On April 27, 2024, Malice Domestic presented the 2023 Agatha Awards during Malice Domestic 36. Malice Domestic is an annual fan convention that takes place in Bethesda, Maryland. The convention is for fans of traditional mysteries. Books and stories typified by the works of Agatha Christie, which contain “no explicit sex, or excessive gore or violence. These awards were for books and stories published in 2023. Our congratulations to all the nominees. (The winners are listed first.)
2022 Agatha Awards Winners and Nominees
Best Contemporary Novel
Winner—The Weekend Retreat by Tara Laskowski (Graydon House)
Wined and Died in New Orleans by Ellen Byron (Berkley)
Helpless by Annette Dashofy (Level Best Books)
Case of the Bleus by Korina Moss (Minotaur)
The Raven Thief by Gigi Pandian (Minotaur)
Best Historical Novel
Winner—The Mistress of Bhatia House by Sujata Massey (Soho Crime)
Death Among the Ruins by Susanna Calkins (Severn House)
Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Lord by Celeste Connally (Minotaur)
I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died by Amanda Flower (Berkley)
Times Undoing by Cheryl A. Head (Dutton)
Best First Novel
Winner—Crime and Parchment by Daphne Silver (Level Best Books)
Glory Be by Danielle Arceneaux (Pegasus Crime)
The Hint of Light by Kristin Kisska (Lake Union Publishing)
Dutch Threat by Josh Pachter (Genius Book Publishing)
Mother-Daughter Murder Night by Nina Simon (William Morrow)
Best Children’s / Young Adult Novel
Winner—The Sasquatch of Hawthorne Elementary by K.B. Jackson (Reycraft Books)
Myrtle, Means, and Opportunity by Elizabeth C. Bunce (Algonquin Young Readers)
Arana and Spiderman by Alex Segura (Marvel Press)
The Mystery of the Radcliffe Riddle by Taryn Sounders (Sourcebooks Young Readers)
Enola Holmes and the Mark of the Mongoose by Nancy Springer (Wednesday Books)
Best Short Story
Winner—”Ticket to Ride” by Dru Ann Love and Kristopher Zgorski, (Happiness Is a Warm Gun: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of the Beatles)
“The Knife Sharpener” by Shelley Costa (Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, July/August 2023.)
“A Good Judge of Character” by Tina deBellegarde (Malice Domestic 17: Murder Most Traditional)
“Real Courage” by Barb Goffman (Black Cat Mystery Magazine, October 2023)
“Shamu, World’s Greatest Detective” by Richie Narvaez (Killin’ Time in San Diego)
Best Non-fiction
Winner—Finders: Justice, Faith, and Identity in Irish Crime Fiction by Anjili Babber (Syracuse University Press)
Perplexing Plots: Popular Storytelling and the Poetics of Murder by David Bordwell (Columbia University Press)
A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and the Life of Edgar Allan Poe by Mark Dawidziak (St. Martin’s Press)
Fallen Angel: The Life of Edgar Allan Poe by Robert Morgan (LSU Press)
2023 Agatha Awards Winners and Nominees @OpeningaMystery @TimSuddeth #cozymystery Click To Tweet