The Macavity Award is named for the "mystery cat" of T.S. Eliot's 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.

For more information go to MysteryReaders.org

2012 Nominees

Best Mystery Novel
1222 (translated by Marlaine Delargy) by Anne Holt (Scribner)
CLAIRE DEWITT AND THE CITY OF THE DEAD by Sara Gran (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
THE HOUSE OF SILK by Anthony Horowitz (Mulholland Books)
THE RIDGE by Michael Koryta (Little, Brown)
A TRICK OF THE LIGHT by Louise Penny (Minotaur)
THE TWO DEATHS OF DANIEL HAYES by Marcus Sakey (Dutton)
HELL & GONE by Duane Swierczynski (Mulholland Books)

Best First Mystery Novel
LEARNING TO SWIM  by Sara J. Henry (Crown)
NAZARETH CHILD by Darrell James (Midnight Ink)
TURN OF MIND by Alice LaPlante (Atlantic Monthly)
ALL CRY CHAOS by Leonard Rosen (Permanent Press)
THE INFORMATIONIST by Taylor Stevens (Crown)
BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP by S.J. Watson (Harper)

Best Mystery-Related Nonfiction
BOOKS, CROOKS AND COUNSELORS: How to Write Accurately About Criminal Law and Courtroom Procedure by Leslie Budewitz (Linden)
AGATHA CHRISTIE: MURDER IN THE MAKING: More Stories and Secrets from Her Notebooks by John Curran (HarperCollins)
WILKIE COLLINS, VERA CASPARY AND THE EVOLUTION OF THE CASEBOOK NOVEL  by A.B. Emrys (McFarland)
THE SAVAGE CITY: Race, Murder, and a Generation on the Edge by T.J. English (William Morrow)
THE SOOKIE STACKHOUSE COMPANION by Charlaine Harris (Ace)

Best Mystery Short Story
"Disarming” by Dana Cameron (EQMM, June 2011)
“Facts Exhibiting Wantonness” by Trina Corey (EQMM, Nov. 2011)
"PALACE BY THE LAKE" by Daryl Wood Gerber (Fish Tales: The Guppy Anthology, Wildsideress)
“Truth and Consequences” by Barb Goffman (Mystery Times Ten, Buddhapuss Ink)
“Heat of Passion” by Kathleen Ryan (A Twist of Noir, Feb. 14, 2011)
“The Man Who Took His Hat Off to the Driver of the Train” by Peter Turnbull (EQMM, March/April 2011)

Sue Feder Historical Mystery Award
NAUGHTY IN NICE by Rhys Bowen (Berkley)
NARROWS GATE  by Jim Fusilli (AmazonEncore)
DANDY GILVER AND THE PROPER TREATMENT OF BLOODSTAINS by Catriona McPherson (Thomas Dunne/Minotaur)
MERCURY'S RISE by Ann Parker (Poisoned Pen)
TROUBLED BONES by Jeri Westerson (Minotaur)
A LESSON IN SECRETS by Jacqueline Winspear (Harper)