Macavitys Seek Their Proper Homes

Today brings an announcement of the 2023 Macavity Award nominees, in five categories. Winners will be chosen by a vote among members of Mystery Readers International, subscribers to Mystery Readers Journal, and “friends of MRI.” Those results are to be reported during the opening ceremonies at this year’s Bouchercon, to be held in San Diego, California, from August 30 to September 3.

Best Mystery Novel:
• Back to the Garden, by Laurie R. King (Bantam)
• Two Nights in Lisbon, by Chris Pavone (MCD)
• A World of Curiosities, by Louise Penny (Minotaur)
• A Heart Full of Headstones, by Ian Rankin (Little, Brown)
• Killers of a Certain Age, by Deanna Raybourn (Berkley)
• Secret Identity, by Alex Segura (Flatiron)

Best First Mystery:
• Before You Knew My Name, by Jacqueline Bublitz (Atria/Emily Bestler)
• Five Moves of Doom, by A.J. Devlin (NeWest Press)
• Shutter, by Ramona Emerson (Soho Crime)
• Devil’s Chew Toy, by Rob Osler (Crooked Lane)
• The Verifiers, by Jane Pek (Vintage)
• The Maid, by Nita Prose (Ballantine)

Best Mystery Short Story:
• “The Landscaper’s Wife,” by Brendan DuBois (Mystery Tribune, August/September 2022)
• “Beauty and the Beyotch,” by Barb Goffman (Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, January 2022)
• “First You Dream, Then You Die,” by Donna Moore (from Black Is the Night: Stories Inspired by Cornell Woolrich, edited by Maxim Jakubowski; Titan)
• “Schrödinger, Cat” by Anna Scotti (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, March/April 2022)
• “Stockholm,” by Catherine Steadman (Amazon Original Stories)
• “The Angel of Rome,” by Jess Walter (from The Angel of Rome and Other Stories, by Jess Walter; Harper)
• “My Two-Legs,” by Melissa Yi (Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, September/October 2022)

Best Mystery Critical/Biographical:
• The Life of Crime: Detecting the History of Mysteries and Their Creators, by Martin Edwards (Collins Crime Club)
• The Bloomsbury Handbook to Agatha Christie, edited by Mary Anna Evans and J.C. Bernthal (Bloomsbury Academic)
• The Crime World of Michael Connelly: A Study of His Works and Their Adaptations, by David Geherin (McFarland)
• Agatha Christie: An Elusive Woman, by Lucy Worsley (Pegasus Crime)

Sue Feder Memorial Award for Best Historical Mystery:
• The Lindbergh Nanny, by Mariah Fredericks (Minotaur)
• In Place of Fear, by Catriona McPherson (Hodder & Stoughton)
• Anywhere You Run, by Wanda M. Morris (Morrow)
• The Secret in the Wall, by Ann Parker (Poisoned Pen Press)
• One-Shot Harry, by Gary Phillips (Soho Crime)
• Lavender House, by Lev A.C. Rosen (Forge)

As the MRI Web site explains, “The Macavity Award is named for the ‘mystery cat’ of T.S. Eliot (Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats).”