The winners of this year’s Macavity Awards have been announced. The Macavity Award is named for the “mystery cat” of T.S. Eliot (OLD POSSUM'S BOOK OF PRACTICAL CATS). Each year the members of Mystery Readers International nominate and vote for their favorite mysteries in five categories.

2025 Winners

Best Mystery Novel

• CALIFORNIA BEAR by Duane Swierczynski (Mulholland Books)

Best First Mystery

• GHOSTS OF WAIKIKI by Jennifer K. Morita (Crooked Lane Books)

Best Mystery Short Story

• “Home Game” by Craig Faustus Buck (Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, July/August 2024)

Sue Feder Memorial Award for Best Historical Mystery

• FOG CITY by Claire Johnson (Level Best Books)

Best Mystery-related Nonfiction/Critical

• ABINGDON'S BOARDINGHOUSE MURDER by Greg Lilly (History Press)
   

2025 Finalists

Best Mystery Novel

• HALL OF MIRRORS by John Copenhaver (Pegasus Crime)
• SERVED COLD by James L’Etoile (Level Best Books)
• THE GOD OF THE WOODS by Liz Moore (Riverhead Books)
• CALIFORNIA BEAR by Duane Swierczynski (Mulholland Books)
• THE IN CROWD by Charlotte Vassell (Doubleday)
• ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK by Chris Whitaker (Crown)

Best First Mystery

• OUTRAGED by Brian Copeland (Dutton)
• A RELUCTANT SPY by David Goodman (Headline)
• GHOSTS OF WAIKIKI by Jennifer K. Morita (Crooked Lane Books)
• YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DID by K.T. Nguyen (Dutton)
• THE EXPAT by Hansen Shi (Pegasus Crime)
• HOLY CITY by Henry Wise (Atlantic Monthly Press)

Best Mystery Short Story

• “Home Game” by Craig Faustus Buck (Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, July/August 2024)
• “The Postman Always Flirts Twice” by Barb Goffman (Agatha and Derringer Get Cozy)
• “Curse of the Supertaster” by Leslie Karst (Black Cat Weekly, Feb. 23, 2024)
• “Two for One” by Art Taylor (MURDER, NEAT)
• “Satan’s Spit” by Gabriel Valjan (TALES OF MUSIC, MURDER, AND MAYHEM)
• “Reynisfjara” by Kristopher Zgorski (MYSTERY MOST INTERNATIONAL)

Sue Feder Memorial Award for Best Historical Mystery

• THE WHARTON PLOT by Mariah Fredericks (Minotaur Books)
• AN ART LOVER'S GUIDE TO PARIS AND MURDER by Dianne Freeman (Kensington)
• FOG CITY by Claire Johnson (Level Best Books)
• THE MURDER OF MR. MA by John Shen Yen Nee and S.J. Rozan (Soho Crime)
• THE BOOTLEGGER'S DAUGHTER by Nadine Nettmann (Lake Union Publishing)
• A GRAVE ROBBERY by Deanna Raybourn (Berkley)

Best Mystery-related Nonfiction/Critical

• WRITING THE COZY MYSTERY: Authors’ Perspectives on Their Craft, edited by Phyllis M. Betz (McFarland)
• SOME OF MY BEST FRIENDS ARE MURDERERS: Critiquing the Columbo Killers, by Chris Chan (Level Best Books)
• WITCH OF NEW YORK: The Trials of Polly Bodine and the Cursed Birth of Tabloid Justice, by Alex Hortis (Pegasus Crime)
• THE INFERNAL MACHINE: A True Story of Dynamite, Terror, and the Rise of the Modern Detective, by Steven Johnson (Crown)
• ON EDGE: Gender and Genre in the Work of Shirley Jackson, Patricia Highsmith, and Leigh Brackett, by Ashley Lawson (Ohio State University Press)
• ABINGDON'S BOARDINGHOUSE MURDER by Greg Lilly (History Press)