A Macavity Celebration in St. Pete

Tonight brought the opening of Bouchercon 2018, in St. Petersburg, Florida, and the announcement of this year’s Macavity Award winners. As Janet Rudolph explains in Mystery Fanfare, “The Macavity Awards are nominated by members of Mystery Readers International, subscribers to Mystery Readers Journal, and friends of MRI.”

Best Mystery Novel: Magpie Murders, by Anthony Horowitz (Harper)

Also nominated: The Marsh King’s Daughter, by Karen Dionne (Putnam); Bluebird, Bluebird, by Attica Locke (Mulholland); Glass Houses, by Louise Penny (Minotaur); The Old Man, by Thomas Perry (Mysterious Press); and The Force, by Don Winslow (Morrow)

Best First Mystery Novel: The Lost Ones, by Sheena Kamal (Morrow)

Also nominated: Hollywood Homicide, by Kellye Garrett (Midnight Ink); The Dry, by Jane Harper (Flatiron); She Rides Shotgun, by Jordan Harper (Ecco); The Last Place You Look, by Kristen Lepionka (Minotaur); and Lost Luggage, by Wendall Thomas (Poisoned Pen Press)

Best Mystery-Related Non-Fiction: The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books, by Martin Edwards (Poisoned Pen Press/British Library)

Also nominated: From Holmes to Sherlock: The Story of the Men and Women Who Created an Icon, by Mattias Bostrom (Mysterious Press); Chester B. Himes: A Biography, by Lawrence P. Jackson (Norton); The Man from the Train: The Solving of a Century-Old Serial Killer Mystery, by Bill James and Rachel McCarthy James (Scribner); Arthur and Sherlock: Conan Doyle and the Creation of Holmes, by Michael Sims (Bloomsbury); and Lady Killers: Deadly Women Throughout History, by Tori Telfer (Harper Perennial)

Best Mystery Short Story: “Windward,” by Paul D. Marks (from Coast to Coast: Private Eyes from Sea to Shining Sea, edited by Paul D. Marks and Andrew McAleer; Down & Out Books)

Also nominated: “As Ye Sow,” by Craig Faustus Buck (from Passport to Murder: Bouchercon Anthology 2017, edited by John McFetridge; Down and Out Books); “The #2 Pencil,” by Matt Coyle (from Coast to Coast: Private Eyes from Sea to Shining Sea); “Infinite Uticas,” by Terence Faherty (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, May/June 2017); “Whose Wine Is It Anyway?” by Barb Goffman (from 50 Shades of Cabernet: A Mysterious Anthology; Koehler); and “A Necessary Ingredient,” by Art Taylor (from Coast to Coast: Private Eyes from Sea to Shining Sea)

Sue Feder Memorial Award for Best Historical Mystery: In Farleigh Field, by Rhys Bowen (Lake Union)

Also nominated: Dangerous to Know, by Renee Patrick (Forge); The Devouring, by James R. Benn (Soho Crime); Cast the First Stone, by James W. Ziskin (Seventh Street); Racing the Devil, by Charles Todd (Morrow); and A Rising Man, by Abir Mukherjee (Pegasus)

Congratulations to the winners and other nominees alike!