What Would Agatha Say?

Organizers of the annual Malice Domestic conference have announced the finalists for this year’s Agatha Awards. The names of winning works and authors will be declared on May 4, during Malice Domestic 31, set to be held in Bethesda, Maryland, from May 3 to 5.

Best Contemporary Novel:
• Mardi Gras Murder, by Ellen Byron (Crooked Lane)
• Beyond the Truth, by Bruce Robert Coffin (Witness Impulse)
• Cry Wolf, by Annette Dashofy (Henery Press)
• Kingdom of the Blind, by Louise Penny (Minotaur)
• Trust Me, by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Forge)

Best Historical Novel:
• Four Funerals and Maybe a Wedding, by Rhys Bowen (Berkley)
• The Gold Pawn, by L.A. Chandlar (Kensington)
• The Widows of Malabar Hill, by Sujata Massey (Soho Crime)
• Turning the Tide, by Edith Maxwell (Midnight Ink)
• Murder on Union Square, by Victoria Thompson (Berkley)

Best First Novel:
• A Lady’s Guide to Etiquette and Murder, by Dianne Freeman (Kensington)
• Little Comfort, by Edwin Hill (Kensington)
• What Doesn’t Kill You, by Aimee Hix (Midnight Ink)
• Deadly Solution, by Keenan Powell (Level Best)
• Curses Boiled Again, by Shari Randall (St. Martin’s Press)

Best Short Story:
• “All God’s Sparrows,” by Leslie Budewitz (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine [AHMM], May/June 2018)
• “A Postcard for the Dead,” by Susanna Calkins (from Florida Happens, edited by Greg Herren; Three Rooms Press)
• “Bug Appetit,” by Barb Goffman (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine [EQMM], November/December 2018)
• “The Case of the Vanishing Professor,” by Tara Laskowski (AHMM, May/June 2018)
• “English 398: Fiction Workshop,” by Art Taylor (EQMM,
July/August 2018)

Best Young Adult Mystery:
• Potion Problems (Just Add Magic), by Cindy Callaghan (Aladdin)
• Winterhouse, by Ben Guterson (Henry Holt)
• A Side of Sabotage, by C.M. Surrisi (Carolrhoda)

Best Non-fiction:
• Mastering Plot Twists: How to Use Suspense, Targeted Storytelling Strategies, and Structure to Captivate Your Readers, by Jane Cleland (Writer’s Digest Books)
• Writing the Cozy Mystery, by Nancy J. Cohen (Orange Grove Press)
• Conan Doyle for the Defense: The True Story of a Sensational British Murder, a Quest for Justice, and the World’s Most Famous Detective Writer, by Margalit Fox (Random House)
• Agatha Christie: A Mysterious Life, by Laura Thompson
(Pegasus Books)
• Wicked Women of Ohio, by Jane Ann Turzillo (History Press)

Best of luck to all the nominees!