Westport Public Library BOOK blog

The Agatha Awards are literary awards for mystery and crime writers who write novels in the traditional method exemplified by Agatha Christie, the best selling mystery writer of all time.

Agathas are handed out in five categories: Best Novel; Best First Mystery; Best Short Story; Best Non-Fiction; Best Children's/Young Adult Mystery.

This year’s nominees in the Best Novel category are:

The Penguin Who Knew Too Much by Donna Andrews.
In her 8th outing, Meg Langslow and her fiancé are moving into their new house when Meg's dad announces that he has discovered a dead body while digging a pool in the basement for penguins fostered from a bankrupt local zoo.

Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen.
Her family is quite broke, and when someone murders the man who had planned to seize the family estate, the killer's attention turns to Lady Georgiana when she starts asking questions to save her brother, who is the prime suspect.

Hard Row by Margaret Maron.
In this 13th Deborah Knott mystery, body parts begin to appear that turn out to belong to a farmer known for his exploitation of cheap immigrant labor. Deborah's new sheriff husband is charged with finding his killer.

A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny.
In his second case, Inspector Armand Gamache investigates when a much disliked woman is murdered, wading through a deep pool of potential murderers ranging from the victim's lover to her friends in a small Canadian community.

Murder with Reservations by Elaine Viets.
In her 6th appearance, Helen Hawthorne is working as a maid in a hotel where, six months earlier, a bank robber supposedly stashed his loot before he was killed in a shootout and now one of her co-workers has gone missing.

Ballots will be cast by attendees of the Malice Domestic XX Conference in Arlington, Virginia at the end of April. Fans are encouraged to attend.

Visit the Malice website to view a list of the nominees in all categories.