World Literary Awards

← Back to Agatha Awards

Agatha Awards あがさしょう

Edition 26 (2013)

Best Contemporary NovelBest Historical NovelBest First NovelBest Short StoryBest Non-FictionBest Children's/Young Adult Mystery

Winners

6 people

A cozy mystery steeped in food and books. The owner of a small-town general store is drawn into local relationships and a murder case while pursuing the truth.

A small town’s warmth carries a bitter edge beneath it.

304 pages
cozy mysteryfoodsmall townbooks

A suspense novel built around a missing baby and the suspicion of a switched identity, tracing family secrets and the dark side of adoption. Journalism and police work intersect as the truth slowly emerges.

When family truth is overturned, the case grows even deeper.

366 pages
suspensefamily secretsadoptionjournalism

A historical mystery set against World War I and colonial India, in which old murder and military honor lead toward a buried truth. Through Bess Crawford’s perspective, past violence casts a shadow over the present.

The wounds left by war become the core of the mystery.

320 pages
historical mysteryWorld War IIndiatruth
Art Taylor Winner

A short story published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and nominated for the Agatha Award short story category. It was not issued as a standalone book.

Recognized as a short story that appeared only in a magazine.

short storymagazine publicationmystery

A meticulously researched work of historical nonfiction that reconstructs the plot to assassinate Abraham Lincoln. It follows Pinkerton and the people around him as political tension rises.

The tension of an era emerges from the story behind the assassination plot.

354 pages
historical nonfictionLincolnconspiracyAmerican history

A children’s adventure in which a group of kids invited to a new town library must solve hidden puzzles to escape. Friendship and curiosity about books drive the story forward.

The library itself becomes a giant puzzle box.

304 pages
children’s fictionpuzzleslibraryfriendship