Tuesday, May 28, 2024

MACAVITY AWARD NOMINATIONS 2024



The Macavity Award Nominations 2024
(for works published in 2023)

The Macavity Awards are nominated by members of Mystery Readers International, subscribers to Mystery Readers Journal, and friends of MRICongratulations to all.

If you're a member of MRI, a subscriber to MRJ, or a friend of MRI, you will receive a ballot in June.

Macavity Nominees 2024

For works published in 2023

Best Mystery

Dark Ride by Lou Berney (William Morrow)

Hide by Tracy Clark (Thomas & Mercer)

All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby (Flatiron Books)

Happiness Falls by Angie Kim (Hogarth)

Murder Book by Thomas Perry (Mysterious)

Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead (Penguin Random House - Doubleday) 

Best First Mystery

The Peacock and the Sparrow by I.S. Berry (Atria)

The Golden Gate by Amy Chua (Macmillan Publishing - Minotaur)

Scorched Grace by Margot Douaihy (Zando/Gillian Flynn Books)

Murder by Degrees by Ritu Mukerji (Simon & Schuster) 

Dutch Threat by Josh Pachter (Genius Book Publishing) 

Mother-Daughter Murder Night by Nina Simon (William Morrow)

Best Mystery Short Story

“Real Courage” by Barb Goffman (Black Cat Mystery Magazine #14, Oct. 2023)

“Green and California Bound” by Curtis Ippolito (Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Sept/Oct 2023)

“Ticket to Ride” by Dru Ann Love and Kristopher Zgorski, (Happiness is a Warm Gun: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of The Beatles, ed. Josh Pachter, Down & Out Books)

Pigeon Tony’s Last Stand” by Lisa Scottoline (Amazon Original Stories) 

“One Night in 1965” by Stacy Woodson (More Groovy Gumshoes: Private Eyes in the Psychedelic Sixties, ed. Michael Bracken, Down & Out Books)

Sue Feder Memorial Award for Best Historical Mystery

Time's Undoing by Cheryl Head (Dutton)

Evergreen by Naomi Hirahara (Soho Crime)

The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger (Simon & Schuster-Atria Books) 

Our Lying Kin by Claudia Hagadus Long (Kasva Press)

The Mistress of Bhatia House by Sujata Massey (Soho Crime)

The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride (Riverhead Books)

Best Mystery-related Nonfiction/Critical 

Finders: Justice, Faith, and Identity in Irish Crime Fiction by Anjili Babbar (Syracuse University Press)

Spillane: King of Pulp Fiction by Max Allan Collins & James L. Traylor (Mysterious Press/Penzler Publishers) 

A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe by Mark Dawidziak (St. Martin’s Press) 

Number Go Up: Inside Crypto’s Wild Rise and Staggering Fall by Zeke Faux (Crown Currency) 

Fallen Angel: The Life of Edgar Allan Poe, by Robert Morgan (LSU Press)

4 comments:

Kiwicraig said...

Congratulations to all the nominees. Some terrific books and tales across all the categories, including several of my fave 2023 reads. Wonderful lists. As a foreigner who's deeply imbedded in the mystery scene, its fascinating to see overlap and differences between various US crime/mystery prizes, eg Anthonys, Barrys, and Macavity Awards (all presented at Bouchercon), and the Edgars and others. Lots of terrific tales published in the last year; it's great to see many getting highlighted across different awards.. Crime, thriller, and mystery fiction seems to be going through a new golden age...

KimHaysBern said...


I'm so glad you sponsor these awards, Janet. Plenty of names I know but also new books to consider. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Why no James Lee Burke "Flags on the Bayou"?

Audrey said...

Congratulations Josh. Great read and I’m hoping to see more and more. Hope you win!!!