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Agatha Awards 2022

The 2022 Agatha Awards went to I Play One on TV by Alan Orloff (Best Children's/YA), Cajun Kiss of Death by Ellen Byron (Best Contemporary Novel) and Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala (Best First Novel), with winners in 2 more categories. 24 books were nominated across 5 categories.

Winners

Best Children's/YA

  1. I Play One on TV by Alan Orloffsource (opens in a new tab)

Best Contemporary Novel

  1. Cajun Kiss of Death by Ellen Byronsource (opens in a new tab)

Best First Novel

  1. Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansalasource (opens in a new tab)

Best Historical Novel

  1. Death at Greenway by Lori Rader-Daysource (opens in a new tab)

Best Nonfiction

  1. How to Write a Mystery by Lee Child and Laurie R. Kingsource (opens in a new tab)

Nominees

Best Children's/YA

  1. Cold-Blooded Myrtle by Elizabeth Buncesource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Enola Holmes and the Black Barouche by Nancy Springersource (opens in a new tab)
  3. Leisha's Song by Lynn Slaughtersource (opens in a new tab)
  4. The Forest of Stolen Girls by June Hursource (opens in a new tab)

Best Contemporary Novel

  1. Her Perfect Life by Hank Phillippi Ryansource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Symphony Road by Gabriel Valjansource (opens in a new tab)
  3. The Madness of Crowds by Louise Pennysource (opens in a new tab)
  4. Watch Her by Edwin Hillsource (opens in a new tab)

Best First Novel

  1. A Dead Man's Eyes by Lori Duffy Fostersource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Mango, Mambo, and Murder by Raquel V. Reyessource (opens in a new tab)
  3. Murder in the Master by Judy L. Murraysource (opens in a new tab)
  4. The Turncoat's Widow by Mally Beckersource (opens in a new tab)

Best Historical Novel

  1. Clark and Division by Naomi Hiraharasource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Murder at Mallowan Hall by Colleen Cambridgesource (opens in a new tab)
  3. The Bombay Prince by Sujata Masseysource (opens in a new tab)
  4. The Devil's Music by Gabriel Valjansource (opens in a new tab)

Best Nonfiction

  1. Murder Most Grotesque: The Comedic Crime Fiction of Joyce Porter by Chris Chansource (opens in a new tab)
  2. The Combat Zone: Murder, Race, and Boston’s Struggle for Justice by Jan Brogansource (opens in a new tab)
  3. The Irish Assassins: Conspiracy, Revenge, and the Phoenix Park Murders that Stunned Victorian England by Julie Kavanaughsource (opens in a new tab)

About the Agatha Awards

Book categories only, from Malice Domestic's Agatha Awards history archive PDF (malicedomestic.net; the old malicedomestic.org site no longer loads) and its MD36 (2024) and MD37 (2025) pages. Year follows Malice Domestic's own label: through 2020 the label is the books' publication year; from 2022 it is the convention year (the 2021-published books were honored in 2022, labeled 2022), so no award carries the 2021 label and 2021 counts are zero. Best Novel became Best Contemporary Novel in 2013; Best Historical Novel starts 2011. The archive lists fewer than five nominees in some years (e.g. 2006-2007 Nonfiction, 2007 First Novel, 2018 Children's/YA). The archive does not mark 2006-2017 winners; those come from Wikipedia's Agatha Award article. The PDF drops some ligature letters, so titles and names were repaired against Wikipedia.

Organization: Malice Domestic. Years are award years, which can differ from publication years. Official site (opens in a new tab)

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