Agatha Award Nominees - 2012

The nominees for the 2011 Agatha Awards have been announced by Malice Domestic for books published during 2011 that honor the "traditional mystery." The winners will be announced at the Agatha Awards banquet to be held on Saturday, April 28, 2012, during Malice Domestic conference.  But let's take a look at the top contenders this year.

Best Novel
• The Real Macaw by Donna Andrews (Reviewed here)
• The Diva Haunts the House by Krista Davis
• Wicked Autumn by G. M. Malliet  (Reviewed here)
• Three Day Town by Margaret Maron
• A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny

Best First Novel
• Dire Threads by Janet Bolin
• Choke by Kaye George
• Learning to Swim by Sara J. Henry
• Who Do, Voodoo? by Rochelle Staab  (Reviewed here)
• Tempest in the Tea Leaves by Kari Lee Townsend  (Reviewed here)

Best Non-Fiction
• Books, Crooks and Counselors by Leslie Budewitz
• Agatha Christie: Murder in the Making by John Curran
• On Conan Doyle by Michael Dirda
• Wilkie Collins, Vera Caspary and the Evolution of the Casebook Novel by A. B. Emrys
• The Sookie Stackhouse Companion by Charlaine Harris


Best Children's/Young Adult
• Shelter by Harlan Coben
• The Black Heart Crypt by Chris Grabenstein
• Icefall by Matthew J. Kirby
• The Wizard of Dark Street by Shawn Thomas Odyssey
• The Secret of the Skeleton Key by Penny Warner

Best Historical Novel
• Naughty in Nice by Rhys Bowen  (Review Here)
• Murder Your Darlings by J. J. Murphy
• Mercury's Rise by Ann Parker  (Review Here)
• Troubled Bones by Jeri Westerson (Review Here)
• A Lesson in Secrets by Jacqueline Winspear  (Reviewed here)

We already have reviews for three of the nominees.  I will try to review a few more on this list before the Malice Domestic conference on April 28, 2012.  Do you follow the various mystery book awards?  Do you like to read the books that are nominated, or that win?  Who do you think will win for each category?  Do you follow the Agatha Awards like the Academy Awards?