World Literary Awards

← Back to Agatha Awards

Agatha Awards あがさしょう

Edition 28 (2015)

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

Winners

6 people
Art Taylor Winner

Del, who robs convenience stores to pay for school, and Louise, who becomes his unexpected partner, are followed through six linked stories. The book balances the danger of crime with the lightness of romance, letting their relationship shift and deepen from one stop on the road to the next.

Two fugitives gradually build a story of their own.

267 pages
linked storiescrimeroad novelromancefamily

The twentieth Deborah Knott novel begins with a body found on the family farm, tying a murder investigation to an old land dispute. Family history, local loyalties, and the pressures of law enforcement intersect as the case unfolds.

A family farm brings old secrets back into the light.

304 pages
mysteryfamilyland disputeseries novel

Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes are drawn into a case that links Japan and Oxford in the thirteenth novel of the series. Historical detail and forward motion work together as the mystery expands across countries and hidden loyalties.

A quiet thread of conspiracy runs from Japan to Oxford.

368 pages
historical mysteryseries noveladventureespionage
Barb Goffman Winner

This short story appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine. It is read as a piece that blends holiday humor with an undercurrent of unease into a compact, memorable mystery.

A holiday atmosphere slowly gives way to unease.

short storyChristmasmystery

This nonfiction book traces the history of the Detection Club and the golden age of detective fiction. It carefully explores the connections among the writers and how their work became part of the genre’s classic tradition.

The golden age of detective fiction is examined through both people and books.

481 pages
nonfictioncrime writing historyDetection Club
Amanda Flower Winner

Andi and her friends move from a school birdwatching activity into a local mystery in the third book of the series. A ghost story and clues from the cemetery overlap, making the adventure feel immediate and easy to follow for younger readers.

A bird search turns into a search for the town’s secrets.

children’s mysteryseries novelschool lifeghost story