Monday, January 29, 2018

No Sex or Gory Violence, Please

Organizers of the Malice Domestic conference, which is set to take place this year in Bethesda, Maryland, from April 27 to 29, have announced their nominees for the 2017 Agatha Awards. According to press materials, “The Agatha Awards honor the ‘traditional mystery.’ That is to say, books best typified by the works of Agatha Christie as well as others.” Below are the six categories of contenders.

Best Contemporary Novel:
Death Overdue, by Allison Brook (Crooked Lane)
A Cajun Christmas Killing, by Ellen Byron (Crooked Lane)
No Way Home, by Annette Dashofy (Henery Press)
Take Out, by Margaret Maron (Grand Central)
Glass Houses, by Louise Penny (Minotaur)

Best Historical Novel:
In Farleigh Field, by Rhys Bowen (Lake Union)
Murder in an English Village, by Jessica Ellicott (Kensington)
Called to Justice, by Edith Maxwell (Midnight Ink)
The Paris Spy, by Susan Elia MacNeal (Bantam)
Dangerous to Know, by Renee Patrick (Forge)

Best First Novel:
Adrift, Micki Browning (Alibi)
The Plot Is Murder, by V.M. Burns (Kensington)
Hollywood Homicide, by Kellye Garrett (Midnight Ink)
Daughters of Bad Men, by Laura Oles (Red Adept)
Protocol, by Kathleen Valenti (Henery Press)

Best Non-fiction:
From Holmes to Sherlock: The Story of the Men and Women Who Created an Icon, by Mattias Boström (Mysterious Press)
The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books, by Martin Edwards
(Poisoned Pen Press)
American Fire: Love, Arson, and Life in a Vanishing Land,
by Monica Hesse (Liveright)
Rewrite Your Life: Discover Your Truth Through the Healing Power of Fiction, by Jess Lourey (Conari Press)
Manderley Forever: A Biography of Daphne du Maurier, by
Tatiana de Rosnay (St. Martin’s Press)

Best Short Story:
Double Deck the Halls, by Gretchen Archer (Henery Press e-book)
“Whose Wine Is it Anyway” by Barb Goffman (from 50 Shades of Cabernet; Koehler)
“The Night They Burned Miss Dixie’s Place,” by Debra Goldstein (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, May/June 2017)
The Library Ghost of Tanglewood Inn, by Gigi Pandian
(Henery Press e-book)
“A Necessary Ingredient,” by Art Taylor (from Coast to Coast: Private Eyes from Sea to Shining Sea, edited by Andrew McAleer and Paul D. Marks; Down & Out)

Best Children’s/Young Adult:
City of Angels, by Kristi Belcamino (Polis)
Sydney Mackenzie Knocks ’Em Dead, by Cindy Callaghan (Aladdin)
The World’s Greatest Detective, by Caroline Carlson (HarperCollins)
Audacity Jones Steals the Show, by Kirby Larson (Scholastic Press)
The Harlem Charade, by Natasha Tarpley (Scholastic Press)

Winners are set to be declared on Saturday, April 28.

(Hat tip to Mystery Fanfare.)

READ MORE:Agatha and Other Awards,” by Martin Edwards (‘Do You Write Under Your Own Name?’).

3 comments:

Chris Dodson said...

For the most part I'm not a reader of traditional mysteries but Anthony Horowitz's 'Magpie Murders' was my favorite novel of last year, and I would have thought it would be a shoo-in for this shortlist.

J. Kingston Pierce said...

I agree, Chris. I'm surprised Horowitz's Magpie Murders isn't among the nominees, when lesser works made the cut.

Cheers,
Jeff

Art Taylor said...

Thanks for sharing this--pleased to be among the finalists myself, of course! (And agree: Was kind of surprised about Magpie Murders myself.)