2020 Agatha Award Nominees

Established in 1989, Malice Domestic™ is an annual fan convention in the metropolitan Washington D.C. area that celebrates the traditional mystery, best typified by the works of Agatha Christie, containing no explicit sex, excessive gore, or violence. This year, instead of the annual in person convention, MORE THAN MALICE will take place entirely online from July 14-17, 2021. There are twelve SMFS list members up for an Agatha Award in six different categories. The awards will be presented on July 17^th.

 

In the “Best Short Story” category there are four members that are nominated. Those members are:

Barb Goffman for "Dear Emily Etiquette" in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine: September/October 2020. You can listen to the podcast for this story here.

Art Taylor for “The Boy Detective & The Summer of ‘74" in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine: January/February 2021. You can read Art’s essay on how the story came together here.

Gabriel Valjan for “Elysian Fields” in the anthology, California Schemin’: The 2020 Bouchercon Anthology, published by Wildside Press.

James W. Ziskin for “The 25 Year Engagement” in the anthology, In League with Sherlock Holmes: Stories Inspired by the Sherlock Holmes Canon, published by Pegasus Crime. You can read James’ essay on how the story came together here.

 

Our members up for Agatha Awards for longer works are:

Donna Andrews is up for the Agatha Award in the “Best Contemporary Novel” category for Gift of the Magpie, published by Minotaur.

Tina deBellegarde is up for an Agatha Award in the “Best First Novel” category for Winter Witness, published by Level Best Books.

Mary Keliikoa is up for the Agatha Award in the “Best First Novel” category for Derailed, published by Epicenter Press, Inc.

Edith Maxwell is up for the Agatha Award in the “Best Historical Novel” category for Taken Too Soon: A Quaker Midwife Mystery, published by Beyond the Page Publishing.

Leslie Brody in the “Best Non-Fiction” Category for Sometimes You Have to Lie: The Life and Times of Louise Fitzhugh, Renegade Author of Harriet the Spy, published by Seal Press.

Martin Edwards in the “Best Non-Fiction” Category for Howdunit: A Masterclass in Crime Writing by Members of the Detection Club, published by Collins Crime Club.

Fleur Bradley in the “Best Children’s/YA Mystery” Category for Midnight at the Barclay Hotel, published by Viking Books for Young Readers.

Richard Narvaez in the “Best Children’s/YA Mystery” Category for Holly Hernandez and the Death of Disco, published by Piñata Books.

 

SMFS salutes our members on this honor and wishes them the best as they represent SMFS at Malice Domestic. The full list of nominees can be found at the Malice Domestic website.