The Kiss of Death's Delights

The Kiss of Death Chapter of Romantic Writers of America announced the winners of the 2024 Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense. The award is named for Daphne du Maurier, the author of Rebecca, a suspense novel with romantic and gothic overtones and a precursor to today’s romantic suspense. The writing contest is for published and unpublished authors of mystery, suspense, and thrillers with or without romantic subplots. Congrats to all!

Published Division Finalists

 

Overall Winner – Now and Always — CJ Burright

Cozy Mystery Suspense

• 1st – Murder Among The Roses — Liz Fielding
• 2nd – Murder in Fourth Position  — Lori Robbins
• 3rd – The Portraits of Pemberley — Elizabeth Gilliland

Historical Romantic Mystery Suspense

• 1st – Conflagration! — donalee Moulton
• 2nd – Confessions to a Stranger — Danielle Grandinetti
• 3rd – Glory and the Master of Shadows — Grace Callaway

Long Romantic Mystery Suspense

• 1st – Above ‘N’ Beyond —Tee O’Fallon
• 2nd – Cliffhaven — A. M. Grimm
• 3rd – Dead Keen (Things Unseen, Book 2) — Anise Eden

Mainstream Mystery Suspense

• 1st – Against All Enemies — Vannetta Chapman
• 2nd – The Buried Hours  — Rachel Grant/R. S. Grant
• 3rd – These Still Black Waters —Christina McDonald

 Short Romantic Mystery Suspense

• 1st – Don’t Close Your Eyes — Mary Alford
• 2nd – Killer Christmas Evidence — Sami A. Abrams
• 3rd – Eliminating the Witness — Jordyn Redwood

Romantic Suspense Category

• 1st – Now and Always — CJ Burright
• 2nd – Healing Kiss — Amanda Uhl
• 3rd – The Offer — DL Wood

 

Unpublished Division Finalists

 

Overall Winner – Monkshood — Lorna Peplow

Long Romantic Mystery Suspense

• 1st – Golden Bluff Ghost Town — Breana Johnson
• 2nd – The Night Hunter  — Mari Clark
• 3rd – What Remains Behind  — Rodney Walther

Mainstream Mystery Suspense

• 1st – Monkshood — Lorna Peplow
• 2nd – Gray Matter — Brandon Reed Sherman
• 3rd – About the Dress — Judy Hock

Romantic Suspense Category

• 1st – Death in Miniature — Pamela Ruth Meyer
• 2nd – Courtship of Lies — LaVerne St. George
• 3rd – Fate is a Cursed Word  — Anne Belen