Macavity Award Nominations 2025

 

The Macavity Award nominations are for (for works published in 2024)

The Macavity Award is named after Macavity: The Mystery Cat, in T.S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats! 

The Macavity Awards are nominated and voted on by members of Mystery Readers International, subscribers to Mystery Readers Journal, and friends of MRI. 

Best Mystery Novel

Hall of Mirrors by John Copenhaver (Pegasus Crime)

Served Cold by James L’Etoile (Level Best Books)

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore (Riverhead)

California Bear by Duane Swierczynski (Mulholland)

The In Crowd by Charlotte Vassell (Doubleday)

All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker (Crown)

Best First Mystery

Outraged by Brian Copeland (Dutton)

A Reluctant Spy by David Goodman (Headline)

Ghosts of Waikiki by Jennifer K. Morita (Crooked Lane)

You Know What You Did by K.T. Nguyen (Dutton)

The Expat by Hansen Shi (Pegasus Crime)

Holy City by Henry Wise (Atlantic Monthly Press)

Best Mystery Short Story

“Home Game” by Craig Faustus Buck (in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, July/August 2024)

“The Postman Always Flirts Twice” by Barb Goffman (in Agatha and Derringer Get Cozy)

“Curse of the Super Taster” by Leslie Karst (in Black Cat Weekly, Feb 23, 2024)

“Two for One” by Art Taylor (in Murder, Neat)

“Satan’s Spit” by Gabriel Valjan (in Tales of Music, Murder, and Mayhem)

“Reynisfjara” by Kristopher Zgorski (in Mystery Most International)

Best Historical Mystery

The Wharton Plot by Mariah Fredericks (Minotaur)

An Art Lover’s Guide to Paris and Murder by Dianne Freeman (Kensington)

Fog City by Claire Johnson (Level Best Books)

The Murder of Mr. Ma by John Shen Yen Nee and S.J. Rozan (Soho Crime)

The Bootlegger’s Daughter by Nadine Nettmann (Lake Union)

A Grave Robbery by Deanna Raybourn (Berkley)

Best Nonfiction/Critical

Writing the Cozy Mystery: Authors’ Perspectives on Their Craft edited by Phyllis M. Betz (McFarland)

Some of My Best Friends Are Murderers: Critiquing the Columbo Killers by Chris Chan (Level Best Books)

Witch of New York: The Trials of Polly Bodine and the Cursed Birth of Tabloid Justice by Alex Hortis (Pegasus Crime)

The Infernal Machine: A True Story of Dynamite, Terror, and the Rise of the Modern Detective by Steven Johnson  (Crown)

On Edge: Gender and Genre in the Work of Shirley Jackson, Patricia Highsmith, and Leigh Brackett by Ashley Lawson  (Ohio State University Press)

Abingdon’s Boardinghouse Murder by Greg Lilly (History Press)

Congratulations to all!

2023 MACAVITY AWARDS: Mystery Readers International

 The Macavity Nominations 2023 (for works published in 2022)

The Macavity Awards are nominated and voted on by members of Mystery Readers International, subscribers to Mystery Readers Journal, and friends of MRI. The winners will be announced at opening ceremonies at the San Diego Bouchercon in late August. 

Best Mystery Novel

Back to the Garden by Laurie R. King (Bantam)

Two Nights in Lisbon by Chris Pavone (MCD)

A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny (Minotaur)

A Heart Full of Headstones by Ian Rankin (Little, Brown)

Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn (Berkley)

Secret Identity by Alex Segura (Flatiron Books)

Best First Novel

Before You Knew My Name by Jacqueline Bublitz (Atria/EmilyBestler) 

Shutter by Ramona Emerson (Soho Crime)

Devil’s Chew Toy by Rob Osler (Crooked Lane Books)

The Verifiers by Jane Pek (Vintage Books)

The Maid by Nita Prose (Ballantine)

Best Mystery Short Story

“The Landscaper’s Wife” by Brendan DuBois (Mystery Tribune, Aug/Sep 2022)
“Beauty and the Beyotch” by Barb Goffman (Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, Jan 2022)

“First You Dream, Then You Die” by Donna Moore (in Black is the Night, Titan Books)

“Schrödinger, Cat” by Anna Scotti (Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Mar/Apr 2022) 

“Stockholm” by Catherine Steadman (Amazon Original Stories)

“The Angel of Rome” by Jess Walter (in The Angel of Rome and Other Stories, Harper)

“My Two-Legs” by Melissa Yi (Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Sep/Oct 2022)

Best Mystery Critical/Biographical

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

The Bloomsbury Handbook to Agatha Christie edited by Mary Anna Evans & J.C. Bernthal (Bloomsbury Academic)

The Crime World of Michael Connelly: A Study of His Works and Their Adaptations by David Geherin (McFarland)

Agatha Christie: An Elusive Woman by Lucy Worsley (Pegasus Crime)

Sue Feder Memorial Award for Best Historical Mystery

The Lindbergh Nanny by Mariah Fredericks (Minotaur)

In Place of Fear by Catriona McPherson (Hodder & Stoughton)

Anywhere You Run by Wanda M. Morris (William Morrow)

The Secret in the Wall by Ann Parker (Poisoned Pen Press)

One-Shot Harry by Gary Phillips (Soho Crime)

Lavender House by Lev AC Rosen (Forge)

Congratulations to all.

2022 Macavity Nominees Announced

 

The Macavity Award Nominees 2022 

(for works published in 2021)

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 the Minneapolis Bouchercon.

If you're a member of MRI, a subscriber to MRJ, or a friend of MRI, you will receive a ballot later this week, so get reading. Ballots will be due by August 15.

BEST MYSTERY NOVEL

The Dark Hours by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown and Co.) 

Razorblade Tears by S. A. Cosby (Flatiron Books)

1979 by Val McDermid (Atlantic Monthly)

Bobby March Will Live Forever by Alan Parks(World Noir)

We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker (Henry Holt)

Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead (Doubleday)

BEST FIRST MYSTERY NOVEL

Who is Maude Dixon? by Alexandra Andrews (Little, Brown) 

Girl A by Abigail Dean (Viking)

Deer Season by Erin Flanagan (University of Nebraska Press)

Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala (Berkley)

All Her Little Secrets by Wanda M. Morris (William Morrow)

BEST MYSTERY SHORT STORY

“Lucky Thirteen,” by Tracy Clark (Midnight Hour, Crooked Lane Books)

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

“Curious Incidents,”by Steve Hockensmith (EQMM, January/February 2021)

“The Road to Hana,”by R.T. Lawton (AHMM, May/June 2021)

“The White Star,” by G.M. Malliet (EQMM, July/August 2021)

“The Locked Room Library,”by Gigi Pandian (EQMM, July/August 2021)

“Julius Katz and the Two Cousins,”by Dave Zeltserman (EQMM, July/August 2021) 

BEST NONFICTION/CRITICAL

Agatha Christie’s Poirot: The Greatest Detective in the World by Mark Aldridge (HarperCollins)

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

The Confidence Men: How Two Prisoners of War Engineered the Most Remarkable Escape in History by Margalit Fox (Random House)

The Unquiet Englishman: A Life of Graham Greene by Richard Greene (W.W. Norton)

Tony Hillerman: A Life by James McGrath Morris (University of Oklahoma)

The Reason for the Darkness of the Night: Edgar Allan Poe and the Forging of American Science by John Tresch (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) 

The Twelve Lives of Alfred Hitchcock: An Anatomy of the Master of Suspense by Edward White (W.W. Norton)

BEST HISTORICAL MYSTERY

The Venice Sketchbook by Rhys Bowen (Lake Union)

Clark and Division by Naomi Hirahara (Soho Crime)

The Hollywood Spy by Susan Elia MacNeal (Bantam)

The Bombay Prince by Sujata Massey (Soho Crime)

Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Del Rey)

Death at Greenway by Lori Rader-Day (William Morrow)

Congratulations to all the nominated authors

Macavity Award Winners 2021

 

The Macavity Awards are nominated and voted on by members of Mystery Readers International, subscribers to Mystery Readers Journal, and friends of MRI.

The Macavty Awards 2021 are for works published in 2020. The Macavity Shortlist can be found here.

Best Novel:

Blacktop Wasteland by S.A. Cosby (Flatiron)

Best First Novel:

Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden (Ecco)

Best Critical/Biographical:

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

Best Short Story:

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

Sue Feder Memorial Award for Best Historical Mystery:

Turn to Stone by James W. Ziskin (Seventh Street)

Congratulations to all

2020 Macavity Awards

 The Macavity Awards are nominated by members of Mystery Readers International, subscribers to Mystery Readers Journal, and friends of MRI. The winners were announced at opening ceremonies at Virtual Bouchercon2020 Sacramento. Congratulations to all.

Best Mystery Novel

The Chain by Adrian McKinty (Mulholland)

Best First Mystery

One Night Gone by Tara Laskowski (Graydon House)

Best Mystery Short Story
“Better Days,” by Art Taylor (EQMM, May/June 2019)

Best Mystery Nonfiction/Critical

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

Sue Feder Memorial Award for Best Historical Mystery
The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott (Vintage)

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 Winners 2017

The Macavity Awards are nominated by members of Mystery Readers International, subscribers to Mystery Readers Journal and friends of MRI. The winners were announced at the opening ceremonies at Bouchercon in Toronto. Congratulations to all.

Best Novel
A Great Reckoning, by Louise Penny (Minotaur)

Best First Novel
IQ, by Joe Ide (Mulholland Books)

Best Short Story
 “Parallel Play,” by Art Taylor (Chesapeake Crimes: Storm Warning, Wildside Press)

Sue Feder Memorial Award for Best Historical Novel
Heart of Stone, by James W. Ziskin (Seventh Street Books)

Best Nonfiction
Sara Paretsky: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction, Margaret Kinsman (McFarland)

Hat tip to Mystery Fanfare

MACAVITY AWARD NOMINEES 2016

The Macavity Awards are nominated by and voted on 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 New Orleans in September. Congratulations to all.

Best Mystery

Little Black Lies by Sharon Bolton (Minotaur)

The Long and Faraway Gone by Lou Berney  (Morrow)

The Hot Countries by Tim Hallinan (Soho)

The Child Garden by Catriona McPherson (Midnight Ink)

Life or Death by Michael Robotham (Mulholland)

The Cartel by Don Winslow (Knopf)

Best First Mystery

Concrete Angel by Patricia Abbott (Polis)

Past Crimes by Glen Erik Hamilton (Morrow)

The Killing Kind by Chris Holm (Mulholland)

Where All Light Tends to Go by David Joy  (Putnam)

The Unquiet Dead by Ausma Zehanat Khan (Minotaur)

On the Road with Del and Louise by Art Taylor (Henery)

Best Critical/Biographical

The Golden Age of Murder: The Mystery of the Writers Who Invented the Modern Detective Story by Martin Edwards (HarperCollins)

A Is for Arsenic: The Poisons of Agatha Christie by Kathryn Harkup (Bloomsbury Sigma)

Meanwhile There Are Letters: The Correspondence of Eudora Welty and Ross Macdonald, edited by Suzanne Marrs & Tom Nolan (Arcade)

Forensics: What Bugs, Burns, Prints, DNA, and More Tell Us About Crime by Val McDermid (Grove)

The Lost Detective: Becoming Dashiell Hammett by Nathan Ward (Bloomsbury)

Best Short Story

"The Little Men" by Megan Abbott (MysteriousPress.com/Open Road)

"On Borrowed Time" by Mat Coward (Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, June 2015)

"Sob Sister" by Loren D. Estleman (Detroit Is Our Beat: Tales of the Four Horsemen, Tyrus)

"A Year Without Santa Claus" by Barb Goffman (Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, January/February 2015)

"Quack and Dwight" by Travis Richardson (Jewish Noir, ed. Kenneth Wishnia, PM Press)

"A Joy Forever" by B.K. Stevens (Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, March 2015)

Sue Feder Historical Mystery Award

The Masque of a Murderer by Susanna Calkins  (Minotaur)

A Gilded Grave by Shelley Freydont (Berkley Prime Crime)

Tom & Lucky (and George & Cokey Flo) by C. Joseph Greaves (Bloomsbury)

The Lady from Zagreb by Philip Kerr (Putnam)

Secret Life of Anna Blanc by Jennifer Kincheloe (Seventh Street)

Dreaming Spies by Laurie R. King (Bantam) 

For more information about the Macavity Awards and past nominees and winners, go HERE.

Macavity Nominations 2013

The 2013 Macavity Award nominations have recently been announced.  They are as follows -

Best Mystery Novel:
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (Crown)
The Black House by Peter May (Silver Oak)
The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny (Minotaur)
The Other Woman by Hank Philippi Ryan (Forge)
The Art Forger by B.A. Shapiro (Algonquin Books)
The Twenty Year Death by Ariel S. Winter (Hard Case Crime)
The Last Policeman: A Novel by Ben H. Winters (Quirk Books)

Best First Mystery Novel:
Low Country Boil by Susan M. Boyer (Henery Press)
Don't Ever Get Old by Daniel Friedman (Minotaur Books-Thomas Dunn) 
Mr. Churchill's Secretary by Susan Elia MacNeal (Random House -Bantam)
The Expats by Chris Pavone (Crown)

Best Mystery Non-Fiction:
Books to Die For: The World's Greatest Mystery Writers on the World's Greatest Mystery Novels, edited by John Connolly and Declan Burke (Simon & Schuster - Atria/Emily Bestler)
Midnight in Peking: How the Murder of a Young Englishwoman Haunted the Last Days of Old China by Paul French (Penguin)
In Pursuit of Spenser: Mystery Writers on Robert B. Parker and the Creation of an American Hero, edited by Otto Penzler (BenBella/Smart Pop)

Best Mystery Short Story:
"The Lord Is My Shamus" by Barb Goffman in Chesapeake Crimes: This Job Is Murder (Wildside)
"The Unremarkable Heart" by Karin Slaughter in Mystery Writers of America Presents Vengeance (Little, Brown - Mulholland Books)
"Thea's First Husband" by B.K. Stevens in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, June 2012
"When Duty Calls" by Art Taylor in Chesapeake Crimes: This Job is Murder (Wildside Press)
"Blind Justice" by Jim Fusilli in Mystery Writers of America Presents Vengeance (Little, Brown - Mulholland Books)
"The Sequel" (a novella) by Jeffrey Deaver in The Strand Magazine, November-February 2012-2013

Sue Feder Historical Memorial Award:
A City of Broken Glass by Rebecca Cantrell (Forge)
Princess Elizabeth's Spy by Susan Elia MacNeal (Random House-Bantam)
The Confession by Charles Todd (HarperCollins)
An Unmarked Grave by Charles Todd (HarperCollins)
Elegy For Eddie by Jacqueline Winspear (HarperCollins)

Novels/stories were published for the first time in the U.S. in 2012. This award is nominated by and voted on by members and supporters of Mystery Readers International, as well as subscribers to Mystery Readers Journal. Winners will be announced at Bouchercon, the World Mystery Convention, in September, in Albany this year. The Macavity Award is named after the "mystery cat" of T.S. Eliot  Congratulations and good luck to all the nominees- 

Thanks to Janet Rudolph for the information!

Results of the Macavity and Barry Awards from Bouchercon 2012 Cleveland, Ohio

The opening ceremony and reception has taken place at Bouchercon on Thursday evening.  The event took place at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Peter James with his Barry Award - © Ali Karim 2012

The Awards given out were the Macavity Award and the Barry Award.

The results are as follows –

Barry Award

Best novel – The Keeper of Lost Causes (aka Mercy) by Jussi Adler Olsen

Best first novel – The Informationist by Taylor Stevens

Best British Novel – Dead Man’s Grip by Peter James

Best Paperback Original – Death of the Mantis by Michael Stanley

Best Thriller – The Informants by Thomas Perry

Best Short Story – The Gun Also Rises by Jeff Cohen

Don Sandstrom Fan Award was awarded to Allen J Hubin

Macavity Award -

Best Mystery Novel – Clare De Witt and the City of Dead by Sara Gran

Best First Mystery – All Cry Chaos by Leonard Rosen

Best Mystery Non-fiction – Sookie Stackhouse Companion by Charlaine Harris Best Mystery Short Story – Disarming by Dana Cameron

Sue Feder Memorial Historical Mystery – Dandy Gilver and the Proper Treatment of Bloodstains by Catriona McPherson

Congratulations to all the winners!

Also awarded was the Dilys Award which is given by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association to the book which the member booksellers have most enjoyed selling.  The Dilys Award is named after  Dilys Winn, who founded the first specialty bookseller of mystery books in the United States.  The Award was given to S J Rozan for Ghost Hero.

Ali Karim accepting the award on behalf of Jussi Adler Olsen © Ali Karim 2012

The Short Mystery Fiction Society also re-announced the fact that author Bill Pronzini was awarded this year’s Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer Award.

Thanks to my erstwhile colleague Ali Karim for the results and the photographs!