The Agatha Award nominations are out — celebrate with me!

cat sleeping with tea potsThe Agatha Awards are given every May at Malice Domestic, the convention celebrating the traditional mystery. It’s always fun to see the list of nominees — and to try to read as many as I can before “the con,” so I can cast my vote.

It’s even more fun to see the list when I’m on it! “All God’s Sparrows,” my first historical short story, is nominated for Best Short Story. It was originally published in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, May-June 2018; it’s now available, free, on my website. The authors of the other nominated shorts have also posted their stories — it’s a tradition, because so many stories would not otherwise be available — see the links below.

In 1885 Montana Territory, “Stagecoach Mary” Fields and Sister Louisine encounter a young mother and her daughter whose plight requires an inspired intervention. Mary is a historic figure who was born in slavery in Tennessee in 1832 and moved to Montana Territory to care for the ailing Mother Superior at St. Peter’s Mission near Cascade.

I’ve got a pair of Agatha teapots, for Best Nonfiction (2011) and Best First Novel (2013) — that’s Ruff, our late kitty, lounging with them in the library window sill. But honestly, that makes me even more excited, because I know what an honor a nomination is. And I’m sure you’ll agree that the other stories are terrific — I feel like we’re all winners already.

Here’s the full list, courtesy of Malice Domestic:

Announcing the 2018 Agatha Award Nominees

Best Contemporary Novel

Mardi Gras Murder by Ellen Byron (Crooked Lane Books)
Beyond the Truth by Bruce Robert Coffin (Witness Impulse)
Cry Wolf by Annette Dashofy (Henery Press)
Kingdom of the Blind by Louise Penny (Minotaur)
Trust Me by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Forge)

Best Historical Novel 

Four Funerals and Maybe a Wedding by Rhys Bowen (Berkley)
The Gold Pawn by LA Chandlar (Kensington)
The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey (Soho Crime)
Turning the Tide by Edith Maxwell (Midnight Ink)
Murder on Union Square by Victoria Thompson (Berkley)

Best First Novel

A Lady’s Guide to Etiquette and Murder by Dianne Freeman (Kensington)
Little Comfort by Edwin Hill (Kensington)
What Doesn’t Kill You by Aimee Hix (Midnight Ink)
Deadly Solution by Keenan Powell (Level Best Books)
Curses Boiled Again by Shari Randall (St. Martin’s)

Best Short Story

“All God’s Sparrows” by Leslie Budewitz (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine)
“A Postcard for the Dead” by Susanna Calkins in Florida Happens (Three Rooms Press)
“Bug Appetit” by Barb Goffman (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine)
“The Case of the Vanishing Professor” by Tara Laskowski (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine)
“English 398: Fiction Workshop” by Art Taylor (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine)

Best Children’s/YA Mystery

Potion Problems (Just Add Magic) by Cindy Callaghan (Aladdin)
Winterhouse by Ben Guterson (Henry Holt)
A Side of Sabotage by C.M. Surrisi (Carolrhoda Books)

Best Nonfiction

Mastering Plot Twists by Jane Cleland (Writer’s Digest Books)
Writing the Cozy Mystery by Nancy J Cohen (Orange Grove Press)
Conan Doyle for the Defense by Margalit Fox (Random House)
Agatha Christie: A Mysterious Life by Laura Thompson (Pegasus Books)
Wicked Women of Ohio by Jane Ann Turzillo (History Press)

The Agatha Awards will be presented on May 4, 2019 
during Malice Domestic 31.  

(Picture of “Stagecoach Mary” Fields courtesy of the Montana Historical Society.)

Celebrate, celebrate!

Untitled-4Celebrate with me, friends! Death al Dente has been nominated for the Agatha Award for Best First Novel! The Agatha Awards are given at the Malice Domestic convention — a celebration of the traditional mystery — in early May.

Congratulations, too, to all the other nominees. http://mysteryreadersinc.blogspot.com/2014/01/agatha-award-nominees.html (Sorry — still haven’t solved my linkage problem!)

Thanks for all your support — including your readership, your encouragement, and your word of mouth. Writers need readers and I’m so grateful for each of you.

Leslie

Malice Afterthought

Indulge me, please, in one more photo blog:

Six Guppy Agatha nominees: Daryl Wood Gerber (Best Short Story), Kaye George, Janet Bolin, and Rochelle Staab (all for Best First), Krista Davis (Best Short Story) and me (Best Nonfiction).

 

 

With Beth Groundwater and Liz Zelvin

 

 

 

With three other Best Nonfiction nominees: John Curran, AB (Barbara) Emrys, and Charlaine Harris. Michael Dirda joined us Saturday for the panel discussion and awards dinner.

(Thanks to all the friends who shared photos of such a memorable weekend: Dana Cameron, Janet Bolin, Liz Zelvin, Robin Templeton, Gigi Pandian, Sandra Parshall, and Dru Ann Love.)

More Malicious Photos

We’ll get back to the law next week. Meanwhile, it’s all about me — and Malice Domestic.

 

Celebrating with my Guppy sisters, Kendel Flaum, Hank Phillipi Ryan, Diane Vallere, and Gigi Pandian.  

 

 

 

 

Six of the nine Guppies nominated for Agathas: Avery Aames (aka Daryl Wood Gerber), Kaye George, Krista Davis (in front), Janet Bolin, Rochelle Staab, and me.

 

                                         With Debra Goldstein. 

 

 

 

With Chris Grabenstein, winner of the 2011 Agatha for Best Children’s/Young Adult, who also presented the Best Nonfiction Award.

 

 

 

 

 

 

With Jenny Milchman and Robin Templeton.

An Agatha Award Winner!

Now I know why so many people love Malice Domestic, the annual convention celebrating the traditional mystery.

From start to finish, a terrific con — and yes, I thought that even before the Agatha Awards! I was truly stunned to win. With such an amazing group of nominees — Charlaine Harris, AB (Barbara) Emrys, John Curran, and Michael Dirda — I’m deeply honored. 

A big thanks to everyone who’s read, bought, reviewed, and talked about Books, Crooks & Counselors. Your support means the world to me. Come on by, and I’ll pour you a cup of tea from a very special pot.

 

(Thanks to Liz Zelvin for the photo.)

Bidding time — Brenda Novak Auction for Diabetes Research

May 1 brings the start of NY Times bestselling author Brenda Novak’s Annual Online Auction for Diabetes Research. Bid on literally hundreds of items for readers and writers, including a signed copy of Books, Crooks & Counselors, the 2011 Agatha Award winner for Best Nonfiction, and two hours of legal research for a manuscript or two hours of manuscript review by the author of said Agatha winner, aka me.

Join the fun for a great cause!

 

Books, Crooks nominated for the Agatha

It’s official: Books, Crooks & Counselors has been nominated for the Agatha Award for Best Nonfiction. The Agathas are one of the premier book awards, and are given at the annual Malice Domestic Convention, held in Bethesda, MD April 27-29 — and I’ll be going, for the first time!

Here’s the full list of all awards and nominees.

Join me in celebrating — with a cuppa whatever!