AGATHA AWARDS BEST NON-FICTION

2021:  How to Write a Mystery: A Handbook from Mystery Writers of America by MWA with editors Lee Child and Laurie R. King (Winner)
The Combat Zone: Murder, Race, and Boston’s Struggle for Justice by Jan Brogan
Murder Most Grotesque: The Comedic Crime Fiction of Joyce Porter by Chris Chan
The Irish Assassins: Conspiracy, Revenge, and the Phoenix Park Murders that Stunned Victorian England by Julie Kavanaugh 

2020:  Phantom Lady: Hollywood Producer Joan Harrison, the Forgotten Woman Behind Hitchcock by Christina Lane (Winner)
Sometimes You Have to Lie: The Life and Times of Louise Fitzhugh, Renegade Author of Harriet the Spy by Leslie Brody
American Sherlock: Murder, Forensics, and the Birth of American CSI by Kate Winkler Dawson
Howdunit: A Masterclass in Crime Writing by Members of the Detection Club edited by Martin Edwards
H.R.F. Keating: A Life of Crime by Sheila Mitchell

2019:  The Mutual Admiration Society: How Dorothy L. Sayers and her Oxford Circle Remade the World for Women by Mo Moulton  (Winner)
Frederic Dannay, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and the Art of the Detective Short Story by Laird R. Blackwell
Blonde Rattlesnake: Burmah Adams, Tom White, and the 1933 Crime Spree that Terrified Los Angeles by Julia Bricklin
Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud and the Last Trial of Harper Lee by Casey Cep
The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold 

2018:  Mastering Plot Twists by Jane Cleland (winner)
Writing the Cozy Mystery by Nancy J. Cohen
Conan Doyle for the Defense by Margalit Fox 
Agatha Christie: A Mysterious Life by Laura Thompson
Wicked Women of Ohio by Jane Ann Turzillo 

2017:  From Holmes to Sherlock: The Story of the Men and Women Who Created an Icon by Mattias Boström (Winner)
The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books by Martin Edwards
American Fire: Love, Arson and Life in a Vanishing Land by Monica Hesse
Rewrite Your Life: Discover Your Truth Through the Healing Power of Fiction by Jess Lourey
Manderley Forever: A Biography of Daphne du Maurier by Tatiana de Rosnay

2016:  Mastering Suspense, Structure, and Plot: How to Write Gripping Stories that Keep Readers on the Edge of Their Seats by Jane K. Cleland (winner)
A Good Man with a Dog: A Game Warden’s 25 Years in the Maine Woods by Roger Guay with Kate Clark Flora
Sara Paretsky: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction by Margaret Kinsman

2015:  The Golden Age of Murder: The Mystery of the Writers Who Invented the Modern Detective Story by Martin Edwards (Winner)
The Great Detective: The Amazing Rise and Immortal Life of Sherlock Holmes by Zack Dundas
A is for Arsenic: The Poisons of Agatha Christie by Kathryn Harkup
Unsolved Murders and Disappearances in Northeast Ohio by Jane Ann Turzillo
The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook: Wickedly Good Meals and Desserts to Die For by Kate White, editor

2014:  Writes of Passage: Adventures on the Writer’s Journey by Hank Phillippi Ryan, Editor  (Winner)
The Poisoner: The Life and Crimes of Victorian England’s Most Notorious Doctor by Stephen Bates
Death Dealer: How Cops and Cadaver Dogs Brought a Killer to Justice by Kate Flora
400 Things Cops Know: Street Smart Lessons from a Veteran Patrolman by Adam Plantinga
The Art of the English Murder by Lucy Worsley

2013:  The Hour of Peril: The Secret Plot to Murder Lincoln before the Civil War by Daniel Stashower  (Winner)
Georgette Heyer by Jennifer Kloester
Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes by Maria Konnikova
Not Everyone’s Cup of Tea: An Interesting & Entertaining History of Malice Domestic’s First 25 Years by Verena Rose and Rita Owen, Editors

2012:  Books to Die For: The World’s Greatest Mystery Writers on the World’s Greatest Mystery Novels by John Connolly/Declan Burke (Winner)
Blood Relations: The Selected Letters of Ellery Queen, 1947-1950 by Joseph Goodrich, Editor
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 by Mathew Prichard, Editor

2011:  Books, Crooks and Counselors: How to Write Accurately about Criminal Law and Courtroom Procedure by Leslie Budewitz   (Winner)
Agatha Christie: Murder in the Making: More Stories and Secrets from Her Notebooks by John Curran
On Conan Doyle: Or, The Whole Art of Storytelling by Michael Dirda
Wilkie Collins, Vera Caspary and the Evolution of the Casebook Novel by A. B. Emrys
The Sookie Stackhouse Companion by Charlaine Harris

2010:  Agatha Christie’s Secret Notebooks: 50 Years of Mysteries in the Making by John Curran (Winner)
The Poisoner’s Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York by Deborah Blum
Sherlock Holmes for Dummies by Stephen Doyle & David A. Crowder
Have Faith in Your Kitchen by Katherine Hall Page
Charlie Chan: The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and His Rendezvous with American History by Yunte Huang

2009: Dame Agatha’s Shorts by Elena Santangelo (Winner)
Duchess of Death by Richard Hack
Talking about Detective Fiction by P.D. James
Blood on the Stage by 1925-1950 by Amnon Kabatchnik
The Talented Miss Highsmith by Joan Schenkar

2008: How to Write Killer Historical Mysteries by Kathy Lynn Emerson  (Winner)
African American Mystery Writers: A Historical & Thematic Study by Frankie Y. Bailey
Anthony Boucher, A Bibliography by Jeff Marks
Edgar Allan Poe: An Illustrated Companion to His Tell-Tale Stories by Dr. Harry Lee Poe
The Suspicions of Mr. Whitcher, or The Murder at Road Hill House by Kate Summerscale

2007: Arthur Conan Doyle: A Life In Letters by Charles Foley, Jon Lellenberg, & Daniel Stashower  (Winner)
The Official Nancy Drew Handbook by Penny Warner

2006: Don’t Murder Your Mystery by Chris Roerden  (Winner)
Mystery Muses by Jim Huang and Austin Lugar
The Beautiful Cigar Girl by Daniel Stashower

2005: Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her by Melanie Rehak   (Winner)
Behind the Mystery-Top Mystery Writers by Stuart Kaminsky
The Heirs of Anthony Boucher by Marvin Lachman
The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes by Leslie S. Klinger

2004: Private Eye-Lashes: Radio’s Lady Detectives by Jack French  (Winner)
The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Short Stories, edited with notes by Leslie Klinger

2003: Amelia Peabody’s Egypt: A Compendium edited by Elizabeth Peters and Kristen Whitbread; designed by Dennis Forbes (Winner)
Mystery Women: An Encyclopedia of Leading Women Characters in Mystery Fiction, vol. 3 (parts 1 & 2) by Colleen A. Barnett
A Second Helping of Murder: More Diabolically Delicious Recipes from Contemporary Mystery Writers edited by Jo Grossman and Robert Weibezahl
Atomic Renaissance: Women Mystery Writers of the 1940s and 1950s by Jeffrey Marks
Dick Francis Companion by Jean Swanson and Dean James

2002: They Died in Vain: Overlooked, Underappreciated, and Forgotten Mystery Novels edited by Jim Huang  (Winner)
The Mammoth Encyclopedia of Modern Crime Fiction edited by Mike Ashley
Mystery Women: An Encyclopedia of Leading Women Characters in Mystery Fiction by Colleen Barnett
Kitchen Privileges: A Memoir by Mary Higgins Clark
Writing Mysteries: A Handbook by the Mystery Writers of America edited by Sue Grafton with Jan Burke and Barry Zeman

2001: Seldom Disappointed: A Memoir by Tony Hillerman (Winner)
The History of the Mystery by Max Allan Collins
Writing The Mystery: A Start-To-Finish Guide For Both Novice And Professional by G. Miki Hayden
Who Was That Lady? by Jeffrey Marks
Food, Drink, And The Female Sleuth by The Sisters Wells

1999: Teller of Tales: The Life of Arthur Conan Doyle by Daniel Stashower  (Winner)
The Deadly Directory by Kate Derie
A Taste of Murder: Diabolically Delicious Recipes from Contemporary Mystery Writers by Jo Grossman & Robert Weibezahl
Detecting Women III by Willetta L. Heising
The Oxford Companion to Crime and Mystery Writing by Rosemary Herbert

1998: Mystery Reader’s Walking Guide To Washington D.C. by Alzina Stone Dale   (Winner)
Speaking of Murder by Ed Gorman and Martin Greenberg
Deadly Women by Jan Grape, Dean James, & Ellen Nehr
Silk Stalkings II by Victoria Nichols and Susan Thompson
Killer Books by Jean Swanson and Dean James

1997: Detecting Men (Pocket Guide) by Willeta L. Heising  (Winner)
Crimes of the Scene by Nina King & Robin Winks
Guilty Parties by Ian Ousby  

1996: Detecting Women 2 by Willetta L. Heising (Winner)
Amateur Detectives: A Writer’s Guide to How Private Citizens Solve Criminal Cases by Elaine Raco Chase and Anne Wingate
Mystery: A Celebration by Ron Miller
The Letters of Dorothy L. Sayers: The Making of a Detective Novelist edited by Barbara Reynolds
By a Woman’s Hand, Second Edition by Jean Swanson & Dean James

1995: Mystery Readers Walking Guide-Chicago by Alzina Stone Dale   (Winner)
John Dickson Carr: The Man Who Explained Miracles by Douglas Greene
Ngaio Marsh: The Woman and Her Work, edited by B.J. Rahn
The Armchair Detective Book of Lists, 2nd edition edited by Kate Stine
The Cadfael Companion, 2nd edition, by Robin Whiteman

1994: By a Woman’s Hand by Jean Swanson and Dean James (Winner)
Encylopedia Mysteriosa by William L. DeAndrea
Crime Fiction II by Allen J. Hubin
Great Women Mystery Writers edited by Kathleen Gregory Klein
Had She But Known: Mary Roberts Rinehart by Charlotte MacLeod 

1993: The Doctor, the Murder, the Mystery by Barbara D’Amato (Winner)
Maker & Craftsman: Dorothy L. Sayers by Alzina Stone Dale
The Poisonous Pen of Agatha Christie by Michael C. Gerald
The Fine Art of Murder, editor. Ed Gorman, et al.
A Reader’s Guide to the American Novel of Detection by Marvin Lachman
The Doubleday Crime Club Compendium 1928-91 by Ellen Nehr