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The Agatha Awards for 2022 Books

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The Agatha Awards are bestowed upon crime fiction and nonfiction works centered on the mystery to be solved, rather than the violence that surrounds the deeds. This year’s awards were handed out in person in late April, 2023, and are indicated in red.

Best Contemporary Novel
“Bayou Book Thief” by Ellen Byron
“Death By Bubble Tea” by Jennifer J. Chow
“Fatal Reunion” by Annette Dashofy
“Dead Man’s Leap” by Tina de Bellegarde
“A World of Curiosities” by Louise Penny

Best Historical Novel
“The Counterfeit Wife” by Mally Becker
“Because I Could Not Stop for Death” by Amanda Flower
“The Lindbergh Nanny” by Mariah Fredericks
“In Place of Fear” by Catriona McPherson
“Under a Veiled Moon” by Karen Odden

Best First Novel
“Cheddar Off Dead” by Korina Moss
“Death in the Aegean” by M. A. Monnin
“The Bangalore Detectives Club” by Harini Nagendra
“Devil’s Chew Toy” by Rob Osler
“The Finalist” by Joan Long
“The Gallery of Beauties” by Nina Wachsman

Best Short Story (Click on the blue titles to read the stories or find where to buy them)
“Beauty and the Beyotch” by Barb Goffman (Sherlock Holmes Magazine, Feb. 2022)
“There Comes a Time” by Cynthia Kuhn, Malice Domestic Murder Most Diabolical
“Fly Me to the Morgue” by Lisa Q Mathews, Malice Domestic Mystery Most Diabolical
“The Minnesota Twins Meet Bigfoot” by Richie Narvaez, Land of 10,000 Thrills
“The Invisible Band” by Art Taylor, Edgar & Shamus Go Golden

Best Children’s/YA Mystery
“Daybreak on Raven Island” by Fleur Bradley
“In Myrtle Peril” by Elizabeth C. Bunce
“#shedeservedit” by Greg Herren
“Sid Johnson and the Phantom Slave Stealer” by Frances Schoonmaker
“Enola Holmes and the Elegant Escapade” by Nancy Springer

The Agatha Awards for 2022 Books Read More »

“A Side of Murder” by Amy Pershing

“A Side of Murder,” by Amy Pershing, is a delightful debut Cape Cod foodie mystery. Samantha Barnes is an up and coming chef in NYC, but a very public disagreement with her boss (who is also her ex) that involves a knife and a snipped body part, sends her home to an inheritance on Cape Cod and a restaurant review job. Sam hopes to escape far away enough from the media mess (and the ex) that her life has a chance to return to some sort of normal.

The fun writing, engaging characters, and a will-they-won’t-they relationship with a hunky Harbor Master (an old high school love) bring charm and the right amount of dreamy to the story. Delicious details about the food, a puzzler of a mystery, as well as great tips for cooking some of the dishes, make this a series well worth cozying up to.

Book #2, “An Eggnog to Die For,” has a Christmas theme, with a dead Santa, the Feast of the Five Fishes, a need for quiet in the midst of visiting parents with their own secrets, more recipes, and delightfully clever writing.

Book #3, “Murder is No Picnic,” is on the way in June! My copy is on pre-order. 🙂