THE LEFTY AWARD NOMINEES: 2025 Left Coast Crime

The Lefty Awards will be voted on at Left Coast Crime 2025 and presented at a banquet on Saturday, March 15, at the Westin Denver Downtown. Congratulations to all! 

Lefty Nominees for Best Humorous Mystery Novel

• Ellen Byron, A Very Woodsy Murder (Kensington Books)

• Jennifer J. Chow, Ill-Fated Fortune (St. Martin’s Paperbacks)

• A.J. Devlin, Bronco Buster (NeWest Press)

• Catriona McPherson, Scotzilla (Severn House)

• Rob Osler, Cirque du Slay (Crooked Lane Books)

• Richard Osman, We Solve Murders (Pamela Dorman Books / Viking)

Lefty Nominees for Best Historical Mystery Novel
(Bill Gottfried Memorial) for books covering events before 1970

• John Copenhaver, Hall of Mirrors (Pegasus Crime)

• Robert Dugoni, A Killing on the Hill (Thomas & Mercer)

• Dianne Freeman, An Art Lover’s Guide to Paris and Murder (Kensington Books)

• Laurie R. King, The Lantern’s Dance (Bantam Books)

• Laura Jensen Walker, Death of a Flying Nightingale (Level Best Books / Historia)

Lefty Nominees for Best Debut Mystery Novel

• Peter Malone Elliott, Blue Ridge (Level Best Books)

• Cindy Goyette, Obey All Laws (Level Best Books)

• Audrey Lee, The Mechanics of Memory (CamCat Books)

• Jennifer K. Morita, Ghosts of Waikiki (Crooked Lane Books)

• K.T. Nguyen, You Know What You Did (Dutton)

Lefty Nominees for Best Mystery Novel
(not in other categories)

• Claire Booth, Home Fires (Severn House)

• Margot Douaihy, Blessed Water (Zando, Gillian Flynn Books)

• Rob Hart, Assassins Anonymous (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)

• Leslie Karst, Molten Death (Severn House)

• James L’Etoile, Served Cold (Level Best Books)

• Duane Swierczynski, California Bear (Mulholland Books)