Agatha Award

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The Agatha Award is an American literary prize that has been awarded by Malice Domestic Ltd. since 1989 . is awarded, a non-profit organization that annually organizes a congress in Washington DC , the Malice Domestic Convention , under the same name , which takes on classic crime and mystery novels . English-language novels , short stories and non-fiction books of the mystery genre that are based on the works of the well-known British crime writer Agatha Christie (1890–1976), who also gave the award its name, will be honored.

The content of the award-winning books is characterized by the fact that they almost completely avoid topics such as sex or excessive depictions of violence and follow the rules of Whodunnit . Often the focus is on an amateur detective who operates in a limited setting (the scene is often cut off from the outside world or from judicial power) and is confronted with a limited number of suspects who know each other and are in close contact with the crime victim. Novels or short stories that focus on police officers or private detectives are also tolerated, but not so-called hardboiled detectives .

Categories and voting procedures

The Agatha Award is presented annually in different categories. Since 1989 the best novel and best first novel, as well as the best short story, have been awarded. In 1993, the Non Fiction category was introduced, which is reserved for works of non-fiction . In 2001, the award for the best children's and young people's book from the mystery genre was introduced, and the last since 2012 was the category of best historical novel . In addition to the regular categories, special prizes such as the Malice Domestic Award for Lifetime Achievement for the life's work of a writer are also awarded.

The winners of the six regular categories are chosen by fans of the genre, ie members and friends of the Malice Domestic Convention, who receive ballot papers at the beginning of each year, on which they enter their favorite new releases from last year. These will be sent back by post, fax or email. The award committee evaluates the results and compiles a list of the five titles with the most votes in each category, which are published on the Malice Domestic Ltd. website. is published. Registered congress participants of the Malice Domestic Convention vote on this in a secret ballot. The winners will then be announced at the congress banquet and presented with the Agatha Award.

category Original designation awarded since
Best novel Best Contemporary Novel / Best Novel 1989
Best first novel Best first mystery 1989
Best short story Best short story 1989
Best non-fiction book Best non-fiction 1994
Best children's and youth book Best Children's / Young Adult Mystery 2002
Best historical novel Best Historical Novel 2012

Special prices

category Original designation awarded since
Honorary award Malice Domestic Award for Lifetime Achievement 1990
Poirot Prize Malice Domestic Poirot Award 2003
Amelia Prize Malice Domestic Amelia Award 2012

See also

Web links