The Agatha Awards honor the traditional mystery—-books best typified by the works of Agatha Christie. The genre is generally characterized by mysteries that contain no explicit sex, excessive gore, or gratuitous violence; usually featuring an amateur detective, they have a confined setting and characters who know one another. Novels and stories featuring police officers and private detectives may qualify for the Agatha, but materials generally classified as “hard boiled” are not appropriate.
Year | Best Novel | Best First Novel | Best Nonfiction |
2006 | Nancy Pickard | Sandra Parshall | |
2005 | Laura Durham | Katherine Hall Page | |
2004 | Jacqueline Winspear | Harley Jane Kozak | Private Eye-Lashes: Radio’s Lady Detectives Jack French |
2003 | Carolyn Hart | Jacqueline Winspear | Amelia Peabody’s Egypt: A Compendium Elizabeth Peters & Kristen Whitbread |
2002 | Donna Andrews | Julia Spencer-Fleming | |
2001 | Rhys Bowen | Sarah Strohmeyer | Katherine Hall Page |
2000 | Margaret Maron | Rosemary Stevens | 100 Favorite Mysteries of the Century Jim Huang |