Agathas Find Their New Owners

Thanks to Oline Cogdill of Mystery Scene, we can now give you the winners of the 2015 Agatha Awards. These prizes, honoring “traditional mysteries” (those without explicit sex scenes, excessive gore, or unnecessary violence) were handed out during a banquet earlier this evening at the 27th annual Malice Domestic Conference, which is being held this weekend in Bethesda, Maryland.

Best Contemporary: Truth Be Told, by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Forge)

Also nominated: The Good, the Bad, and the Emus, by Donna Andrews (Minotaur); A Demon Summer, by G.M. Malliet (Minotaur); The Long Way Home, by Louise Penny (Minotaur); and Designated Daughters, by Margaret Maron (Grand Central)

Best Historical Novel: Queen of Hearts, by Rhys Bowen (Berkley)

Also nominated: Hunting Shadows, by Charles Todd (Morrow); An Unwilling Accomplice, by Charles Todd (Morrow); Wouldn’t It Be Deadly, by D.E. Ireland (Minotaur); and Murder in Murray Hill, by Victoria Thompson (Berkley)

Best First Novel: Well Read, Then Dead, by Terrie Farley
Moran (Berkley)

Also nominated: Circle of Influence, by Annette Dashofy (Henery Press); Tagged for Death, by Sherry Harris (Kensington); Finding Sky, by Susan O’Brien (Henery Press); and Murder Strikes a Pose, by Tracy Weber (Midnight Ink)

Best Non-fiction: Writes of Passage: Adventures on the Writer’s Journey, edited by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Henery Press)

Also nominated: 400 Things Cops Know: Street-Smart Lessons from a Veteran Patrolman, by Adam Plantinga (Quill Driver); Death Dealer: How Cops and Cadaver Dogs Brought a Killer to Justice, by Kate Flora (New Horizon Press); The Art of the English Murder, by Lucy Worsley (Pegasus); and The Poisoner: The Life and Crimes of Victorian England’s Most Notorious Doctor, by Stephen Bates (Overlook)

Best Short Story: “The Odds Are Against Us,” by Art Taylor (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, November 2014)

Also nominated: “Premonition,” by Art Taylor (from Chesapeake Crimes: Homicidal Holidays, edited by Barb Goffman and Marcia Talley; Wildside Press); “The Shadow Knows,” by Barb Goffman (from Chesapeake Crimes: Homicidal Holidays); “Just Desserts for Johnny,” by Edith Maxwell (Kings River Life Magazine, January 4, 2014); and “The Blessing Witch,” by Kathy Lynn Emerson (from Best New England Crime Stories 2015: Rogue Wave, edited by Mark Ammons, Katherine Fast, Barbara Ross, and Leslie Wheeler; Level Best)

Best Children’s/Young Adult: The Code Buster’s Club, Case #4, The Mummy’s Curse, by Penny Warner (Egmont USA)

Also nominated: Andi Under Pressure, by Amanda Flower (ZonderKidz); Greenglass House, by Kate Milford (Clarion); Uncertain Glory, by Lea Wait (Islandport Press); and Found, by Harlan Coben (Putnam Juvenile)

In addition, Sara Paretsky was presented with Malice Domestic’s Lifetime Achievement Award for her many contributions to the mystery-fiction genre.

READ MORE: “Malice Domestic 27 (2015)--The BOLO Books Recap,” by Kristopher Zgorski (BOLO Books).