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)
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.
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
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 winners were selected by a vote of the attendees at Malice
Domestic 31, held May 3-5, 2019.
Best Contemporary Novel
Mardi Gras Murder by Ellen Byron (Crooked Lane
Books)
Best Historical Novel
The Widows of Malabar
Hill by
Sujata Massey (Soho Crime)
Best First Novel
(tie)
A Ladies Guide to Etiquette
and Murder by
Dianne Freeman (Kensington)
Curses Boiled Again by Shari Randall (St. Martin’s)
Best Short Story
(tie)
“All God’s Sparrows” by
Leslie Budewitz (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine)
“The Case of the Vanishing
Professor” by Tara Laskowski (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery
Magazine)
Best Young Adult Mystery
Potion Problems(Just Add Magic) by Cindy
Callaghan (Aladdin)
Best Non-fiction
Mastering Plot Twists by Jane Cleland
(Writer’s Digest Books)
Big congrats to all of tonight’s Agatha Award winners at @Malice_Domestic, especially our very own, Ellen Byron @ellenbyronla She took home the teapot for Best Contemporary Novel! Woot!
