Agatha Award Winners for 2022
The yearly Agatha Awards are given out at the mystery conference Malice Domestic which celebrates traditional mysteries best exemplified by the writings of Agatha Christie. This annual fan convention has been running in Maryland since 1989 and their nominated books are sure to thrill cozy mystery lovers.
According to the organization: The Agatha Awards celebrate the TRADITIONAL MYSTERY, best typified by the works of AGATHA CHRISTIE. The genre is loosely defined as mysteries that contain no explicit sex, excessive gore, or gratuitous violence, and would not be classified as "hard-boiled."
There are several categories and we recommend you check them all out, but these are the categories and nominees that we are sure the CozyCrimes Community will want to read:
Best Contemporary Novel
Bayou Book Thief, Ellen Byron (Berkley Prime Crime)
Widowed Ricki James moves to New Orleans to join the staff of the Bon Vee Culinary House Museum and turn her passion for collecting vintage cookbooks into a vocation. However, when she discovers a dead body amongst the books, she must consider whether her new path is a recipe for disaster.
Death By Bubble Tea, Jennifer J. Chow (Berkley)
Paired with her cousin that she hasn’t seen in decades at a food stall, Yale Yee is shocked that their bubble tea is such a success - until a customer winds up dead.
Fatal Reunion, Annette Dashofy (Level Best Books)
Coroner Zoe Chambers-Adams examines a body that bears a strong resemblance to the Monongahela Strangler case that terrorized the area when Zoe was in high school as her twentieth high school reunion looms.
Dead Man's Leap, Tina de Bellegarde (Level Best Books)
Bianca St. Denis searches for for donations to the charity rummage sale until a flood washes up a corpse and she must again assist the sheriff to find answers.
*Winner* A World of Curiosities, Louise Penny (Minotaur)
in the 18th Chief Inspector Gamache Novel, the investigator examines puzzles within puzzles after reading an alarming letter from a long-dead stone mason.
Best Historical Novel
The Counterfeit Wife, Mally Becker (Level Best Books)
Philadelphia, June 1780. Young widow Becca Parcell and former printer Daniel Alloway assist General Washington by searching for traitors flooding the town with counterfeit money. However, the mission becomes more complicated when a woman from Becca’s childhood is arrested for murdering one of the counterfeiters.
*Winner* Because I Could Not Stop for Death, Amanda Flower (Berkley)
Amherst, Massachusetts, January 1855. Willa Noble begins working for the reclusive poet Emily Dickinson, but when Willa believes her brother is murdered, the pair wind up involved in a deadly game of cat and mouse.
The Lindbergh Nanny, Mariah Fredericks (Minotaur)
Nanny Betty Gow seeks to find answers after her charge, Charles Lindbergh, Jr., is kidnapped from his family home in New Jersey in 1932.
In Place of Fear, Catriona McPherson (Mobius)
Set in 1940s Edinburgh at the birth of the NHS, newly appointed Medical Welfare Almoner Helen Crowther investigates the disappearance of a young woman.
Under a Veiled Moon, Karen Odden (Crooked Lane Books)
September 1878. In this An Inspector Corravan Mystery, the investigator must make sense of the worst maritime disaster London has ever seen.
Best First Novel
*Winner* Cheddar Off Dead, Korina Moss (St. Martin’s)
Cheesemonger and owner of Curds & Whey, Willa Bauer, must investigate the murder of a food critic when she’s seen as a prime suspect. “Something here stinks to high heaven, and Willa knows it's not the cheese.”
Death in the Aegean, M. A. Monnin (Level Best Books)
When Stefanie Adams takes a vacation to the Greek Isles, she expected romance and adventure. Instead, she winds up looking like the prime suspect in a murder. To avoid Greek prison, Stefanie must discover which of her fellow travelers is the real killer.
The Bangalore Detectives Club, Harini Nagendra (Constable)
In 1920s Bangalore, Kaveri arrives in town to marry a handsome young doctor, but when a party at the Century Club turns into a crime scene, she starts sleuthing.
Devil’s Chew Toy, Rob Osler (Crooked Lane Books)
Seattle teacher and gay relationship blogger Hayden McCall searches for a missing person after his crush disappears.
The Finalist, Joan Long (Level Best Books)
Single mom Risa Marr joins a competition with other writers to finished a deceased author’s manuscript on a tropical island, but when one of the finalists winds up dead, she wonders if any of them will survive.
The Gallery of Beauties, Nina Wachsman (Level Best Books)
Venice, 1612. A notorious courtesan and a scholar meet when posing for a "Gallery of Beauties," but as one by one the subjects of the portraits are poisoned, they must work together to avoid becoming the next victim.