AGATHA AWARDS
Named in Honor of Agatha Christie

The 2009 Agatha Awards will be given for materials first published in the United States by a living author during the calendar year 2009 (January 1-December 31), either in hardcover, as a paperback original, or e-published by an e-publishing firm.

The Agatha Awards honor the "traditional mystery." That is to say, books best typified by the works of Agatha Christie as well as others. For our purposes, the genre is loosely defined as mysteries that:

• contain no explicit sex
• contain no excessive gore or gratuitous violence

Materials generally classified as "hard-boiled" are not appropriate.

A ballot listing each category's nominees will be given to all attendees of Malice Domestic 22, which will be held April 30 - May 2, 2010. Attendees will vote by secret ballot, the ballots will be tabulated and the winners will be announced at the 2009 Agatha Awards banquet to be held on Saturday, May 1, 2010.

For further inquiries and questions, please contact the Agatha Awards Committee Chair, Tonya Spratt-Williams, at agathas@malicedomestic.org.

St. Martin's Press/Malice Domestic Contest: All information about the St. Martin's Press/Malice Domestic Contest for the Best First Traditional Mystery Novel must be obtained from St. Martin's Press. Malice Domestic, Ltd.'s Board of Directors is not involved with this contest and has no additional information. The direct link to St. Martin's Press is: http://minotaurbooks.com/competitions.html#malice

Agatha Award Winners & Nominees

* denotes winner. Congratulations to all the nominees!

2008

Best Novel:
Six Geese A-Slaying by Donna Andrews (Minotaur Books)
A Royal Pain by Rhys Bowen (Penguin Group)
* The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny (Minotaur Books)
Buckingham Palace Gardens by Anne Perry (Random House)
I Shall Not Want by Julia Spencer-Fleming (Minotaur Books)

Best First Novel:
Through a Glass, Deadly by Sarah Atwell (Berkley Trade)
The Diva Runs Out of Thyme by Krista Davis (Penguin Group)
Pushing Up Daisies by Rosemary Harris (Minotaur Books)
* Death of a Cozy Writer by G.M. Malliet (Midnight Ink)
Paper, Scissors, Death by Joanna Campbell Slan (Midnight Ink)

Best Non-fiction:
African American Mystery Writers: A Historical & Thematic Study by Frankie Y. Bailey (McFarland & Co.)
* How to Write Killer Historical Mysteries by Kathy Lynn Emerson (Perseverance Press)
Anthony Boucher: A Biobibliography by Jeff Marks (McFarland & Co.)
Edgar Allan Poe: An Illustrated Companion to His Tell-Tale Stories by Dr. Harry Lee Poe (Metro Books)
The Suspicions of Mr. Whitcher, or The Murder at Road Hill House by Kate Summerscale (Walker & Co.)

Best Short Story:
* "The Night Things Changed" by Dana Cameron, Wolfsbane & Mistletoe (Penguin Group)
"Killing Time" by Jane Cleland, Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine - November 2008
"Dangerous Crossing" by Carla Coupe, Chesapeake Crimes 3 (Wildside Press)
"Skull & Cross-Examinations" by Toni L.P. Kelner, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine - February 2008
"A Nice Old Guy" by Nancy Pickard, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine - August 2008

Best Children's/Young Adult:
Into the Dark by Peter Abrahams (Harper Collins)
A Thief in the Theater (A Kit Mystery) by Sarah Masters Buckey (American Girl Publishers)
* The Crossroads by Chris Grabenstein (Random House Children's Books)
The Great Circus Train Robbery by Nancy Means Wright (Hilliard & Harris)

Past Agatha Winners (1988-2007)
Winners of the Malice Domestic Award for Lifetime Achievement and the Poirot Award are listed on the About Malice page.

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