The 2020 Agatha Award Nominations

Apr 25, 2021 | Conventions

The winners will be awarded virtually during More Than Malice on July 21, 2021. Congratulations to one and all! Have you registered?

Best Contemporary Novel
Gift of the Magpie by Donna Andrews
Murder in the Bayou Boneyard by Ellen Byron
From Beer to Eternity by Sherry Harris
All the Devils are Here by Louise Penny
The Lucky One by Lori Rader-Day

Best Historical Novel
The Last Mrs. Summers by Rhys Bowen
The Fate of a Flapper by Susanna Calkins
A Lady’s Guide to Mischief and Murder by Dianne Freeman
Taken Too Soon by Edith Maxwell
The Turning Tide by Catriona McPherson

Best First Novel
A Spell for Trouble by Esme Addison
Winter Witness by Tina deBellegarde
Derailed by Mary Keliikoa
Murder at the Mena House by Erica Ruth Neubauer
Murder Most Sweet by Laura Jensen Walker

Best Short Story
“Dear Emily Etiquette” by Barb Goffman
“The Red Herrings at Killington Inn” by Shawn Reilly Simmons
“The Boy Detective & The Summer of ‘74” by Art Taylor
“Elysian Fields” by Gabriel Valjan
“The 25 Year Engagement” by James Ziskin

Best Non-Fiction
Sometimes You Have to Lie: The Life and Times of Louise Fitzhugh, Renegade Author of Harriet the Spy by Leslie Brody
American Sherlock: Murder, Forensics, and the Birth of American CSI by Kate Winkler Dawson
Howdunit: A Masterclass in Crime Writing by Members of the Detection Club by Martin Edwards
Phantom Lady: Hollywood Producer Joan Harrison, the Forgotten Woman Behind Hitchcock by Christina Lane
H. R. F. Keating: A Life of Crime by Sheila Mitchell

Best Children’s/YA Mystery
Midnight at the Barclay Hotel by Fleur Bradley
Premeditated Myrtle by Elizabeth C. Bunce
Saltwater Secrets by Cindy Callaghan
From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks
Holly Hernandez and the Death of Disco by Richard Narvaez

12 Comments

  1. Nancy Gardner
    Nancy Gardner on April 25, 2021 at 9:04 am

    Exciting news. Congratulations to all the talented nominees!

  2. Sherry Harris
    Sherry Harris on April 25, 2021 at 9:51 am

    Thank you, Dru Ann! I still can’t believe I’ve been nominated with the other amazing authors for Best Contemporary!

    • annettedashofy
      annettedashofy on April 25, 2021 at 10:17 am

      Sherry, I’m so thrilled for you! Well deserved!!!

  3. annettedashofy
    annettedashofy on April 25, 2021 at 10:17 am

    Congratulations to all the nominees! It’s going to be so hard to vote this year! Can I pick everyone?

    • Dru
      Dru on April 25, 2021 at 1:41 pm

      I wish we could.

  4. Micki Browning
    Micki Browning on April 25, 2021 at 10:27 am

    What a stellar lineup! Congratulations, all!

  5. Gram
    Gram on April 25, 2021 at 10:31 am

    So many good books…how to choose for my t-b-r list…I did put one or two on my library list…maybe three or four!

  6. Lori Rader-Day
    Lori Rader-Day on April 25, 2021 at 12:32 pm

    I’m thrilled to be on the Agatha Award nominees list for the first time!! I wish we could all be at Malice together to celebrate everyone.

  7. Ellen Byron
    Ellen Byron on April 25, 2021 at 4:07 pm

    I’m so excited, not only to be nominated but to share the honor with so many amazing authors – and so many I’m lucky enough to call friends! Thanks Dru, for sharing the list!

  8. Ann Aptaker
    Ann Aptaker on April 25, 2021 at 9:36 pm

    Congratulations, everyone!

  9. Laura Jensen Walker
    Laura Jensen Walker on April 26, 2021 at 1:46 am

    Thanks, Dru! I’m thrilled and honored (and still rather disbelieving) to be nominated for my debut mystery, along with so many other wonderful authors.

  10. Liz Milliron
    Liz Milliron on April 26, 2021 at 7:51 am

    Congratulations, everyone!