Agatha Award Accolades

Winners of the annual Agatha Awards were announced at the Agatha Awards Banquet on Saturday night during the Malice Domestic Conference, held in Bethesda, MD. The  awards celebrate the traditional mystery, best typified by the works of Agatha Christie. The genre is loosely defined as mysteries that contain no explicit sex, excessive gore, or gratuitous violence, and would not be classified as "hard-boiled." ​Congrats to all the winners and finalists!

Best Contemporary Novel:  A Midnight Puzzle by Gigi Pandian

Also nominated:

• A Collection Of Lies by Connie Berry
•  Very Woodsy Murder by Ellen Byron
• Fondue Or Die by Korina Moss
• The Dark Wives by Ann Cleeves

Best Historical Novel:  To Slip The Bonds Of Earth by Amanda Flower

Also nominated:

• Hall Of Mirrors by John Copenhaver
• The Last Hope by Susan Elia MacNeal
• The Paris Mistress by Mally Becker
• The Wharton Plot by Mariah Fredericks

Best First Novel:  You Know What You Did by K.T. Nguyen

Also nominated:

• A Deadly Endeavor by Jenny Adams
• Ghosts Of WaikīkĪ by Jennifer K. Morita
• Hounds Of The Hollywood Baskervilles by Elizabeth Crowens
• Threads Of Deception by Elle Jauffret

Best Short Story:  "The Postman Always Flirts Twice" by Barb Goffman, Agatha and Derringer Get Cozy

Also nominated:

• "A Matter Of Trust" by Barb Goffman, Three Strikes—You're Dead
• "Reynisfjara" by Kristopher Zgorski, Mystery Most International
• "Satan’s Spit" by Gabriel Valjan, Tales of Music, Murder and Mayhem: Bouchercon 2024
• "Sins Of The Father" by Kerry Hammond, Mystery Most International

Best Non-fiction:  Writing The Cozy Mystery: Authors' Perspectives On Their Craft Edited by Phyllis M. Betz

Also nominated:

• Abingdon's Boardinghouse Murder by Greg Lilly
• Agatha Christie, Marple: Expert On Wickedness by Mark Aldridge
• Some Of My Best Friends Are Murderers: Critiquing The Columbo Killers by Chris Chan
• The Bookshop: A History Of The American Bookstore by Evan Friss

Best Children's/YA:  The Big Grey Man Of Ben Macdhui by K.B. Jackson

Also nominated:

• First Week Free At The Roomy Toilet: A June Knight Mystery by Josh Pachter
• Sasquatch of Harriman Lake by K.B. Jackson
• Sid Johnson & The Well-Intended Conspiracy by Frances Schoonmaker
• he Sherlock Society by James Ponti