This year’s Anthony Awards, awarded in September 2025 for books published in 2024, again saw many winning titles with female sleuths. The contest also added new categories, including best cozy/humorous, best historical and best paranormal. I particularly love the last category because I haven’t seen it in the other big mystery competitions.
Quick history if you’re unfamiliar: The American mystery fiction world has several annual conventions for writers and fans, and that’s where each group typically announces their “best of” yearly awards. Left Coast Crime kicks off the cycle, followed by the Agatha Awards for traditional mysteries, the Edgar Awards given by professional writers, and then the Anthony Awards. I like perusing the nominees and winners lists for additions to my TBR (to be read) book pile.
2025 Anthony Awards Featuring Female Sleuths
Best Hardcover Novel: The God of the Woods by Liz Moore
“Early morning, August 1975: a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing. Barbara isn’t just any thirteen-year-old: she’s the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region’s residents. And this isn’t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared. Barbara’s older brother similarly vanished fourteen years ago, never to be found.”
Best Paperback Original: Echo by Tracy Clark
“Hardwicke House, home to Belverton College’s exclusive Minotaur Society, is no stranger to tragedy. And when a body turns up in the field next to the mansion, the scene looks chillingly familiar.
“Chicago PD sends hard-nosed Detective Harriet “Harri” Foster to investigate. The victim is Brice Collier, a wealthy Belverton student, whose billionaire father, Sebastian, owns Hardwicke and ranks as a major school benefactor. Sebastian also has ties to the mansion’s notorious past, when thirty years ago, hazing led to a student’s death in the very same field.“
Best First Novel: You Know What You Did by K.T. Nguyen
“Annie “Anh Le” Shaw grew up poor, but seems to have it all now: a dream career, a stunning home, and a devoted husband and daughter. When Annie’s mother, a Vietnam War refugee, dies suddenly one night, Annie’s carefully curated life begins to unravel. Her obsessive-compulsive disorder, which she thought she’d vanquished years ago, comes roaring back—but this time, the disturbing fixations swirling around in Annie’s brain might actually be coming true.
“A prominent art patron disappears, and the investigation zeroes in on Annie. Spiraling with self-doubt, she distances herself from her family and friends, only to wake up in a hotel room—naked, next to a lifeless body.”
Best Paranormal: A New Lease on Death by Olivia Black
“Since Cordelia Graves died in her apartment a few months ago, she’s kept up her residency, despite being bored out of her (non-tangible) skull and frustrated by her new roommate. When her across-the-hall neighbor, Jake Macintyre, is shot and killed in an apparent mugging gone wrong outside their building, Cordelia is convinced there’s more to it and is determined to bring his killer to justice.
“Unfortunately, Cordelia, being dead herself, can’t solve the mystery alone. She has to enlist the help of the obnoxiously perky, living tenant of her apartment. Ruby is twenty, annoying, and has never met a houseplant she couldn’t kill.”
Best Children’s/YA Novel: When Mimi Went Missing by Suja Sukumar
“Shy, nerdy Tanvi has always thought of her perfect cousin Mimi as her sister. Not only did Mimi’s family raise Tanvi after the tragic death of her parents, fierce Mimi has always protected Tanvi at school. At least until Mimi fell under the spell of their flawless, rich classmate, Beth . . . Tanvi’s biggest bully. Fearing another terrible year, Tanvi decides to take a preemptive strike—and captures an incriminating photo of Mimi and Beth at a party. When Tanvi wakes up the next day with a bump on her head, scratches on her leg, and no memory of what caused her injuries, Mimi is gone.“
Want more? Click here to see more winners and all of the 2025 nominees in every category.
FemaleSleuths.com 