The folks behind Malice Domestic have announced the nominees for the 2015 Agatha Awards.

Best Contemporary Novel:
BURNED BRIDGES, Annette Dashofy (Henery Press)
LONG UPON THE LAND, Margaret Maron (Grand Central Publishing)
THE CHILD GARDEN, Catriona McPherson (Midnight Ink)
NATURE OF THE BEAST, Louise Penny (Minotaur Books)
WHAT YOU SEE, Hank Phillipi Ryan (Forge Books)

Best Historical Novel:
MALICE AT THE PALACE, Rhys Bowen (Berkley)
THE MASQUE OF A MURDERER, Susanna Calkins (Minotaur Books)
DREAMING SPIES, Laurie R. King (Bantam)
MRS. ROOSEVELT’S CONFIDANTE, Susan Elia Macneal (Banntam)
MURDER ON AMSTERDAM AVENUE, Victoria Thompson (Berkley)

Best First Novel:
DEATH OF A DISHONORABLE GENTLEMAN, Tessa Arlen (Minotaur Books)
MACDEATH, Cindy Brown (Henery Press)
PLANTATION SHUDDERS, Ellen Byron (Crooked Lane Books)
JUST KILLING TIME, Julianne Holmes (Berkley)
ON THE ROAD WITH DEL AND LOUISE, Art Taylor (Henery Press)

Best Nonfiction:
THE GREAT DETECTIVE: THE AMAZING RISE AND IMMORTAL LIFE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES, Zack Dundas (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
THE GOLDEN AGE OF MURDER: THE MYSTERY OF THE WRITERS WHO INVENTED THE MODERN DETECTIVE STORY, Martin Edwards (HarperCollins)
A IS FOR ARSENIC: THE POISONS OF AGATHA CHRISTIE, Kathryn Harkup (Bloomsbury USA)
UNSOLVED MURDERS AND DISAPPEARANCES IN NORTHEAST OHIO, Jane Ann Turzillo (Arcadia Publishing)
THE MYSTERY WRITERS OF AMERICA COOKBOOK: WICKEDLY GOOD MEALS AND DESSERTS TO DIE FOR, Kate White (Editor), Harlan Coben (Contributor) and Gillian Flynn (Contributor) (Quirk Books)

Best Short Story:
“A Year Without Santa Claus?” by Barb Goffman (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Jan./Feb. 2015)
“A Questionable Death” by Edith Maxwell, History & Mystery, Oh My (Mystery & Horror, LLC)
“A Killing at the Beausoleil” by Terrie Farley Moran (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Nov. 2015)
“Suffer the Poor” by Harriette Sackler, History & Mystery, Oh My (Mystery & Horror, LLC)
“A Joy Forever” by B.K. Stevens (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, March 2015)

Best Children’s/Young Adult:
PIECES AND PLAYERS, Blue Balliett (Scholastic Press)
NEED, Joelle Charbonneau (HMH Books for Young Readers)
ANDI UNSTOPPABLE, Amanda Flower (Zonderkidz)
WOOF, Spencer Quinn (Scholastic Press)
FIGHTING CHANCE: A MARTIAL ARTS MYSTERY, B.K. Stevens (Poisoned Pen Press)vens (Poisoned Pen Press)

A ballot listing each category’s nominees will be given to all attendees of Malice Domestic 28, which will be held April 29-May 1, 2016. Attendees will vote by secret ballot, the ballots will be tabulated and the winners will be announced at the 2015 Agatha Awards banquet to be held on Saturday, April 30, 2016.