THE AGATHA AWARDS
​The 2020 Agatha Award Nominees

Best Contemporary Novel

Gift of the Magpie by Donna Andrews (Minotaur)
Murder in the Bayou Boneyard by Ellen Byron (Crooked Lane Books)
From Beer to Eternity by Sherry Harris (Kensington)
All the Devils are Here by Louise Penny (Minotaur)
The Lucky One by Lori Rader-Day (William Morrow)
 

Best Historical Novel

The Last Mrs. Summers by Rhys Bowen (Berkeley)
The Fate of a Flapper by Susanna Calkins (Griffin)
A Lady's Guide to Mischief and Murder by Dianne Freeman (Kensington)
Taken Too Soon by Edith Maxwell (Beyond the Page Publishing)
The Turning Tide by Catriona McPherson (Quercus)
 

Best First Novel

A Spell for Trouble by Esme Addison (Crooked Lane Books)
Winter Witness by Tina deBellegarde (Level Best Books)
Derailed by Mary Keliikoa (Epicenter Press, Inc.)
Murder at the Mena House by Erica Ruth Neubauer (Kensington)
Murder Most Sweet by Laura Jensen Walker (Crooked Lane Books)
 

Best Short Story

"Dear Emily Etiquette" by Barb Goffman (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine Sep/Oct)
"The Red Herrings at Killington Inn" by Shawn Reilly Simmons Masthead: Best New England Crime Stories (Level Best Books)
"The Boy Detective & The Summer of ‘74" by Art Taylor (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine Jan/Feb)
"Elysian Fields" by Gabriel Valjan California Schemin’: The 2020 Bouchercon Anthology (Wildside Press)
"The 25 Year Engagement" by James Ziskin In League with Sherlock Holmes: Stories Inspired by the Sherlock Holmes Canon (Pegasus Crime)
 

Best Non-Fiction

Sometimes You Have to Lie: The Life and Times of Louise Fitzhugh, Renegade Author of Harriet the Spy by Leslie Brody (Seal Press)
American Sherlock: Murder, Forensics, and the Birth of American CSI by Kate Winkler Dawson (G. P. Putnam)
Howdunit: A Masterclass in Crime Writing by Members of the Detection Club by Martin Edwards (Collins Crime Club)
Phantom Lady: Hollywood Producer Joan Harrison, the Forgotten Woman Behind Hitchcock by Christina Lane (Chicago Review Press)
H. R. F. Keating: A Life of Crime by Sheila Mitchell (Level Best Books)
 

Best Children's/YA Mystery

Midnight at the Barclay Hotel by Fleur Bradley (Viking Books for Young Readers)
Premeditated Myrtle by Elizabeth C. Bunce (Algonquin Young Readers)
Saltwater Secrets by Cindy Callaghan (Aladdin)
From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks (Katherine Teagen Books)
Holly Hernandez and the Death of Disco by Richard Narvaez (Piñata Books)
A Brief Summary of the Agatha Award Process
  1. ​Everyone who is registered for or becomes a Friend of Malice December 31st of any given year will receive a nomination ballot in early January.
  2. All ballots that are returned by the due date will be counted by the Agatha Awards Chair, who then prepares a slate of the top five nominees in six categories.
  3. The Malice Board verifies that the titles presented on the slate meet the criteria for their categories (confirming pub dates, etc.). The slate is approved. 
  4. The Agatha Award Nominations are announced! 
  5. Malice attendees receive an Agatha Ballot in their registration bags when they check in to the convention. Ballots that are completed and turned in by the deadline (1:00 on Saturday) are counted by the awards committee onsite, and the winners in each category are determined.​
  6. The Agatha Awards are announced at the Agatha Awards Banquet on Saturday night during Malice!
The Agatha Award Categories
Malice Attendees are invited to nominate their favorite works in the following six categories. The order in which the nominations are listed will count toward the final tally in the event of a tie. Ballots are sent via email in January to everyone who is registered for Malice before the December 31 deadline. Ballots do not need to be filled in completely to be counted. It's perfectly acceptable to nominate in less than six categories, or nominate fewer than five books or stories per category. 

The categories are:
  • Best Contemporary Novel
  • Best Historical Novel
  • Best First Novel
  • Best Nonfiction
  • Best Short Story
  • Best Children's/Young Adult Novel