The winners of the 2012 Agatha Awards were announced at the Malice Domestic Conference on May 4, 2013. Established in 1989, Malice Domestic® is an annual "fun fan" convention in metropolitan Washington, D.C., saluting the traditional mystery --- books best typified by the works of Agatha Christie. For our purposes, the genre is loosely defined as mysteries that contain no explicit sex and no excessive gore or gratuitous violence.

For more information about the Agatha Awards, visit http://www.malicedomestic.org.

2012 Nominees and Winners

* denotes winner

BEST NOVEL

• THE DIVA DIGS UP THE DIRT by Krista Davis
• A FATAL WINTER by G.M. Malliet
• THE BUZZARD TABLE by Margaret Maron
• * THE BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY by Louise Penny
• THE OTHER WOMAN by Hank Phillippi Ryan

BEST FIRST NOVEL

• * LOWCOUNTRY BOIL by Susan M. Boyer
• ICED CHIFFON by Duffy Brown
• A SCRAPBOOK OF SECRETS by Mollie Cox Bryan
• A KILLER READ by Erika Chase
• FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH by Stephanie Jaye Evans

BEST NONFICTION

• * BOOKS TO DIE FOR: The World's Greatest Mystery Writers on the World's Greatest Mystery Novels edited by John Connolly and Declan Burke
• BLOOD RELATIONS: The Selected Letters of Ellery Queen, 1947-1950 edited by Joseph Goodrich
• MORE FORENSICS AND FICTION: Crime Writers Morbidly Curious Questions Expertly Answered by D.P. Lyle
• DOUBLE CROSS: The True Story of the D-Day Spies by Ben Macintyre
• THE GRAND TOUR: Around the World with the Queen of Mystery Agatha Christie edited by Mathew Prichard

BEST SHORT STORY

• * "Mischief in Mesopotamia" (PDF) by Dana Cameron (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Nov. 2012)
• "Kept in the Dark" by Sheila Connolly (BEST NEW ENGLAND CRIME STORIES 2013: Blood Moon Anthology)
• "The Lord is My Shamus" by Barb Goffman (CHESAPEAKE CRIMES: This Job is Murder)
• "Thea's First Husband" by B.K. Stevens (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, June 2012)
• "When Duty Calls" by Art Taylor (CHESAPEAKE CRIMES: This Job is Murder)

BEST CHILDREN'S/YOUNG ADULT NOVEL

• SECONDS AWAY by Harlan Coben
• THE EDGE OF NOWHERE by Elizabeth George
• LIAR & SPY by Rebecca Stead
• * THE CODE BUSTERS CLUB, CASE #2: THE HAUNTED LIGHTHOUSE by Penny Warner
• CODE NAME VERITY by Elizabeth Wein

BEST HISTORICAL NOVEL

• THE TWELVE CLUES OF CHRISTMAS by Rhys Bowen
• * DANDY GILVER AND AN UNSUITABLE DAY FOR MURDER by Catriona McPherson
• MURDER ON FIFTH AVENUE by Victoria Thompson
• AN UNMARKED GRAVE by Charles Todd
• ELEGY FOR EDDIE by Jacqueline Winspear