (Pamela Dorman Books)
  • David Heska Wanbli Weiden: Winter Counts (Ecco)
  • Stephanie Wrobel: Darling Rose Gold (Berkley)

Best Mystery Short Story:

  • Barb Goffman: “Dear Emily Etiquette” (Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Sept/Oct 2020)
  • Art Taylor: “The Boy Detective & The Summer of ‘74” (Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Jan/Feb 2020)
  • Gabriel Valjan: “Elysian Fields” (California Schemin’: The 2020 Bouchercon Anthology, edited by Art Taylor; Wildside Press)
  • Elaine Viets: “Dog Eat Dog” (The Beat of Black Wings: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Joni Mitchell, edited by Josh Pachter; Untreed Reads Publishing)
  • James W. Ziskin: “The Twenty-Five Year Engagement” (In League with Sherlock Holmes : Stories Inspired by the Sherlock Holmes Canon, edited by Laurie R. King; Pegasus Crime)

Best Mystery Critical/Biographical:

  • Leslie Brody: Sometimes You Have to Lie: The Life and Times of Louise Fitzhugh, Renegade Author of Harriet the Spy (Seal Press)
  • Martin Edwards, editor: Howdunit: A Masterclass in Crime Writing by Members of the Detection Club (HarperCollins)
  • Erin E. MacDonald: Ian Rankin: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction (McFarland)
  • Sheila Mitchell: H.R.F. Keating: A Life of Crime (Level Best Books)
  • Craig Sisterson: Southern Cross Crime: The Pocket Essential Guide to the Crime Fiction, Film & TV of Australia and New Zealand (Oldcastle Books)

Sue Feder Memorial Award for Best Historical Mystery:

  • Rhys Bowen: The Last Mrs. Summers (Berkeley)
  • Elsa Hart: The Cabinets of Barnaby Mayne (Minotaur)
  • Catriona McPherson: The Turning Tide (Quercus)
  • Ann Parker: Mortal Music (Poisoned Pen Press)
  • Ovidia Yu: The Mimosa Tree Mystery (Constable)
  • James Ziskin: Turn to Stone (Seventh Street Books)

BONY BLITHE WINNER

The 2021 Bony Blithe Light Mystery Award, an annual Canadian award celebrating traditional, feel-good mysteries, has been given to —

  • Iona Whishaw, A Match Made for Murder (Touchwood Editions)

This will be the last ever Bony Blithe Award, because the award is being retired.

[Thanks to Cora Buhlert for the story.]

2020 Macavity Awards

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Mystery Readers International announced the 2020 Macavity Awards winners on October 16 durng Bouchercon.

The Macavity Award is named for the “mystery cat” of T.S. Eliot (Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats). Each year the members of Mystery Readers International nominate and vote for their favorite mysteries in five categories.

Best Mystery Novel

  • Adrian McKinty: The Chain (Mulholland)

Best First Mystery

  • Tara Laskowski: One Night Gone (Graydon House)

Best Mystery Short Story

  • Art Taylor: “Better Days” (EQMM, May/June 2019)

Best Mystery Nonfiction/Critical

  • John Billheimer: Hitchcock and the Censors (University Press of Kentucky)

Sue Feder Memorial Award for Best Historical Mystery

  • Lara Prescott: The Secrets We Kept (Vintage)

2020 Macavity Awards Nominees

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Mystery Readers International announced the finalists for the 2020 Macavity Awards on July 16.

The Macavity Award is named for the “mystery cat” of T.S. Eliot (Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats). Each year the members of Mystery Readers International nominate and vote for their favorite mysteries in five categories.

Best Mystery Novel

  • Steph Cha: Your House Will Pay (Ecco)
  • William Kent Krueger: This Tender Land (Atria)
  • Laura Lippman: Lady in the Lake (Wm. Morrow)
  • Adrian McKinty: The Chain (Mulholland)
  • Hank Philippi Ryan: The Murder List (Forge)
  • James Sallis: Sarah Jane (Soho Crime)

Best First Mystery

  • Tori Eldridge: The Ninja Daughter (Agora Books)
  • Samantha Downing: My Lovely Wife (Penguin)
  • Angie Kim: Miracle Creek (Sarah Crichton Books)
  • Tara Laskowski: One Night Gone (Graydon House)
  • J.P. Pomare: Call Me Evie (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)
  • Lauren Wilkinson: American Spy (Random House)

Best Mystery Short Story

  • Michael Chandos: “West Texas Barbecue” (The Eyes of Texas, edited by Michael Bracken—Down & Out Books)
  • Barb Goffman: “Alex’s Choice” (Crime Travel, edited by Barb Goffman—Wildside Press)
  • Terence Faherty: “The Cardboard Box” (Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Jan/Feb 2019)
  • G.M. Malliet: “Whiteout” (EQMM, Jan/Feb 2019)
  • Dave Zeltserman: “Brother’s Keeper” (EQMM, May/June 2019)
  • Art Taylor: “Better Days” (EQMM, May/June 2019)

Best Mystery Nonfiction/Critical

  • John Billheimer: Hitchcock and the Censors (University Press of Kentucky)
  • Laird R. Blackwell: Frederic Dannay, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and the Art of the Detective Short Story (McFarland)
  • Ursula Buchan: Beyond the Thirty-Nine Steps: A Life of John Buchan (Bloomsbury)
  • Peter Houlahan: Norco ’80: The True Story of the Most Spectacular Bank Robbery in American History (Counterpoint)
  • Mo Moulton: The Mutual Admiration Society: How Dorothy L. Sayers and Her Oxford Circle Remade the World for Women (Basic Books)
  • James Polchin: Indecent Advances: A Hidden History of True Crime and Prejudice Before Stonewall (Counterpoint Press)

Sue Feder Memorial Award for Best Historical Mystery

  • Susanna Calkins: Murder Knocks Twice (Minotaur)
  • L.A. Chandlar: The Pearl Dagger (Kensington)
  • Dianne Freeman: A Lady’s Guide to Gossip and Murder (Kensington)
  • Sujata Massey: The Satapur Moonstone (Soho Crime)
  • Edith Maxwell: Charity’s Burden (Midnight Ink)
  • Lara Prescott: The Secrets We Kept (Vintage)