A Matter of Macavitys

As this year’s first “virtual Bouchercon” gets underway today, Mystery Readers International announces the winners of its 2020 Macavity Awards, in five categories.

Best Mystery Novel:
The Chain, by Adrian McKinty (Mulholland)

Also nominated: Your House Will Pay, by Steph Cha (Ecco); This Tender Land, by William Kent Krueger (Atria); Lady in the Lake, by Laura Lippman (Morrow); The Murder List, by Hank Philippi Ryan (Forge); and Sarah Jane, by James Sallis (Soho Crime)

Best First Mystery:
One Night Gone, by Tara Laskowski (Graydon House)

Also nominated: The Ninja Daughter, by Tori Eldridge (Agora); My Lovely Wife, by Samantha Downing (Penguin); Miracle Creek, by Angie Kim (Sarah Crichton); Call Me Evie, by J.P. Pomare (Putnam); and American Spy, by Lauren Wilkinson (Random House)

Best Mystery Short Story:
“Better Days,” by Art Taylor (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine
[EQMM], May/June 2019)

Also nominated: “West Texas Barbecue,” by Michael Chandos (from The Eyes of Texas: Private Eyes from the Panhandle to the Piney Woods, edited by Michael Bracken; Down & Out Books); “Alex’s Choice,” by Barb Goffman (from Crime Travel, edited by Barb Goffman; Wildside Press); “The Cardboard Box,” by Terence Faherty (EQMM, January/February 2019); “Whiteout,” by G.M. Malliet (EQMM, January/February 2019); and “Brother’s Keeper,” by Dave Zeltserman (EQMM, May/June 2019)

Best Mystery Non-fiction/Critical: Hitchcock and the Censors, by John Billheimer (University Press of Kentucky)

Also nominated: Frederic Dannay, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and the Art of the Detective Short Story, by Laird R. Blackwell (McFarland); Beyond the Thirty-Nine Steps: A Life of John Buchan, by Ursula Buchan (Bloomsbury); Norco ’80: The True Story of the Most Spectacular Bank Robbery in American History, by Peter Houlahan (Counterpoint); The Mutual Admiration Society: How Dorothy L. Sayers and Her Oxford Circle Remade the World for Women, by Mo Moulton (Basic Books); and Indecent Advances: A Hidden History of True Crime and Prejudice Before Stonewall, by James Polchin (Counterpoint Press)

Sue Feder Memorial Award for Best Historical Mystery:
The Secrets We Kept, by Lara Prescott (Vintage)

Also nominated: Murder Knocks Twice, by Susanna Calkins (Minotaur); The Pearl Dagger, by L.A. Chandlar (Kensington); A Lady’s Guide to Gossip and Murder, by Dianne Freeman (Kensington); The Satapur Moonstone, by Sujata Massey (Soho Crime); and Charity’s Burden, by Edith Maxwell (Midnight Ink)

To find a schedule of Bouchercon events taking place today and Saturday, click here. Those events are available only to people who registered for the convention. You can also follow the proceedings—sort of—via Bouchercon 2020’s Facebook page.