2019 Macavity Award Winners

Best Novel:
November Road by Lou Berney  (William Morrow)*

If I Die Tonight by Alison Gaylin (William Morrow)

The Lost Man by Jane Harper (Flat Iron Books)

Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier (Minotaur Books)

Hiroshima Boy by Naomi Hirahara (Prospect Park Books)

Under My Skin by Lisa Unger (Harlequin – Park Row Books)

Best First Novel: 

Dodging and Burning by John Copenhaver (Pegasus Books)*

My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite (Doubleday)

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)

Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman (Ballantine)

The Chalk Man by C.J. Tudor (Crown)

Best Non-fiction: 

The Real Lolita: The Kidnapping of Sally Horner and the Novel That Scandalized the World by Sarah Weinman (HarperCollins)*

The Metaphysical Mysteries of G.K. Chesterton: A Critical Study of the Father Brown Stories and Other Detective Fiction by Laird R. Blackwell (McFarland)

Conan Doyle for the Defense: The True Story of a Sensational British Murder, a Quest for Justice, and the World’s Most Famous Detective Writer by Margalit Fox (Random House)

Classic American Crime Fiction of the 1920s by Leslie S. Klinger (Pegasus Books)

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara (HarperCollins)

Agatha Christie: A Mysterious Life by Laura Thompson (Pegasus Books)

Best Short Story:

“English 398: Fiction Workshop” by Art Taylor (Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Jul/Aug 2018)*

“Race to Judgment” by Craig Faustus Buck (Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Nov/Dec 2018)

“All God’s Sparrows” by Leslie Budewitz (Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, May/Jun 2018)

“Bug Appétit” by Barb Goffman (Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Nov/Dec 2018)

“Three-Star Sushi” by Barry Lancet (Down & Out: The Magazine, Vol.1, No. 3)

“The Cambodian Curse” by Gigi Pandian (The Cambodian Curse and Other Stories)

Sue Feder Memorial Award for Best Historical Novel:

The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey (Soho Crime)*

A Lady’s Guide to Etiquette and Murder by Dianne Freeman (Kensington)

City of Ink by Elsa Hart (Minotaur)

Island of the Mad by Laurie R. King (Bantam)

A Dying Note by Ann Parker (Poisoned Pen)

A Forgotten Place by Charles Todd (William Morrow)

Congratulations to all the winners and nominated authors.

*Denotes winner

The Macavity Award Nominees 2019

The Macavity Awards are nominated by members of Mystery Readers International, subscribers to Mystery Readers Journal and friends of MRI for works published in 2008. 

Best Novel 

November Road by Lou Berney (William Morrow)
If I Die Tonight by Alison Gaylin (William Morrow)
The Lost Man by Jane Harper (Flat Iron Books)
Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier (Minotaur Books)
Hiroshima Boy by Naomi Hirahara (Prospect Park Books)
Under My Skin by Lisa Unger (Harlequin - Park Row Books)

Best First Novel 

My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite (Doubleday)
Dodging and Burning by John Copenhaver (Pegasus Books)
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)
Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman (Ballantine)
The Chalk Man by C.J. Tudor (Crown)

Best Nonfiction 
The Metaphysical Mysteries of G.K. Chesterton: A Critical Study of the Father Brown Stories and Other Detective Fiction by Laird R. Blackwell (McFarland)
Conan Doyle for the Defense: The True Story of a Sensational British Murder, a Quest for Justice, and the World’s Most Famous Detective Writer by Margalit Fox (Random House)
Classic American Crime Fiction of the 1920s by Leslie S. Klinger (Pegasus Books)
I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara (HarperCollins)
Agatha Christie: A Mysterious Life by Laura Thompson (Pegasus Books)
The Real Lolita: The Kidnapping of Sally Horner and the Novel That Scandalized the World by Sarah Weinman (HarperCollins)

Best Short Story 

“Race to Judgment” by Craig Faustus Buck (Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Nov/Dec 2018)
“All God’s Sparrows” by Leslie Budewitz (Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, May/Jun 2018)
“Bug Appétit” by Barb Goffman (Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Nov/Dec 2018)
“Three-Star Sushi” by Barry Lancet (Down & Out: The Magazine, Vol.1, No. 3)
“The Cambodian Curse” by Gigi Pandian (The Cambodian Curse and Other Stories)
 “English 398: Fiction Workshop” by Art Taylor (Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Jul/Aug 2018)

Sue Feder Memorial Award for Best Historical Mystery 
A Lady's Guide to Etiquette and Murder by Dianne Freeman (Kensington)
City of Ink by Elsa Hart (Minotaur)
Island of the Mad by Laurie R. King (Bantam)
The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey (Soho Crime)
A Dying Note by Ann Parker (Poisoned Pen)
A Forgotten Place by Charles Todd (William Morrow)

Congratulations to all the nominated authors. The winners will be announced at opening ceremonies at Bouchercon in Dallas, TX, October 31, 2019.

Inaugural Sue Grafton Memorial Award

Presented by G.P. Putnam’s Sons, the award will be given at Mystery Writers of America’s 73rd Annual Edgar® Awards in New York City on April 25, 2019

Thirty-five years ago, Sue Grafton launched one of the most acclaimed and celebrated mystery series of all time with A is for Alibi, and with it created the model of the modern female detective with Kinsey Millhone, a feisty, whip-smart woman who is not above breaking the rules to solve a case or save a life. Like her fictional alter ego, Grafton was a true original, a model for every woman who has ever said the hell with this and struck out on her own independent way.

Sue Grafton passed away on December 28, 2017, but she and Kinsey will be remembered as international icons and treasured by millions of readers across the world. Sue was adored throughout the reading world, the publishing industry, and was a longtime and beloved member of MWA, serving as MWA President in 1994 and was the recipient of three Edgar nominations as well as the Grand Master Award in 2009. G.P. Putnam’s Sons is partnering with MWA to create the Sue Grafton Memorial Award honoring the Best Novel in a Series featuring a female protagonist in a series that hallmarks Sue’s writing and Kinsey’s character: a woman with quirks but also with a sense of herself, with empathy but also with savvy, intelligence and wit.

The inaugural Sue Grafton Memorial Award will be presented for the first time at the 73rd Annual Edgar Awards in New York City on April 25, 2019 – the day after what would have been Sue’s 79th birthday – and will be presented annually there to honor Sue’s life and work.

The nominees for the inaugural Sue Grafton Memorial Award were chosen by the 2019 Best Novel and Best Paperback Original Edgar Award judges from the books submitted to them throughout the year. The winner will be chosen by a reading committee made up of current National board members, and will be announced at this year’s Edgars Award banquet.

The nominees for the inaugural Sue Grafton Memorial Award are:

Lisa Black, Perish, Kensington
Sara Paretsky, Shell Game, HarperCollins – William Morrow
Victoria Thompson, City of Secrets, Penguin Random House - Berkley
Charles Todd, A Forgotten Place, HarperCollins – William Morrow
Jacqueline Winspear, To Die But Once, HarperCollins - Harper

ABOUT SUE GRAFTON:
#1 New York Times–bestselling author Sue Grafton is published in twenty-eight countries and in twenty-six languages—including Estonian, Bulgarian, and Indonesian. Books in her alphabet series, beginning with A is for Alibi in 1982 are international bestsellers with readership in the millions. Named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America, she also received many other honors and awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Private Eye Writers of America, the Ross Macdonald Literary Award, the Cartier Diamond Dagger Award from Britain’s Crime Writers’ Association, the Lifetime Achievement Award from Malice Domestic, the Anthony Award given by Bouchercon (most recently the 2018 Anthony /Bill Crider Award for Best Novel in a Series), and three Shamus Awards. Grafton passed away on December 28, 2017.

ABOUT G.P. PUTNAM’S SONS:
Putnam is home to many bestselling fiction authors including Ace Atkins, Chloe Benjamin, C.J. Box, Eleanor Brown, Tom Clancy, Robin Cook, Robert Crais, Clive Cussler, Jeffery Deaver, Janet Evanovich, Lyndsay Faye, Frederick Forsyth, Karen Joy Fowler, Sue Grafton, W.E.B. Griffin, Jan Karon, Philip Kerr, Delia Owens, Robert B. Parker, Nick Petrie, John Sandford, Jill Santopolo, Lisa Scottoline, Kathryn Stockett, and Stuart Woods. Among its distinguished nonfiction list are Sophia Amoruso, A. Scott Berg, Cathy Guisewite, Spencer Johnson, Bobby Orr, Dolly Parton, and Eve Rodsky.

ABOUT MYSTERY WRITERS OF AMERICA:
MWA is the premier organization for mystery writers, professionals allied to the crime-writing field, aspiring crime writers, and those who are devoted to the genre. The organization encompasses more than 3,000 members including authors of fiction and non-fiction books, screen and television writers, as well as publishers, editors, and literary agents. For more information on Mystery Writers of America, please visit the website: www.mysterywriters.org

The Macavity Award Nominees 2018

The Macavity Awards are nominated by members of Mystery Readers International, subscribers to Mystery Readers Journal and friends of MRI. The winners will be announced at opening ceremonies at Bouchercon in St Petersburg, FL, in September. Congratulations to all.

Best Mystery Novel
The Marsh King's Daughter by Karen Dionne (G.P. Putnam's Sons)
Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz (Harper)
Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke (Mulholland)
Glass Houses by Louise Penny (Minotaur)
The Old Man by Thomas Perry (Mysterious)
The Force by Don Winslow (Wm. Morrow)

Best First Mystery Novel
Hollywood Homicide by Kellye Garrett (Midnight Ink)
The Dry by Jane Harper (Flatiron)
She Rides Shotgun by Jordan Harper (Ecco)
The Lost Ones by Sheena Kamal (Wm. Morrow)
The Last Place You Look by Kristen Lepionka (Minotaur)
Lost Luggage by Wendall Thomas (Poisoned Pen)

Best Mystery-Related Nonfiction
From Holmes to Sherlock: The Story of the Men and Women Who Created an Icon by Mattias Bostrom (Mysterious Press)
The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books by Martin Edwards (Poisoned Pen/British Library)
Chester B. Himes: A Biography by Lawrence P. Jackson (W.W. Norton)
The Man From the Train: The Solving of a Century-Old Serial Killer Mystery by Bill James and Rachel McCarthy James (Scribner)
Arthur and Sherlock: Conan Doyle and the Creation of Holmes by Michael Sims (Bloomsbury)
Lady Killers: Deadly Women Throughout History by Tori Telfer (Harper Perennial)

Best Mystery Short Story
“As Ye Sow,” by Craig Faustus Buck, in Passport to Murder: Bouchercon Anthology 2017 (Down and Out Books)
“The #2 Pencil,” by Matt Coyle, in Coast to Coast: Private Eyes from Sea to Shining Sea (Down & Out Books)
“Infinite Uticas,” by Terence Faherty (Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, May/June 2017)
“Whose Wine is it Anyway?” Barb Goffman, in 50 Shades of Cabernet (Koehler Books)
“Windward,” by Paul D. Marks, in Coast to Coast: Private Eyes from Sea to Shining Sea (Down & Out Books)
“A Necessary Ingredient,” by Art Taylor, in Coast to Coast: Private Eyes from Sea to Shining Sea (Down & Out Books)

Sue Feder Memorial Award: Best Historical Mystery
Dangerous to Know by Renee Patrick (Forge)
The Devouring by James R. Benn (Soho Crime)
In Farleigh Field by Rhys Bowen (Lake Union Publishing)
Cast the First Stone by James W. Ziskin (Seventh Street Books)
Racing the Devil by Charles Todd (Wm. Morrow)
A Rising Man by Abir Mukherjee (Pegasus)

Edgar Award Winners 2017

Mystery Writers of America announced the Winners of the 2017 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, honouring the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction and television published or produced in 2016.

Best Novel
Before the Fall by Noah Hawley (Hachette Book Group – Grand Central Publishing)

Best First Novel by an American Author 
Under the Harrow by Flynn Berry (Penguin Random House – Penguin Books)

Best Paperback Original
Rain Dogs by Adrian McKinty (Prometheus Books – Seventh Street Books)

Best Fact Crime
The Wicked Boy: The Mystery of a Victorian Child Murderer by Kate Summerscale (Penguin Random House – Penguin Press)

Best Critical /Biographical 
Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life by Ruth Franklin (W.W. Norton - Liveright)

Best Short Story
"Autumn at the Automat” – In Sunlight or in Shadow by Lawrence Block (Pegasus Books)

Best Juvenile 
OCDaniel by Wesley King (Simon & Schuster – Paula Wiseman Books)

Best Young Adult
Girl in the Blue Coat by Monica Hesse (Hachette Book Group – Little, Brown BFYR)

Best Television Episode Teleplay 
"A Blade of Grass" – Penny Dreadful, Teleplay by John Logan (Showtime)

Robert L Fish Memorial Award
"The Truth of the Moment" – Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine  by E. Gabriel Flores (Dell Magazines)

GRAND MASTER
Max Allan Collins
Ellen Hart

RAVEN AWARD
Dru Ann Love

ELLERY QUEEN AWARD 
Neil Nyren

* * * * * *

THE SIMON & SCHUSTER - MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD
The Shattered Tree by Charles Todd (HarperCollins Publishers – William Morrow)

The Edgar® Awards were presented to the winners at the 71st Gala Banquet, on 27 April, 2017 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, New York City. Congratulations to all!

Macavity Award Nominations

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 favourite mysteries in four categories.

The year listed is the year of the award, for books published in the previous year.

2015

Best Mystery Novel:

The Missing Place by Sophie Littlefield  (Gallery)

The Killer Next Door by Alex Marwood (Penguin)

The Lewis Man by Peter May (Quercus)

The Day She Died by Catriona McPherson (Midnight Ink)

The Long Way Home by Louise Penny (Minotaur)

The Last Death of Jack Harbin by Terry Shames (Seventh Street)

Best First Mystery Novel:

Blessed Are the Dead by Kristi Belcamino (Witness Impulse)

Dry Bones in the Valley by Tom Bouman (W. W. Norton)

Invisible City by Julia Dahl (Minotaur)

Someone Else's Skin by Sarah Hilary (Penguin)

Dear Daughter by Elizabeth Little (Viking)

The Black Hour by Lori Rader-Day (Seventh Street)

Best Mystery-Related Nonfiction:

The Figure of the Detective: A Literary History and Analysis by Charles Brownson  (McFarland)

Poe-Land: The Hallowed Haunts of Edgar Allan Poe by J.W. Ocker (Countryman)

400 Things Cops Know: Street Smart Lessons from a Veteran Patrolman by Adam Plantinga (Quill Driver)

Writes of Passage: Adventures on the Writer's Journey by Hank Phillippi Ryan, editor (Henery Press)

Best Mystery Short Story:

"Honeymoon Sweet" by Craig Faustus Buck:  (Murder at the Beach: The Bouchercon Anthology 2014, edited by Dana Cameron; Down & Out)

"The Shadow Knows" by Barb Goffman (Chesapeake Crimes: Homicidal Holidays, edited by Donna Andrews, Barb Goffman, and Marcia Talley; Wildside Press)

"Howling at the Moon" by Paul D. Marks (Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Nov. 2014)

"The Proxy" by Travis Richardson (Thuglit #13, Sept./Oct. 2014)

"The Odds Are Against Us" by Art Taylor (Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Nov. 2014)

Sue Feder Historical Mystery Award:

Queen of Hearts by Rhys Bowen (Berkley Prime Crime)

Things Half in Shadow by Alan Finn (Gallery)

An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris (Knopf)

A Deadly Measure of Brimstone by Catriona McPherson (Minotaur)

Present Darkness by Malla Nunn (Atria)

Hunting Shadows by Charles Todd (Wm. Morrow)

Congratulations to all the nominees.

Hat tip to Mystery Readers International.

Agatha Award Results

The Agatha Awards were given out recently.  These prizes, honouring “traditional mysteries” (those without explicit sex scenes, excessive gore, or unnecessary violence) were handed out during a banquet earlier this evening at the 27th annual Malice Domestic Conference, which is held the weekend of 1 - 3 May 2015 in Bethesda, Maryland.

*Winners

Best Contemporary: 

*Truth Be Told, by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Forge)
The Good, the Bad, and the Emus, by Donna Andrews (Minotaur); 

A Demon Summer, by G.M. Malliet (Minotaur); 

The Long Way Home, by Louise Penny (Minotaur);

Designated Daughters, by Margaret Maron (Grand Central)

Best Historical Novel: 

*Queen of Hearts, by Rhys Bowen (Berkley)
Hunting Shadows, by Charles Todd (Morrow); 

An Unwilling Accomplice, by Charles Todd (Morrow); 

Wouldn’t It Be Deadly, by D.E. Ireland (Minotaur);

Murder in Murray Hill, by Victoria Thompson (Berkley)

Best First Novel: 

*Well Read, Then Dead, by Terrie Farley 
Moran (Berkley)
Circle of Influence, by Annette Dashofy (Henery Press); 

Tagged for Death, by Sherry Harris (Kensington); 

Finding Sky, by Susan O’Brien (Henery Press); 

Murder Strikes a Pose, by Tracy Weber (Midnight Ink)

Best Non-fiction: 

*Writes of Passage: Adventures on the Writer’s Journey, edited by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Henery Press)
400 Things Cops Know: Street-Smart Lessons from a Veteran Patrolman, by Adam Plantinga (Quill Driver); 

Death Dealer: How Cops and Cadaver Dogs Brought a Killer to Justice, by Kate Flora (New Horizon Press); 

The Art of the English Murder, by Lucy Worsley (Pegasus);

The Poisoner: The Life and Crimes of Victorian England’s Most Notorious Doctor, by Stephen Bates (Overlook)

Best Short Story: 

*“The Odds Are Against Us,” by Art Taylor (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, November 2014)
“Premonition,” by Art Taylor (from Chesapeake Crimes: Homicidal Holidays, edited by Barb Goffman and Marcia Talley; Wildside Press);

“The Shadow Knows,” by Barb Goffman (from Chesapeake Crimes: Homicidal Holidays);

“Just Desserts for Johnny,” by Edith Maxwell (Kings River Life Magazine, January 4, 2014);

“The Blessing Witch,” by Kathy Lynn Emerson (from Best New England Crime Stories 2015: Rogue Wave, edited by Mark Ammons, Katherine Fast, Barbara Ross, and Leslie Wheeler; Level Best)

Best Children’s/Young Adult: 

*The Code Buster’s Club, Case #4, The Mummy’s Curse, by Penny Warner (Egmont USA)
Andi Under Pressure, by Amanda Flower (ZonderKidz);

Greenglass House, by Kate Milford (Clarion); 

Uncertain Glory, by Lea Wait (Islandport Press);

Found, by Harlan Coben (Putnam Juvenile)

In addition, Sara Paretsky was presented with Malice Domestic’s Lifetime Achievement Award for her many contributions to the mystery-fiction genre.

Congratulations to all the winners!

2014 Agatha Award Nominees

Malice Domestic have announced the 2014 Agatha Award nominees.

The winners will be announced at the Agatha Awards Banquet at Malice Domestic on May 2, 2015.

Best Contemporary Novel

The Good, The Bad and The Emus by Donna Andrews (Minotaur Books)
A Demon Summer by G.M.Malliet (Minotaur Books)
Truth Be Told by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Forge Books)
The Long Way Home by Louise Penny (Minotaur Books)
Designated Daughters by Margaret Maron (Grand Central Publishing)

Best Historical Novel

Hunting Shadows by Charles Todd (William Morrow)
An Unwilling Accomplice by Charles Todd (William Morrow)
Wouldn't it Be Deadly by D.E. Ireland (Minotaur Books)
Queen of Hearts by Rhys Bowen (Berkley)
Murder in Murray Hill by Victoria Thompson (Berkley)

Best First Novel

Circle of Influence by Annette Riggle Dashofy (Henery Press)
Tagged for Death by Sherry Novinger Harrisrry (Kensington Publishing)
Finding Sky by Susan O'Brien (Henery Press)
Well Read, Then Dead by Terrie Farley Moran (Berkley Prime Crime)
Murder Strikes a Pose by Tracy Weber (Midnight Ink)

Best Nonfiction

400 Things Cops Know: Street Smart Lessons from a Veteran Patrolman by Adam Plantinga (Quill Driver Books)
Writes of Passage: Adventures on the Writer's Journey by Hank Phillippi Ryan (ed) (Henery Press)
Death Dealer: How Cops and Cadaver Dogs Brought a Killer to Justice by Kate Flora (New Horizon Press)
The Art of the English Murder by Lucy Worsley (Pegasus Books)
The Poisoner: The Life and Crimes of Victorian England's Most Notorious Doctor by Stephen Bates (Overlook Hardcover)

Best Short Story

"The Odds are Against Us" by Art Taylor (EQMM)
"Premonition" (Chesapeake Crimes Homicidal Holidays) by Art Taylor (Wildside Press)
"The Shadow Knows" (Chesapeake Crimes Homicidal Holidays) by Barb Goffman (Wildside Press)
"Just Desserts for Johnny" by Edith Maxwell (Kings River Life Magazine)
"The Blessing Witch" (Best New England Crime Stories 2015: Rogue Wave) by Kathy Lynn Emerson (Level Best Books)

Best Children's/Young Adult

Andi Under Pressure by Amanda Flower (ZonderKidz)

Greenglass House by Kate Milford (Clarion Books)
Uncertain Glory by Lea Wait (Islandport Press)
The Code Buster's Club, Case #4, The Mummy's Curse by Penny Warner (Egmont USA)
Found by Harlen Coben (Putnam Juvenile)

Congratulations to all the nominees.