The Agatha Award finalists have been announced—and it made my whole year to see “The Boy Detective & The Summer of ’74” from Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine (and then published by Crippen & Landru as the title story of my collection) on the slate for Best Short Story. I honestly poured my heart and soul and many (many) years into this story, so it’s an especially big honor to have it nominated by the Malice Domestic community. And in such good company too, alongside short fiction by Barb Goffman, Shawn Reilly Simmons, Gabriel Valjan, and James Ziskin!
Congratulations as well to all the finalists, so many friends up and down this list, pasted below. I wish we were all getting together in person this year to celebrate, but a virtual meeting will be great: More Than Malice July 14-17. Mark your calendars—and be sure to register now!
The 2020 Agatha Award Nominees
Best Contemporary Novel
Gift of the Magpie by Donna Andrews (Minotaur)
Murder in the Bayou Boneyard by Ellen Byron (Crooked Lane Books)
From Beer to Eternity by Sherry Harris (Kensington)
All the Devils are Here by Louise Penny (Minotaur)
The Lucky One by Lori Rader-Day (William Morris)
Best Historical Novel
The Last Mrs. Summers by Rhys Bowen (Berkeley)
The Fate of a Flapper by Susanna Calkins (Griffin)
A Lady’s Guide to Mischief and Murder by Dianne Freeman (Kensington)
Taken Too Soon by Edith Maxwell (Beyond the Page Publishing)
The Turning Tide by Catriona McPherson (Quercus)
Best First Novel
A Spell for Trouble by Esme Addison (Crooked Lane Books)
Winter Witness by Tina deBellegarde (Level Best Books)
Derailed by Mary Keliikoa (Epicenter Press, Inc.)
Murder at the Mena House by Erica Ruth Neubauer (Kensington)
Murder Most Sweet by Laura Jensen Walker (Crooked Lane Books)
Best Short Story
“Dear Emily Etiquette” by Barb Goffman (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine Sep/Oct)
“The Red Herrings at Killington Inn” by Shawn Reilly Simmons Masthead: Best New England Crime Stories (Level Best Books)
“The Boy Detective & The Summer of ‘74” by Art Taylor (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine Jan/Feb)
“Elysian Fields” by Gabriel Valjan California Schemin’: The 2020 Bouchercon Anthology (Wildside Press)
“The 25 Year Engagement” by James Ziskin In League with Sherlock Holmes: Stories Inspired by the Sherlock Holmes Canon (Pegasus Crime)
Best Non-Fiction
Sometimes You Have to Lie: The Life and Times of Louise Fitzhugh, Renegade Author of Harriet the Spy by Leslie Brody (Seal Press)
American Sherlock: Murder, Forensics, and the Birth of American CSI by Kate Winkler Dawson (G. P. Putnam)
Howdunit: A Masterclass in Crime Writing by Members of the Detection Club by Martin Edwards (Collins Crime Club)
Phantom Lady: Hollywood Producer Joan Harrison, the Forgotten Woman Behind Hitchcock by Christina Lane (Chicago Review Press)
H. R. F. Keating: A Life of Crime by Sheila Mitchell (Level Best Books)
Best Children’s/YA Mystery
Midnight at the Barclay Hotel by Fleur Bradley (Viking Books for Young Readers)
Premeditated Myrtle by Elizabeth C. Bunce (Algonquin Young Readers)
Saltwater Secrets by Cindy Callaghan (Aladdin)
From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks (Katherine Teagen Books)
Holly Hernandez and the Death of Disco by Richard Narvaez (Piñata Books)