I haven’t written a blog in a few days. I am sure that the reason is….. I am obsessively trying to get all of the mystery book awards posted. So far, I have only finished "the Agathas."

At first, I was going to put all of the Agatha Awards on one page. But, that idea didn’t pan out. There was so much information to list. I thought that it was especially important to not just post the actual winners but to also list all of the nominated authors and books for each year. I don’t know how they were able to pick just one winner when the nominations were such outstanding examples of the cozy mystery novel at its best.

The reason I decided to put all of the nominations and winners is that I believe that the Agatha Awards are the very closest awards that we "cozy mystery" book lovers can find. I was absolutely amazed to see so many of my favorite authors on the Agatha Awards list. The detailed lists should provide some help if you are having a difficult time choosing your next new author.

I thought it was particularly interesting to look at the nominations and winners to sort of "follow" a particular author’s progress while becoming a best-selling author. You can see that some authors first submitted short stories, quickly following the stories with novels. It really was interesting to me….

If you take a minute to peruse the list, you will probably find a lot of your favorite cozy mystery writers and their books. Or, you might find your next "favorite author."

As I said in my previous blog entry, the Agatha Awards are given out at the Malice Domestic conventions each year. I did not, however, list the different  categories that are awarded.

The different categories include awards for the best novel, the best first mystery written by an author, best mystery short story, and non-fiction. Also included among the categories are best children’s mystery…. for either children or young adults, less than 18 years of age.

The Agatha Committee tallies nominations that are sent in by registrant of the Malice Domestic convention and Friends of Malice, and then make a list with the top five eligible works for each category.  During the Malice Domestic convention, the final votes are made and the awards are given out. They will be awarding the 2006 awards this May. 

The 2005 Agatha Award winners are as follows:

Best Novel:  The Body in the Snowdrift…  Katherine Hall Page

Best First Novel:  Better Off Wed…  Laura Durham

Best Short Story:  Driven to Distraction…  Marcia Talley

Tie** Best Children/Young Adult:  Down the Rabbit Hole…  Peter Abrahams

Tie** Best Children/Young Adult:  Flush…  Carl Hiaasen 

Best Non-Fiction:  Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her…  Melanie Rehak

Also given at the Malice Domestic convention is the Malice Domestic Award for Lifetime Achievement. In 2005 this award was given to H. F. R. Keathing.

 

On with my quest for determining what exactly these mystery book awards mean…

As I stated in my previous entry, "Anthony" is the first name of Anthony Boucher. (Actually, it’s his second name… William Anthony Parker White, but whose counting?) Since he is "the name" of the Bouchercon mystery convention, it is only fair that he is "the name" of the Anthony Awards. I have found out that he was instrumental in the founding of the Mystery Writers of America, which of course, is a wonderful thing for the mystery readers amongst all of us.

The Anthony awards are given for several different categories: best first novel, novel, short story, paperback (has to be the original form in which the book was introduced…. not a hardcover to paperback book), fan publication and something called "criticism/biography." Since each year’s Bouchercon is pretty much an entity in its own right, that year’s committee is in charge of designing the Anthony Awards for that particular year.

On September 30, the 2006 Anthony Awards Winners were given out at the Bouchercon which took place in Madison, Wisconsin. The winners are as follows:

Best Mystery Novel:  Mercy Falls…..  William Kent Krueger (An interesting note … Best Mystery Novel for 2005 was awarded to another one of William Kent Krueger’s books: Blood Hollow)

Best First Mystery:  Tilt-a-Whirl….. Chris Grabenstein

Best Paperback Original:  The James Deans….. Reed Farrel Coleman

Best Short Story:  Misdirection….. Barbara Seranella from Greatest Hits, edited by Robert J. Randisi

Best Critical/Nonfiction:  Heirs of Anthony Boucher….. Marv Lachman

Best Fan Publication:  Crimespree Magazine….. edited by Jon and Ruth Jordan

Special Service to the Field:  Janet Rudolph….. for Mystery Readers International

The Anthony Awards are awards that are actually voted on by the people attending the convention. So, if you want an author’s work to be at least considered for the award, you better make sure that you (or other readers who appreciate your favorite author) are present at the convention.