The 2021 Agatha Awards Winners


On July 17, the 2021 Agatha Awards were announced July 17 at the More Than Malice, the Virtual Malice Domestic Festival. For the second year, the award ceremony was virtual and not in person.

From the Malice Domestic website, the Agatha 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’.”

The nominees are suggested by everyone who has registered for or became a Friend of Malice Domestic by the end of the previous years. The five finalists in the six categories are chosen, then the attendees vote for the winners.

For 2021, the following Agatha Award winners were selected:

Best Contemporary Novel, All the Devils Are Here by Louise Perry (Minotaur)

Best Historical Novel, The Last Mrs. Summers by Rhys Bowen (Berkeley)

Best First Novel, Murder at the Mina House by Erica Ruth Neubauer (Kensington)

Best Short Story, “Dear Emily Etiquette” by Garb Goffman (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine Sep/Oct)

Best Non-Fiction, Phantom Lady: Hollywood Producer Joan Harrison, the Forgotten Lady Behind Hitchcock by Christina Lane (Chicago Review Press)

Best Children’s / Young Adult, Holly Hernandez and the Death of Disco by Richard Narvaez (Pinata Books)

(And here is a link to the list of nominees.)


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *