Malice Domestic and Mystery Writers of America name winners of Agatha and Edgar® Awards

Writers of mystery fiction received due acclaim last week with the announcements of the winners of two highly esteemed awards. Yesterday, May 1, 2010, Malice Domestic® named the winners of its Agatha Awards. Only two days earlier, on April 29, the Mystery Writers of America revealed the winners of its 2010 Edgar Allan Poe Awards.

Agatha Award winners

Rhys Bowen, author of the Molly Murphy series and the Her Royal Spyness mysteries, served as Toastmaster for the 2010 Malice Domestic convention, an annual meeting for fans of the traditional mystery held this year in Crystal City, Virginia. The following five books, all published in 2009, received Agatha Awards:

• Best Mystery Novel: A Brutal Telling by Louise Penny. Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series; book 5 (St. Martin's Minotaur)
• Best First Mystery Novel: The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley. Flavia de Luce series, book 1 (Delacorte Press)
• Best Children's/Young Adult: The Hanging Hill by Chris Grabenstein Crossroads, book 2 (Random House)
• Best Short Story: "On the House" by Hank Phillippi Ryan (which appeared in Quarry: Crime Stories by New England Writers)
• Best Non-Fiction: Dame Agatha's Shorts by Elena Santangelo (Bella Rosa Books)

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Edgar® Award winners

The Mystery Writers of America announced its 2010 Edgar Allan Poe Awards on Thursday, April 29, 2010 at the organization’s 64th Gala Banquet, held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City. Winners of the Edgars, which celebrate the best works of 2009 in mystery fiction, non-fiction and television, appear below.

• Best Novel: The Last Child by John Hart (Minotaur Books)
• Best First Novel by an American Author: In the Shadow of Gotham by Stefanie Pintoff. Simon Ziele series, book 1 (Minotaur Books)
• Best Paperback Original: Body Blows by Marc Strange. Joe Grundy Mystery series (Castle Street Mysteries)
• Best Short Story: "Amapola" by Luis Urrea in Phoenix Noir (Akashic Books)
•  Best Critical/Biographical: The Lineup: The World's Greatest Crime Writers Tell the Inside Story of Their Detectives, edited by Otto Penzler (Hachette Book Group-Little, Brown)
• Best Juvenile: Closed for the Season by Mary Downing Hahn (HMH Children's Book)
• Best Young Adult: Reality Check by Peter Abrahams (HarperTeen) Best TV Episode Teleplay: "Place of Execution," teleplay by Patrick Harbinson (PBS) based on Val McDermid's novel)
• Best Fact Crime: Columbine by Dave Cullen (Twelve)
• Ellery Queen Award: Poisoned Pen Press, Barbara Peters & Robert Rosenwald
• Raven Awards: Zef Buffman, International Mystery Writers Festival and Mystery Lovers Bookshop (Oakmont, PA)
• Robert L. Fish Memorial Award: "A Dreadful Day" by Dan Warthman, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine (Dell Magazines)
• The Simon & Schuster-Mary Higgins Clark Award: Awakening by S.J. Bolton (Minotaur Books)
• Grand Master: Dorothy Gilman, author of the Mrs. Pollifax mystery series