Macavity Search

This morning brings the announcement of which books and authors have been nominated for the 2013 Macavity Awards (named in honor of the “mystery cat” from T.S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats). These contenders have been chosen by members and supporters of Mystery Readers International, as well as by subscribers to Mystery Readers Journal. And the nominees are ...

Best Mystery Novel:
• Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn (Crown)
• The Blackhouse, by Peter May (Silver Oak)
• The Beautiful Mystery, by Louise Penny (Minotaur)
• The Other Woman, by Hank Philippi Ryan (Forge)
• The Art Forger, by B.A. Shapiro (Algonquin)
• The Twenty-Year Death, by Ariel S. Winter (Hard Case Crime)
• The Last Policeman, by Ben H. Winters (Quirk)

Best Mystery First Novel:
• Low Country Boil, by Susan M. Boyer (Henery Press)
• Don’t Ever Get Old, by Daniel Friedman (Minotaur/Thomas Dunne)
• Mr. Churchill’s Secretary, by Susan Elia MacNeal (Bantam)
• The Expats, by Chris Pavone (Crown)

Best Mystery Non-Fiction:
• Books to Die For: The World’s Greatest Mystery Writers on the World’s Greatest Mystery Novels, edited by John Connolly and Declan Burke (Atria/Emily Bestler)
• Midnight in Peking: How the Murder of a Young Englishwoman Haunted the Last Days of Old China, by Paul French (Penguin)
• In Pursuit of Spenser: Mystery Writers on Robert B. Parker and the Creation of an American Hero, edited by Otto Penzler
(BenBella/Smart Pop)

Best Mystery Short Story:
• “The Lord Is My Shamus,” by Barb Goffman (in Chesapeake Crimes: This Job Is Murder, edited by Donna Andrews, Barb Goffman, and Marcia Talley; Wildside Press)
• “The Unremarkable Heart,” by Karin Slaughter (in Mystery Writers of America Presents: Vengeance, edited by Lee Child; Mulholland)
• “Thea’s First Husband,” by B.K. Stevens (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, June 2012)
• “When Duty Calls,” by Art Taylor (in Chesapeake Crimes:
This Job Is Murder)
• “Blind Justice,” by Jim Fusilli (n Mystery Writers of America Presents: Vengeance)
• “The Sequel,” by Jeffery Deaver (The Strand Magazine, November-February 2012-2013)

Sue Feder Historical Memorial Award:
• A City of Broken Glass, by Rebecca Cantrell (Forge)
• Princess Elizabeth’s Spy, by Susan Elia MacNeal (Bantam)
• The Confession, by Charles Todd (HarperCollins)
• An Unmarked Grave, by Charles Todd (HarperCollins)
• Elegy for Eddie, by Jacqueline Winspear (HarperCollins)

The winners will learn of their success during an awards ceremony to be held as part of this year’s Bouchercon in Albany, New York, September 19-22.

Congratulations to all of the nominees!