Edith here, still north of Boston, pining away for her friends.
This is Sherry butting into Edith’s post to celebrate Edith’s winning the Agatha Award for Best Historical novel for Charity’s Burden! Way to go Edith — I’m so thrilled for you!
Liz: Ditto! Super congrats, Edith – the first of the Wickeds to actually WIN!
Jessie: This is such a bright spot of news! Super congratulations, Edith! I am so pleased for you!
Barb: About effing time! Note to readers: This is a Wickeds inside joke. Oh sure, Edith is gracious and grateful. But we have been bridesmaids at someone else’s wedding 13 times between us! (See below. I counted.) So we’re allowed a little crazy dancing and shouting. Go, Edith, go.
Julie: Edith, I screamed and clapped when your name was mentioned. Huge congratulations, my friend. Can’t wait till we can celebrate in person!
The Agatha Awards were announced virtually on Saturday night by the Malice Domestic committee. The in-person conference in North Bethesda – a favorite of the Wickeds – of course had to be canceled, but the voting took place regardless. Anyone registered for this year’s conference received a digital ballot.
All of the Wickeds have received an Agatha nomination over the years:
2014: Liz for Best First Novel; Barb for Best Contemporary Novel; Barb for Best Short Story
2015: Sherry for Best First Novel; Edith for Best Short Story
2016: Julie (as Julianne Holmes) for for Best First Novel; Edith for Best Short Story
2017: Barb for Best Contemporary Novel; Jessie and Edith for Best Historical Novel; Edith for Best Short Story
2018: Jessie and Edith for Best Historical Novel
2019: Edith for Best Historical Novel
Alas, none of us won. This year my Charity’s Burden was nominated for Best Historical Novel, my seventh nomination and fourth in the Quaker Midwife Mysteries series.
And…I won! I am still so very stunned and delighted and grateful. It was very strange to be home with only one other person (who congratulated me and then returned to his den) instead of at the Malice banquet and at the bar afterward. I’ll get my teapot – and all the hugs – next year, and you can believe that baby’s going to get place of honor in my office.
We want to congratulate all the other winners:
Best Contemporary Novel: The Long Call by Ann Cleeves
Best First Novel: One Night Gone by Tara Laskowski
Best Nonfiction: The Mutual Admiration Society: How Dorothy L. Sayers and her Oxford Circle Remade the World for Women by Mo Moulton
Best Children/Young Adult: The Last Crystal by Frances Schoonmaker
And all the other nominees who wrote such wonderful books and stories.
Best Short Story: “The Last Word” by Shawn Reilly Simmons, Malice Domestic 14: Mystery Most Edible
Readers: How did you feel about not being able to go to Malice this year, if you were registered? Do you have another favorite conference or convention?
Congratulations, Edith!! And 13 Agatha noms amongst the Wickeds is awesome!
Thank you, Grace!
Warmest congratulations!!! So very deserving and so thrilled for you. The lack of Malice ranks very, very high up there in the list of things sorely missed (visits to children/grandchildren, church, choir), especially since that’s where I get to see all of you. Next year!
Thanks, Vida. Next year for sure!
CONGRATULATIONS! Wonderful honor for a wonderful writer!
Thank you,Kathleen!
Edith, I’m sure you should have been able to hear my scream for you all the way from southwest of Pittsburgh to north of Boston. As another bridesmaid (5 nominations, no wins), I totally, TOTALLY understand and celebrate your joy at FINALLY winning. Can’t wait to join you for the real celebration next year. Congratulations, my friend!!!
Of course I heard you! Next year will be your year, I’m sure of it.
Hi Annette,
You are another of the “bridesmaids” that has been more than deserving of a win! As I said to Edith below, this has been one of the most competitive years I can remember, and especially in the Best Contemporary and Best First Novel categories, I was almost reduced to flipping a coin to choose among so many superb books.
Ann’s book was excellent and deserving, but I would also have been whooping and hollering had Fair Game won as well. You have a ways to go before we can call you the Susan Lucci of the Agathas, but if you continue to write such wonderful tales, I have no doubt you’ll be serving us all tea very soon.
My wife, Annette, and I were both cheering for you, Edith. Congratulations and well deserved!
Thanks so much, Ang.
Edith, that’s such awesome news, huge congrats to you! I heard on FB later yesterday, so I’ll have to go watch it today. Very well-deserved! 😊
Thanks Tari!
Well deserved, Edith! I’m very happy for you. Will they have a ceremony to honor this year’s winners at the conference next year? I hope so! You should be able to celebrate.
Thanks, Amy. Yes, they said they would.
Congratulations Edith! I was so thrilled and happy for you when I read that “Charity’s Burden” was nominated and then WON for Best Historical Novel. Not only was I happy for you, but glad to see a book so deserving be acknowledged for the wonderful, well-written book that it is.
Again, I must say CONGRATULATIONS! Enjoy the glow of being acknowledged successfully and completely this year.
2clowns at arkansas dot net
Thanks so much, Kay!
Congratulations. We are all doing the Happy Dance with you, just more than 6 feet apart.
Thank you, Linda!
I’m terribly disappointed to not have been at Malice. But I startled Koda out of a sound sleep with my applauding. Congratulations, Edith!
Thank you, Liz!
Congrats to you, Edith, and the other winners and nominees!
Thank you!
Congrats, Edith, for a well deserved win!! I am so happy for you. It’s about time they figured out just how good you really are.
I’m doing a happy dance for you in my office, and grinning from ear to ear.
Thank you!
As I posted rather enthusiastically on Facebook, I’m so happy to see that Edith won the Agatha Award! It is richly deserved to say the least.
I wasn’t going to Malice Domestic so I can’t say that I missed going this year. Well, I could say that but it would be a blatant falsehood.
Since I’ve never been to a book convention, I can’t say I have a favorite. But with all of the ones that I’d like to go to at some point now having been cancelled for 2020, I’ll have to reset my desires for 2021.
Off the top of my head, I want to attend Thrillerfest, Malice Domestic, Bouchercon and New England Crime Bake (which given the finances involved is the most likely one for me). I’m sure there are others but those are the ones that immediately come to mind for me.
It is a bit funny that I want to spend time at these events given my overall reticence to socialize but the chance to meet a bunch of authors whose work I love and meet other mystery enthusiast fans like myself is just too much of a lure to rule out completely.
At this point, I’d even settle for going to one of those Kensington Mini Cozy Cons like the one I missed last year in Boston.
I hope all our dreams come true next year, Jay!
Hi Edith,
I can’t tell you how thrilled I am. Charity’s Burden is excellent and as deserving an Agatha winner as any through the years! I, too, was whooping and hollering when Cindy announced your name. It’s really unfair and unfortunate that the world conspired to prevent us from being together to celebrate, but if the Gods are kind, we’ll all be together to whoop and holler next May, when you’re presented with your teapot.
And something else I must say is that you won in a very competitive year. In each of the major categories, ANY of the nominees would have been deserving winners this year, so it’s an even greater achievement.
And like everybody else who loiters ’round the Wickeds, I can’t wait until we have Rose’s next adventure to read.
Write faster, please!
Again, huge congratulations, and I couldn’t be more pleased for you!
Thank you, Lee! I so agree about the field – very competitive. See you next year.
Congrats, Edith!
Thank you!
Congratulations, Edith! Well deserved for a series that is so good. This was the year we were finally past sick pets and husband surgeries so I was planning to go to Left Coast Crime and Bouchercon. Living in the California Bay Area both were within driving distance. Oh well, they will come again and we always have our daily blogs to visit.
I was going to go to Bouchecon, too, Sally. Alas.
Happy for you, congrats!!!
Thank you, Judy!
Congratulations, Edith. I don’t travel much anymore but I’m really hoping they rescedule the Kensington Cozy Con that was in my neighborhood. I think some of the Wicked were going to be there.
I hope they do, too!
Missing Malice was a huge disappointment this year – I love visiting with the authors I love and learning about new ones – it’s how I learned about all of the Wickeds!
I’m not an author but I do get disappointed when those who’s books I thoroughly enjoyed don’t win. So many many congratulations to Edith and you all are winners!
Congrats, Edith!
(And kudos to all the Agatha winners & nominees!)