Announcing 2016’s Agatha Awards Nominees

Malice Domestic, an annual convention held in Washington DC honoring the best of the traditional/cozy mystery genre, has announced the nominees for this year's Agatha Awards.  Loosely defined as “mysteries which contain no explicit sex or excessive gore or violence,” the Agatha Award salutes the books best typified by the works of Agatha Christie.

This year, the annual banquet will be held on Saturday, April 30th, 2016 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Bethesda, Maryland. As always, it's a fantastic list of great work that deserves to be checked out! What have you read already?

*Follow the linked titles to exclusive excerpts!

 

Best Contemporary Novel:

Burned Bridges by Annette Dashofy
Long Upon the Land by Margaret Maron
The Child Garden by Catriona McPherson
Nature of the Beast by Louise Penny
What You See by Hank Phillipi Ryan

 

Best Historical Novel:

Malice at the Palace by Rhys Bowen
The Masque of a Murderer by Susanna Calkins
Dreaming Spies by Laurie R. King
Mrs. Roosevelt’s Confidante by Susan Elia Macneal
Murder on Amsterdam Avenue by Victoria Thompson

 

Best First Novel:

Death of a Dishonorable Gentleman by Tessa Arlen
Macdeath by Cindy Brown
Plantation Shudders by Ellen Byron
Just Killing Time by Julianne Holmes
On the Road with Del and Louise by Art Taylor

 

Best Nonfiction:

The Great Detective: The Amazing Rise and Immortal Life of Sherlock Holmes by Zack Dundas
The Golden Age of Murder: The Mystery of the Writers Who Invented the Modern Detective Story by Martin Edwards
A is for Arsenic: The Poisons of Agatha Christie by Kathryn Harkup
Unsolved Murders and Disappearances in Northeast Ohio by Jane Ann Turzillo
The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook: Wickedly Good Meals and Desserts to Die For by Kate White (Editor), Harlan Coben (Contributor) and Gillian Flynn (Contributor)

 

Best Short Story:

“A Year Without Santa Claus?” – Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine by Barb Goffman
“A Questionable Death” History & Mystery, Oh My by Edith Maxwell
“A Killing at the Beausoleil” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine by Terrie Farley Moran
“Suffer the Poor” History & Mystery, Oh My by Harriette Sackler
“A Joy Forever” Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine by B.K. Stevens

 

Best Children’s/Young Adult:

Pieces and Players by Blue Balliett
Need by Joelle Charbonneau
Andi Unstoppable by Amanda Flower
Woof by Spencer Quinn
Fighting Chance: A Martial Arts Mystery by B.K. Stevens

Congratulations to all of the nominees! Good luck!