Agatha Award


The Agatha Awards, named for Agatha Christie, are literary awards for mystery and crime writers who write in the cozy mystery subgenre. At an annual convention in Washington, D.C., the Agatha Awards are handed out by Malice Domestic Ltd, in six categories: Best Novel; Best First Mystery; Best Historical Novel; Best Short Story; Best Non-Fiction; Best Children's/Young Adult Mystery. Additionally, in some years the Poirot Award is presented to honor individuals other than writers who have made outstanding contributions to the mystery genre, but it is not an annual award.
Malice Domestic Ltd was established in 1989, and was incorporated in 1992. It is governed by a volunteer board of directors.

Awards

Winners and, where known, nominated titles for each year:

Best First Novel

; 2018 – Dianne Freeman, A Ladies Guide to Etiquette and Murder and Shari Randall, Curses, Boiled Again
; 2017 – Kellye Garrett, Hollywood Homicide
; 2016 – Cynthia Kuhn, The Semester of Our Discontent
; 2015 – Art Taylor, On the Road with Del and Louise
; 2014 – Terrie Farley Moran, Well Read, Then Dead
; 2013 – Leslie Budewitz, Death Al Dente
; 2012 – Susan M. Boyer, Lowcountry Boil
; 2011 – Sara J. Henry, Learning to Swim
; 2010 – Avery Aames, The Long Quiche Goodbye
; 2009 – Alan Bradley, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
; 2008 – G. M. Malliet, Death of a Cozy Writer
; 2007 – Hank Phillippi Ryan, Prime Time
; 2006 – Sandra Parshall, The Heat of the Moon
; 2005 – Laura Durham, Better Off Wed
; 2004 – Harley Jane Kozak, Dating Dead Men
; 2003 – Jacqueline Winspear, Maisie Dobbs
; 2002 – Julia Spencer-Fleming, In the Bleak Midwinter
; 2001 – Sarah Strohmeyer, Bubbles Unbound
; 2000 – Rosemary Stevens, Death on a Silver Tray
; 1999 – Donna Andrews, Murder with Peacocks
; 1998 – Robin Hathaway, The Doctor Digs a Grave
; 1997 – Sujata Massey, The Salaryman's Wife
; 1996 – Anne George, Murder on a Girl's Night Out
; 1995 – Jeanne M. Dams, The Body in the Transept
; 1994 – Jeff Abbott, Do Unto Others
; 1993 – Nevada Barr, Track of the Cat
; 1992 – Barbara Neely, Blanche on the Lam
; 1991 – Mary Willis Walker, Zero at the Bone
; 1990 – Katherine Hall Page, The Body in the Belfry
; 1989 – Jill Churchill, Grime and Punishment
; 1988 – Elizabeth George, A Great Deliverance
; 2018 – Ellen Byron, Mardi Gras Murder
; 2017 – Louise Penny, Glass Houses
; 2016 – Louise Penny, A Great Reckoning
; 2015 – Margaret Maron, Long Upon the Land
; 2014 – Hank Phillippi Ryan, Truth Be Told
; 2013 – Hank Phillippi Ryan, The Wrong Girl
; 2012 – Louise Penny, The Beautiful Mystery
; 2011 – Margaret Maron, Three-Day Town
; 2010 – Louise Penny, Bury Your Dead
; 2009 – Louise Penny, A Brutal Telling
; 2008 – Louise Penny, The Cruelest Month
; 2007 – Louise Penny, A Fatal Grace
; 2006 – Nancy Pickard, The Virgin of Small Plains
; 2005 – Katherine Hall Page, The Body in the Snowdrift
; 2004 – Jacqueline Winspear, Birds of a Feather
; 2003 – Carolyn Hart, Letter From Home
; 2002 – Donna Andrews, You've Got Murder
; 2001 – Rhys Bowen, Murphy's Law
; 2000 – Margaret Maron, Storm Track
; 1999 – Earlene Fowler, Mariner's Compass
; 1998 – Laura Lippman, Butchers Hill
; 1997 – Kate Ross, The Devil In Music
; 1996 – Margaret Maron, Up Jumps The Devil
; 1995 – Sharyn McCrumb, If I'd Killed Him When I Met Him
; 1994 – Sharyn McCrumb, She Walks These Hills
; 1993 – Carolyn Hart, Dead Man's Island
; 1992 – Margaret Maron, Bootlegger's Daughter
; 1991 – Nancy Pickard, I.O.U.
; 1990 – Nancy Pickard, Bum Steer
; 1989 – Elizabeth Peters, Naked Once More
; 1988 – Carolyn G. Hart, Something Wicked
; 2018 – Sujata Massey, The Widows of Malabar Hill
; 2017 – Rhys Bowen, In Farleigh Field
; 2016 – Catriona McPherson, The Reek of Red Herrings
; 2015 – Laurie R. King, Dreaming Spies
; 2014 – Rhys Bowen, Queen of Hearts
; 2013 – Charles Todd, A Question of Honor
; 2012 – Catriona McPherson, Dandy Gilver and an Unsuitable Day for Murder
; 2011 – Rhys Bowen, Naughty in Nice
; 2018 - Jane Cleland, Mastering Plot Twists
; 2017 – Mattias Bostrom, '
  • Martin Edwards, The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books
  • Monica Hesse, American Fire: Love, Arson and Life in a Vanishing Land
  • Jess Lourey, Through the Healing Power of Fiction
  • Tatiana de Rosnay, Manderley Forever: A Biography of Daphne du Maurier
; 2016 – Jane K. Cleland, Mastering Suspense, Structure, and Plot: How to Write Gripping Stories that Keep Readers on the Edge of Their Seats
  • Roger Guay with Kate Clark Flora, A Good Man with a Dog: A Game Warden's 25 Years in the Maine Woods
  • Margaret Kinsman, Sara Paretsky: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction
; 2015 – Martin Edwards, The Golden Age of Murder: The Mystery of the Writers Who Invented the Modern Detective Story
  • Zack Dundas, The Great Detective: The Amazing Rise and Immortal Life of Sherlock Holmes
  • Kathryn Harkup, A is for Arsenic: The Poisons of Agatha Christie
  • Jane Ann Turzillo, Unsolved Murders and Disappearances in Northeast Ohio
  • Kate White, Mystery Writers of America, The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook: Wickedly Good Meals and Desserts to Die For
; 2014 – Hank Phillippi Ryan, editor, Writes of Passage: Adventures on the Writer's Journey
  • Stephen Bates, The Poisoner: The Life and Crimes of Victorian England's Most Notorious Doctor
  • Kate Flora, Death Dealer: How Cops and Cadaver Dogs Brought a Killer to Justice
  • Adam Plantinga, 400 Things Cops Know: Street Smart Lessons from a Veteran Patrolman
  • Lucy Worsley, The Art of the English Murder
; 2013 – Daniel Stashower,
'
; 2012 – John Connolly, Books to Die For: The World's Greatest Mystery Writers on the World's Greatest Mystery Novels
; 2011 – Leslie Budewitz, Books, Crooks and Counselors: How to Write Accurately About Criminal Law and Courtroom Procedure
; 2010 – John Curran, Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks: 50 Years of Mysteries in the Making
; 2009 – Elena Santangelo, Dame Agatha's Shorts
; 2008 – Kathy Lynn Emerson, How to Write Killer Historical Mysteries
; 2007 – Jon Lellenberg, Daniel Stashower and Charles Foley, Arthur Conan Doyle: A Life in Letters
; 2006 – Chris Roerden, Don't Murder Your Mystery
; 2005 – Melanie Rehak, Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her
; 2004 – Jack French, Private Eye-Lashes: Radio’s Lady Detectives
; 2003 – Elizabeth Peters and Kristen Whitbread and Dennis Forbes, '
  • Colleen A. Barnett, Mystery Women: An Encyclopedia of Leading Women Characters in Mystery Fiction, Volume 3
  • Jo Grossman and Robert Weibezahl, A Second Helping of Murder: More Diabolically Delicious Recipes from Contemporary Mystery Writers
  • Jeffrey Marks, Atomic Renaissance: Women Mystery Writers of the 1940s and 1950s
; 2002 – Jim Huang, They Died in Vain: Overlooked, Underappreciated, and Forgotten Mystery Novels
  • Mike Ashley, The Mammoth Encyclopedia of Modern Crime Fiction
  • Colleen Barnett, Mystery Women: An Encyclopedia of Leading Women Characters in Mystery Fiction
  • Mary Higgins Clark, Kitchen Privileges: A Memoir
  • Sue Grafton with Jan Burke and Barry Zeman, Writing Mysteries: A Handbook by the Mystery Writers of America
; 2001 – Tony Hillerman, Seldom Disappointed: A Memoir
  • Max Allan Collins, The History of the Mystery
  • G. Miki Hayden, Writing the Mystery: A Start-To-Finish Guide for Both Novice and Professional
  • Jeffrey Marks, Who Was That Lady?
  • The Sisters Wells, Food, Drink, and the Female Sleuth
; 2000 – Jim Huang, 100 Favorite Mysteries of the Century
  • Marvin Lachman, The American Regional Mystery
  • Matthew Bunson, The Complete Christie
  • Helen Windrath, They Wrote the Book
  • Martha Dubose, Women of Mystery
; 1999 – Daniel Stashower, Teller of Tales: the Life of Arthur Conan Doyle
  • Kate Derie, The Deadly Directory
  • Jo Grossman and Robert Weibezahl, A Taste of Murder: Diabolically Delicious Recipes from Contemporary Mystery Writers
  • Willetta L. Heising, Detecting Women III
  • Rosemary Herbert, The Oxford Companion to Crime and Mystery Writing
; 1998 – Alzina Stone Dale, Mystery Reader's Walking Guide to Washington D.C.
  • Edward Gorman and Martin H. Greenberg, Speaking of Murder
  • Jan Grape, Dean James and Ellen Nehr, Deadly Women
  • Victoria Nichols and Susan Thompson, Silk Stalkings II
  • Jean Swanson and Dean James, Killer Books
; 1997 – Willeta L. Heising, Detecting Men
; 1996 – Willetta L. Heising, Detecting Women 2
  • Elaine Raco Chase and Anne Wingate, Amateur Detectives: A Writer's Guide to How Private Citizens Solve Criminal Cases
  • Ron Miller, Mystery: A Celebration
  • Barbara Reynolds, The Letters of Dorothy L. Sayers: The Making of a Detective Novelist
  • Jean Swanson and Dean James, By a Woman's Hand, Second Edition
; 1995 – Alzina Stone Dale, Mystery Readers Walking Guide-Chicago
; 1994 – Jean Swanson and Dean James, By a Woman's Hand
; 1993 – Barbara D'Amato, The Doctor, the Murder, the Mystery

Malice Domestic Award for Lifetime Achievement