The Macavity Award winners were announced at the Bouchercon 2017 Opening Ceremonies on October 12, 2017.

The Macavity Awards are nominated on and voted on by members of Mystery Readers International, subscribers to Mystery Readers Journal, and friends and supporters of MRI.

For more information, go to MysteryReaders.org

2017 Winners

Best Novel
A GREAT RECKONING by Louise Penny (Minotaur)

Best First Novel
IQ by Joe Ide (Mulholland Books)

Best Short Story
“Parallel Play” by Art Taylor (CHESAPEAKE CRIMES: Storm Warning, Wildside Press)

Sue Feder Memorial Award for Best Historical Novel
HEART OF STONE by James W. Ziskin (Seventh Street Books)

Best Nonfiction
SARA PARETSKY: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction, by Margaret Kinsman (McFarland)

2017 Nominees

Best Novel

• YOU WILL KNOW ME by Megan Abbott (Little, Brown)
• DARK FISSURES by Matt Coyle (Oceanview)
• BEFORE THE FALL by Noah Hawley (Grand Central Publishing)
• REAL TIGERS by Mick Herron (Soho)
• WILDE LAKE by Laura Lippman (William Morrow)
• A GREAT RECKONING by Louise Penny (Minotaur)

Best First Novel

• THE WIDOW by Fiona Barton (NAL)
• UNDER THE HARROW by Flynn Berry (Penguin)
• DODGERS by Bill Beverly (Crown)
• IQ by Joe Ide (Mulholland Books)
• DESIGN FOR DYING by Renee Patrick (Forge)

Best Short Story

• “Autumn at the Automat” by Lawrence Block (IN SUNLIGHT OR IN SHADOW, Pegasus Books)
• “Blank Shot” by Craig Faustus Buck (BLACK COFFEE, Darkhouse Books)
• “Survivor’s Guilt” by Greg Herren (BLOOD ON THE BAYOU: Bouchercon Anthology 2016, Down & Out Books)
• “Ghosts of Bunker Hill” by Paul D. Marks (Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Dec. 2016)
• “The Crawl Space” by Joyce Carol Oates (Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Sep.–Oct. 2016)
• “Parallel Play” by Art Taylor (CHESAPEAKE CRIMES: Storm Warning, Wildside Press)

Sue Feder Memorial Award for Best Historical Novel

• A DEATH ALONG THE RIVER FLEET by Susanna Calkins (Minotaur)
• JANE STEELE by Lyndsay Faye (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)
• DELIVERING THE TRUTH by Edith Maxwell (Midnight Ink)
• THE REEK OF RED HERRINGS by Catriona McPherson (Minotaur)
• WHAT GOLD BUYS by Ann Parker (Poisoned Pen Press)
• HEART OF STONE by James W. Ziskin (Seventh Street Books)

Best Nonfiction

• MASTERING SUSPENSE, STRUCTURE, AND PLOT: How to Write Gripping Stories that Keep Readers on the Edge of Their Seats, by Jane K. Cleland (Writer's Digest Books)
• SHIRLEY JACKSON: A Rather Haunted Life, by Ruth Franklin (Liveright Publishing)
• SARA PARETSKY: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction, by Margaret Kinsman (McFarland)
• SOMETHING IN THE BLOOD: The Untold Story of Bram Stoker, the Man Who Wrote Dracula, by David J. Skal (Liveright Publishing)
• THE WICKED BOY: The Mystery of a Victorian Child Murderer, by Kate Summerscale (Penguin)