Agatha Award Winners 2026: Celebrating Traditional Mysteries

Named for Agatha Christie, these awards celebrate the best in the kind of mysteries typified by the British author. This generally means stories without explicit sex, excessive gore, or gratuitous violence.

Members of Malice Domestic, an annual mystery fan convention that’s been meeting since 1989, nominate authors in six categories including best contemporary novel, best historical novel, and best first novel. Those who attend the convention in Maryland — held April 24-26 this year — select the winners.

The Agatha Awards are the second major mystery awards given this year, following the Lefty Awards at Left Coast Crime. One novel made both lists — Adrian Andover’s Whiskey Business won best debut mystery at both the Leftys and the Agathas. Here are all of this year’s award winners and nominees:

Best Contemporary Novel

AT DEATH’S DOUGH by Mindy Quigley. Book #5 in the Deep Dish Mystery Series. From Bookshop.org: “It’s February in the ritzy lakeside resort town of Geneva Bay, Wisconsin, and love is in the air. Pizza chef Delilah O’Leary is gearing up to celebrate her first Valentine’s Day with hunky police detective Calvin Capone, great-grandson of the infamous Chicago mobster. But their romance is put on ice when a shocking discovery plunges them into a century-old crime with ties to Capone’s notorious forefather.“

Also nominated:

Best Historical Novel 

THE CASE OF THE CHRISTIE CONSPIRACY by Kelly Oliver. Book #1 in the Detection Club Mystery Series. From Bookshop.org: “1926 – Christie is a darling of the literary circuit and the most desired guest in London’s glittering social scene. She can often be found at meetings of the Detection Club – where mystery writers come together to share ideas, swap secrets and drink copiously. But then a fellow author’s initiation ceremony takes a gruesome turn, and one of the group ends up dead. Now, Agatha is no longer just the creator of great mystery plots – she’s a player in one. And when Agatha disappears the day after the murder, she’s widely assumed to be guilty.“

Also nominated:

Best First Novel 

WHISKEY BUSINESS by Adrian Andover. Book #1 in the Mixology Lounge Mystery Series. From Bookshop.org: “After breaking off an engagement with his fiancée, Reece Parker opens Subplot, a literary-themed underground cocktail lounge in his quaint hometown of Hope Mills, Pennsylvania. While launching a new business temporarily distracts him from self-pity, Reece’s regret is compounded when he stumbles upon a customer’s body behind the lounge after a whiskey club meeting gone wrong. As if he wasn’t already on the rocks, his ex-fiancée’s big brother is a police officer on the case.”

Also nominated:

Best Children’s/Young Adult Mystery

DEATH IN THE CARDS by Mia P. Manansala. The award-winning author’s debut Young Adult novel. From Bookshop.org: “Danika Dizon is a natural problem-solver. Thanks to her private investigator mom and mystery author dad, she’s equipped with the skills to offer guidance to anxious classmates who come to her for a tarot reading between classes. For a price, of course. But when one of her clients vanishes shortly after they’re dealt a death card, the girl’s younger sister Gaby begs Danika to figure out what went wrong. Danika takes on the case, thinking it’s the perfect way to prove to her parents that she should be an official investigator in the family’s detective agency.“

Also nominated:

Best Short Story

“SIX-ARMED ROBBERY” by Ashley-Ruth Bernier, Malice Domestic Mystery Most Humorous. Bernier, a first-grade teacher and short-story author about to publish her first mystery novel, won for her short story in Malice Domestic’s 2025 anthology.

Also nominated:

Best Nonfiction 

VACATIONS CAN BE MURDER: A TRUE CRIME LOVER’S GUIDE TO NEW ENGLAND by Dawn M. Barclay. From Bookshop.org: “For the true crime lover — finally, a travel guide from an award-winning travel journalist and suspense author that gives you the down and dirty on exactly where the major crimes occurred, and where the bodies are buried. For aficionados of paranormal, prison, and tombstone travel, there’s a gold mine of tourism suggestions for you here as well. Along with summaries of the major crimes committed in New England, you’ll discover where to find the best crime and ghost tours; which hotels and restaurants are former jails, courthouses, or harbor paranormal activity; where infamous criminals are/were jailed, and which venues and attractions might feed your fancy for murder and justice.”

Also nominated:

Want more Agatha Award Winners?

You can check out last year’s winners here and the 2024 winners here.

Want even more? To see a downloadable list of nominees and winners for all categories between 1988, when the awards began, and 2023, click here.

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