Oh, and Don’t Forget the Macavitys

It’s certainly been a busy day for prizes-related news. Now comes word, from Janet Rudolph’s Mystery Fanfare blog, of nominees for the 2021 Macavity Awards. As she explains, “The Macavity Awards are nominated by members of Mystery Readers International [MRI], subscribers to Mystery Readers Journal, and friends of MRI. The winners will be announced during opening ceremonies at [this coming August’s] Bouchercon in New Orleans.”

Best Novel:
• Before She Was Helen, by Caroline B. Cooney (Ecco)
• Blacktop Wasteland, by S.A. Cosby (Flatiron)
• Blind Vigil, by Matt Coyle (Oceanview)
• All the Devils Are Here, by Louise
Penny (Minotaur)
• These Women, by Ivy Pochoda
(Poisoned Pen Press)
• When She Was Good, by Michael
Robotham (Scribner)

Best First Novel:
• Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line, by Deepa Anappara (Random House)
• Murder in Old Bombay, by Nev
March (Minotaur)
• The Thursday Murder Club, by Richard Osman (Pamela Dorman)
• Winter Counts, by David Heska Wanbli Weider (Ecco)
• Darling Rose Gold, by Stephanie Wrobel (Berkley)

Best Critical/Biographical:
• Sometimes You Have to Lie: The Life and Times of Louise Fitzhugh, Renegade Author of Harriet the Spy, by Leslie Brody (Seal Press)
• Howdunit: A Masterclass in Crime Writing by Members of the Detection Club, edited by Martin Edwards (HarperCollins)
• Ian Rankin: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction, by Erin E. MacDonald (McFarland)
• H R.F. Keating: A Life of Crime, by Sheila Mitchell (Level Best)
• Southern Cross Crime: The Pocket Essential Guide to the Crime Fiction, Film & TV of Australia and New Zealand, by Craig Sisterson (Oldcastle)

Best Short Story:
• “Dear Emily Etiquette,” by Barb Goffman (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, September/October 2020)
• “The Boy Detective & The Summer of ’74,” by Art Taylor (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, January/February 2020)
• “Elysian Fields,” by Gabriel Valjan (from California Schemin’: The 2020 Bouchercon Anthology, edited by Art Taylor; Wildside Press)
• “Dog Eat Dog,” by Elaine Viets (from The Beat of Black Wings: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Joni Mitchell, edited by Josh
Pachter; Untreed Reads)
• “The Twenty-Five Year Engagement,” by James W. Ziskin (from In League with Sherlock Holmes: Stories Inspired by the Sherlock Holmes Canon, edited by Laurie R. King; Pegasus Crime)

Sue Feder Memorial Award for
Best Historical Mystery:
• The Last Mrs. Summers, by Rhys
Bowen (Berkeley)
• The Cabinets of Barnaby Mayne,
by Elsa Hart (Minotaur)
• The Turning Tide, by Catriona
McPherson (Quercus)
• Mortal Music, by Ann Parker (Poisoned Pen Press)
• The Mimosa Tree Mystery, by Ovidia Yu (Constable)
• Turn to Stone, by James Ziskin (Seventh Street)

Ballots to determine this year’s Macavity winners are to be sent out later this month to all eligible voters.