# Macavity Awards

The Macavity Awards, established in 1987, are a group of literary awards presented annually to mystery writers. Nominated and voted upon annually by the members of the Mystery Readers International, the award is named for the "mystery cat" of T. S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. The award is given in four categories—best novel, best first novel, best nonfiction, and best short story. The Sue Feder Historical Mystery has been given in conjunction with the Macavity Awards.

## Best Mystery Novel

The Macavity Award for Best Mystery Novel was first awarded in 1987. To be eligible for the award, the mystery novel must have been published in the previous calendar year.
Best Mystery Novel winners and finalists :
| Year | Author | Title | Publisher | Result |
| 1987 | P. D. James | A Taste for Death | | Winner |
| 1987 | Lawrence Block | When the Sacred Ginmill Closes | | Finalist |
| 1987 | Max Allan Collins | The Million-Dollar Wound | | Finalist |
| 1987 | Joe Gores | Come Morning | | Finalist |
| 1987 | Stephen Greenleaf | Beyond Blame | | Finalist |
| 1987 | Tony Hillerman | Skinwalkers | | Finalist |
| 1987 | John le Carré | The Perfect Spy | | Finalist |
| 1987 | Bill Pronzini | Deadfall | | Finalist |
| 1987 | Masako Togawa | Lady Killer | | Finalist |
| 1987 | Collin Wilcox | Night Games | | Finalist |
| 1988 | Nancy Pickard | Marriage Is Murder | | Winner |
| 1988 | Max Allan Collins | Primary Target | | Finalist |
| 1988 | John W. and Joyce H. Corrington | A Project Named Desire | | Finalist |
| 1988 | Mickey Friedman | Venetian Mask | | Finalist |
| 1988 | Margaret Maron | The Right Jack | | Finalist |
| 1988 | Sara Paretsky | Bitter Medicine | | Finalist |
| 1988 | Barbara Vine | A Fatal Inversion | | Finalist |
| 1988 | John Wainwright | The Tenth Interview | | Finalist |
| 1989 | Tony Hillerman | A Thief of Time | | Winner |
| 1989 | P. M. Carlson | Murder Unrenovated | | Finalist |
| 1989 | Elizabeth George | A Great Deliverance | | Finalist |
| 1989 | Sue Grafton | E Is for Evidence | | Finalist |
| 1989 | Thomas Harris | The Silence of the Lambs | | Finalist |
| 1989 | Sara Paretsky | Blood Shot | | Finalist |
| 1990 | Carolyn Hart | A Little Class on Murder | | Winner |
| 1990 | James Lee Burke | Black Cherry Blues | | Finalist |
| 1990 | George C. Chesbro | Bone | | Finalist |
| 1990 | Bartholomew Gill | The Death of a Joyce Scholar | | Finalist |
| 1991 | Sharyn McCrumb | If Ever I Return Pretty Peggy-O | | Winner |
| 1991 | Elizabeth George | Well-Schooled in Murder | | Finalist |
| 1991 | Carolyn G. Hart | Deadly Valentine | | Finalist |
| 1991 | Sara Paretsky | Burn Marks | | Finalist |
| 1991 | Anne Perry | The Face of a Stranger | | Finalist |
| 1992 | Nancy Pickard | I.O.U. | | Winner |
| 1992 | Carolyn G. Hart | The Christie Caper | | Finalist |
| 1992 | Walter Mosley | A Red Death | | Finalist |
| 1993 | Margaret Maron | Bootlegger's Daughter | | Winner |
| 1993 | John Dunning | Booked To Die | | Finalist |
| 1993 | Sharyn McCrumb | The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter | | Finalist |
| 1993 | Walter Mosley | White Butterfly | | Finalist |
| 1994 | Minette Walters | The Sculptress | | Winner |
| 1994 | Elizabeth George | Missing Joseph | | Finalist |
| 1994 | Carolyn G. Hart | Dead Man’s Island | | Finalist |
| 1994 | Janet LaPierre | Old Enemies | | Finalist |
| 1994 | Kathy Hogan Trocheck | To Live and Die in Dixie | | Finalist |
| 1995 | Sharyn McCrumb | She Walks These Hills | | Winner |
| 1995 | Michael Connelly | The Concrete Blonde | | Finalist |
| 1995 | Elizabeth George | Playing for the Ashes | | Finalist |
| 1995 | Carolyn G. Hart | Scandal in Fair Haven | | Finalist |
| 1995 | Mary Willis Walker | The Red Scream | | Finalist |
| 1996 | Mary Willis Walker | Under the Beetle's Cellar | Doubleday | Winner |
| 1996 | Barbara D'Amato | Hard Christmas | | Finalist |
| 1996 | Michael Connelly | The Last Coyote | | Finalist |
| 1996 | John Dunning | Bookman’s Wake | | Finalist |
| 1996 | Marcia Muller | A Wild and Lonely Place | | Finalist |
| 1997 | Peter Lovesey | Bloodhounds | Mysterious Press | Winner |
| 1997 | Thomas H. Cook | The Chatham School Affair | | Finalist |
| 1997 | Janet Evanovich | Two for the Dough | | Finalist |
| 1997 | Teri Holbrook | The Grass Widow | | Finalist |
| 1997 | Margaret Lawrence | Hearts and Bones | | Finalist |
| 1998 | Deborah Crombie | Dreaming of the Bones | Scribner | Winner |
| 1998 | Jan Burke | Hocus | Simon & Schuster | Finalist |
| 1998 | Michael Connelly | Trunk Music | Little Brown & Co. | Finalist |
| 1998 | Arturo Perez-Reverte | The Club Dumas | Harcourt Brace | Finalist |
| 1998 | Donald Westlake | The Ax | Mysterious Press | Finalist |
| 1999 | Michael Connelly | Blood Work | Little Brown & Co. | Winner |
| 1999 | Nevada Barr | Blind Descent | G. P. Putnam's Sons | Finalist |
| 1999 | Laura Lippman | Butchers Hill | Avon | Finalist |
| 1999 | Margaret Maron | Home Fires | Mysterious Press | Finalist |
| 1999 | Abigail Padgett | Blue | Mysterious Press | Finalist |
| 2000 | Sujata Massey | The Flower Master | Knopf | Winner |
| 2000 | Rennie Airth | River of Darkness | Viking Press | Finalist |
| 2000 | Robert Crais | L.A. Requiem | Doubleday | Finalist |
| 2000 | Peter Robinson | In a Dry Season | Avon | Finalist |
| 2001 | Val McDermid | A Place of Execution | Berkley Books | Winner |
| 2001 | Taffy Cannon | Guns and Roses | Perseverance Press/John Daniel & Co. | Finalist |
| 2001 | Joe Lansdale | The Bottoms | Mysterious Press | Finalist |
| 2001 | Anne Perry | Half Moon Street | Ballantine Books | Finalist |
| 2001 | Nancy Pickard | The Whole Truth | Pocket Books | Finalist |
| 2002 | Laurie R. King | Folly | Wiley | Winner |
| 2002 | Harlan Coben | Tell No One | Delacorte Press | Finalist |
| 2002 | Linda Fairstein | The Deadhouse | Scribner | Finalist |
| 2002 | Dennis Lehane | Mystic River | William Morrow & Co. | Finalist |
| 2002 | T. Jefferson Parker | Silent Joe | Hyperion | Finalist |
| 2003 | S.J. Rozan | Winter and Night | Intrigue | Winner |
| 2003 | Mary Kay Andrews | Savannah Blues | HarperCollins | Finalist |
| 2003 | James Lee Burke | Jolie Blon's Bounce | Simon & Schuster | Finalist |
| 2003 | Jan Burke | Nine | Simon & Schuster | Finalist |
| 2003 | Michael Connelly | City of Bones | Little, Brown & Co. | Finalist |
| 2004 | Peter Lovesey | The House Sitter | St. Martin's/Minotaur Books | Winner |
| 2004 | Giles Blunt | The Delicate Storm | G. P. Putnam's Sons | Finalist |
| 2004 | Rhys Bowen | For the Love of Mike | St. Martin's | Finalist |
| 2004 | Ken Bruen | The Guards | St. Martin's/Minotaur Books | Finalist |
| 2004 | David Corbett | Done for a Dime | Ballantine Books | Finalist |
| 2005 | Ken Bruen | The Killing of the Tinkers | Little, Brown & Co. | Winner |
| 2005 | Robin Burcell | Cold Case | Avon | Finalist |
| 2005 | Jeff Lindsay | Darkly Dreaming Dexter | Doubleday | Finalist |
| 2005 | Margaret Maron | High Country Fall | Mysterious Press | Finalist |
| 2005 | T. Jefferson Parker | California Girl | HarperCollins | Finalist |
| 2005 | Peter Robinson | Playing with Fire | William Morrow & Co. | Finalist |
| 2006 | Michael Connelly | The Lincoln Lawyer | Faber & Faber/Farrar, Straus and Giroux | Winner |
| 2006 | Lee Child | One Shot | Delacorte Press | Finalist |
| 2006 | Reed Farrel Coleman | The James Deans | Plume | Finalist |
| 2006 | Tess Gerritsen | Vanish | Ballantine Books | Finalist |
| 2006 | Paul Levine | Solomon vs. Lord | Bantam Books | Finalist |
| 2006 | Peter Robinson | Strange Affair | William Morrow & Co. | Finalist |
| 2006 | Don Winslow | The Power of the Dog | Knopf | Finalist |
| 2007 | Nancy Pickard | The Virgin of Small Plains | Thorndike/ Random House UK | Winner |
| 2007 | Benjamin Black | Christine Falls | Henry Holt/Picador | Finalist |
| 2007 | Jason Goodwin | The Janissary Tree | Farrar, Straus and Giroux | Finalist |
| 2007 | Denise Mina | The Dead Hour | Bantam Books | Finalist |
| 2007 | Peter Robinson | Piece of My Heart | McClelland & Stewart | Finalist |
| 2007 | Julia Spencer-Fleming | All Mortal Flesh | Minotaur Books | Finalist |
| 2008 | Laura Lippman | What the Dead Know | William Morrow & Co. | Winner |
| 2008 | Reed Farrel Coleman | Soul Patch | Midnight Ink | Finalist |
| 2008 | John Connolly | The Unquiet | Ballantine Books | Finalist |
| 2008 | David Corbett | Blood of Paradise | Simon & Schuster | Finalist |
| 2008 | Deborah Crombie | Water Like a Stone | William Morrow & Co. | Finalist |
| 2009 | Deborah Crombie | Where Memories Lie | St. Martin's/Minotaur Books | Winner |
| 2009 | Sean Chercover | Trigger City | Minotaur Books | Finalist |
| 2009 | Declan Hughes | The Dying Breed (UK) / The Price of Blood (US) | John Murray/ William Morrow & Co. | Finalist |
| 2009 | Arnaldur Indridason | The Draining Lake | UK: The Price of Blood | Finalist |
| 2009 | Lisa Lutz | Curse of the Spellmans | Doubleday | Finalist |
| 2009 | Louise Penny | The Cruelest Month | Minotaur Books | Finalist |
| 2009 | Louise Ure | The Fault Tree | HarperCollins | Finalist |
| 2010 | Ken Bruen and Reed Farrel Coleman | Tower | Busted Flush Press | Winner |
| 2010 | Megan Abbott | Bury Me Deep | Simon & Schuster | Finalist |
| 2010 | Deborah Crombie | Necessary as Blood | William Morrow & Co. | Finalist |
| 2010 | Jo Nesbø with Don Bartlett (trans.) | Nemesis | HarperCollins | Finalist |
| 2010 | Louise Penny | The Brutal Telling | Minotaur Books | Finalist |
| 2010 | S.J. Rozan | The Shanghai Moon | Minotaur Books | Finalist |
| 2011 | Louise Penny | Bury Your Dead | Minotaur Books | Winner |
| 2011 | James Lee Burke | The Glass Rainbow | Simon & Schuster | Finalist |
| 2011 | Tana French | Faithful Place | Viking Press | Finalist |
| 2011 | Timothy Hallinan | The Queen of Patpong | HarperCollins/William Morrow & Co. | Finalist |
| 2011 | Deon Meyer | Thirteen Hours | Grove Atlantic | Finalist |
| 2011 | Nancy Pickard | The Scent of Rain and Lightning | Ballantine Books | Finalist |
| 2012 | Sara Gran | Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead | Houghton Mifflin Harcourt | Winner |
| 2012 | Anne Holt with Marlaine Delargy (trans.) | 1222 | Scribner | Finalist |
| 2012 | Anthony Horowitz | The House of Silk | Mulholland Books | Finalist |
| 2012 | Michael Koryta | The Ridge | Little, Brown, & Co. | Finalist |
| 2012 | Louise Penny | A Trick of the Light | Minotaur Books | Finalist |
| 2012 | Marcus Sakey | The Two Deaths of Daniel Hayes | Dutton | Finalist |
| 2012 | Duane Swierczynski | Hell & Gone | Mulholland Books | Finalist |
| 2013 | Louise Penny | The Beautiful Mystery | Minotaur | Winner |
| 2013 | Gillian Flynn | Gone Girl | Crown | Finalist |
| 2013 | Peter May | The Black House | Silver Oak | Finalist |
| 2013 | Hank Phillippi Ryan | The Other Woman | Forge Books | Finalist |
| 2013 | B.A. Shapiro | The Art Forger | Algonquin Books | Finalist |
| 2013 | Ariel S. Winter | The Twenty Year Death | Hard Case Crime | Finalist |
| 2013 | Ben H. Winters | The Last Policeman | Quirk Books | Finalist |
| 2014 | William Kent Krueger | Ordinary Grace | Atria Books | Winner |
| 2014 | Thomas H. Cook | Sandrine's Case | Mysterious Press | Finalist |
| 2014 | Mick Herron | Dead Lions | Soho Crime | Finalist |
| 2014 | Alex Marwood | The Wicked Girls | Penguin Books | Finalist |
| 2014 | Louise Penny | How the Light Gets In | Minotaur Books | Finalist |
| 2014 | Ian Rankin | Standing in Another Man's Grave | Reagan Arthur Books | Finalist |
| 2015 | Alex Marwood | The Killer Next Door | Penguin Books | Winner |
| 2015 | Sophie Littlefield | The Missing Place | Gallery | Finalist |
| 2015 | Peter May | The Lewis Man | Quercus | Finalist |
| 2015 | Catriona McPherson | The Day She Died | Midnight Ink | Finalist |
| 2015 | Louise Penny | The Long Way Home | Minotaur Books | Finalist |
| 2015 | Terry Shames | The Last Death of Jack Harbin | Seventh Street Books | Finalist |
| 2016 | Lou Berney | The Long and Faraway Gone | William Morrow & Co. | Winner |
| 2016 | Sharon Bolton | Little Black Lies | Minotaur Books | Finalist |
| 2016 | Tim Hallinan | The Hot Countries | Soho Press | Finalist |
| 2016 | Catriona McPherson | The Child Garden | Midnight Ink | Finalist |
| 2016 | Michael Robotham | Life or Death | Mulholland Books | Finalist |
| 2016 | Don Winslow | The Cartel | Alfred A. Knopf | Finalist |
| 2017 | Louise Penny | A Great Reckoning | Minotaur Books | Winner |
| 2017 | Megan Abbott | You Will Know Me | Little, Brown, & Co. | Finalist |
| 2017 | Matt Coyle | Dark Fissures | Oceanview | Finalist |
| 2017 | Noah Hawley | Before the Fall | UK: Hodder & Stoughton US: Grand Central Publishing | Finalist |
| 2017 | Mick Herron | Real Tigers | UK: John Murray US: Soho Press | Finalist |
| 2017 | Laura Lippman | Wilde Lake | William Morrow & Co. | Finalist |
| 2018 | Anthony Horowitz | Magpie Murders | Harper | Winner |
| 2018 | Karen Dionne | The Marsh King's Daughter | | Finalist |
| 2018 | Attica Locke | Bluebird, Bluebird | Mulholland Books | Finalist |
| 2018 | Louise Penny | Glass Houses | Minotaur | Finalist |
| 2018 | Thomas Perry | The Old Man | Mysterious Press | Finalist |
| 2018 | Don Winslow | The Force | William Morrow & Co. | Finalist |
| 2019 | Lou Berney | November Road | William Morrow & Co. | Winner |
| 2019 | Alison Gaylin | If I Die Tonight | William Morrow & Co. | Finalist |
| 2019 | Jane Harper | The Lost Man | Flat Iron Books | Finalist |
| 2019 | Jennifer Hillier | Jar of Hearts | Minotaur Books | Finalist |
| 2019 | Naomi Hirahara | Hiroshima Boy | Prospect Park Books | Finalist |
| 2019 | Lisa Unger | Under My Skin | Harlequin – Park Row Books | Finalist |
| 2020 | Adrian McKinty | The Chain | Mulholland Books | Winner |
| 2020 | Steph Cha | Your House Will Pay | Ecco Press | Finalist |
| 2020 | William Kent Krueger | This Tender Land | Atria | Finalist |
| 2020 | Laura Lippman | Lady in the Lake | William Morrow & Co. | Finalist |
| 2020 | Hank Philippi Ryan | The Murder List | Forge Books | Finalist |
| 2020 | James Sallis | Sarah Jane | Soho Crime | Finalist |
| 2021 | S. A. Cosby | Blacktop Wasteland | Flatiron Books | Winner |
| 2021 | Caroline B. Cooney | Before She Was Helen | Ecco Press | Finalist |
| 2021 | Matt Coyle | Blind Vigil | Oceanview Publishing | Finalist |
| 2021 | Louise Penny | All the Devils Are Here | Minotaur Books | Finalist |
| 2021 | Ivy Pochoda | These Women | Poisoned Pen Press | Finalist |
| 2021 | Michael Robotham | When She Was Good | Scribner | Finalist |
| 2022 | S. A. Cosby | Razorblade Tears | Flatiron Books | Winner |
| 2022 | Michael Connelly | The Dark Hours | Little, Brown, & Co. | Finalist |
| 2022 | Val McDermid | 1979 | Atlantic Monthly | Finalist |
| 2022 | Alan Parks | Bobby March Will Live Forever | World Noir | Finalist |
| 2022 | Chris Whitaker | We Begin at the End | Henry Holt & Co. | Finalist |
| 2022 | Colson Whitehead | Harlem Shuffle | Doubleday | Finalist |

## Best First Mystery (Novel)

The Macavity Award for the Best First Mystery Novel was awarded in 1987.
Best First Mystery winners and finalists, 1987-1989 :
| Year | Author | Title | Publisher | Result |
| 1987 | Faye Kellerman | The Ritual Bath | | Winner |
| 1987 | Marilyn Wallace | A Case of Loyalties | | Winner |
| 1987 | Too Late To Die | Bill Crider | | Finalist |
| 1987 | Floater | Joseph Koenig | | Finalist |
| 1987 | Dead Air | Mike Lupica | | Finalist |
| 1987 | From a High Place | Edward Mathis | | Finalist |
| 1987 | Kiss Me Once | Thomas Maxwell | | Finalist |
| 1988 | Robert Crais | The Monkey's Raincoat | | Winner |
| 1988 | Michael Allegretto | Death on the Rocks | | Finalist |
| 1988 | Carolyn G. Hart | Death on Demand | | Finalist |
| 1988 | Jeanne Hart | Fetish | | Finalist |
| 1988 | Janet LaPierre | Unquiet Grave | | Finalist |
| 1988 | Lia Matera | Where Lawyers Fear To Tread | | Finalist |
| 1988 | Matt and Bonnie Taylor | Neon Flamingo | | Finalist |
| 1988 | Joseph Telushkin | The Unorthodox Murder of Rabbi Wahl | | Finalist |
| 1988 | Scott Turow | Presumed Innocent | | Finalist |
| 1989 | Caroline Graham | The Killings at Badger's Drift | | Winner |
| 1989 | Mary Lou Bennett | Murder Once Done | | Finalist |
| 1990 | Jill Churchill | Grime and Punishment | | Winner |
| 1990 | Doug Allyn | The Cheerio Killings | | Finalist |
| 1990 | Edith Skom | The Mark Twain Murders | | Finalist |
| 1990 | Deborah Valentine | A Collector of Photographs | | Finalist |
| 1990 | Susan Wolfe | The Last Billable Hour | | Finalist |
| 1991 | Patricia Cornwell | Postmortem | | Winner |
| 1991 | Diane Mott Davidson | Catering to Nobody | | Finalist |
| 1991 | Janet Dawson | Kindred Crimes | | Finalist |
| 1991 | William F. Love | The Chartreuse Clue | | Finalist |
| 1992 | Sue Henry | Murder on the Iditarod Trail | | Winner |
| 1992 | Mary Willis Walker | Zero at the Bone | | Winner |
| 1992 | Rebecca Rothenberg | The Bulrush Murders | | Finalist |
| 1992 | Steven Saylor | Roman Blood | | Finalist |
| 1992 | Ann Williams | Flowers for the Dead | | Finalist |
| 1993 | Barbara Neely | Blanche on the Lam | | Winner |
| 1993 | Nancy Atherton | Aunt Dimity’s Death | | Finalist |
| 1993 | Kathy Hogan Trocheck | Every Crooked Nanny | | Finalist |
| 1994 | Sharan Newman | Death Comes as Epiphany | | Winner |
| 1994 | Nevada Barr | Track of the Cat | | Finalist |
| 1994 | Deborah Crombie | A Share in Death | | Finalist |
| 1994 | Laurie R. King | A Grave Talent | | Finalist |
| 1994 | Abigail Padgett | Child of Silence | | Finalist |
| 1995 | Jeff Abbott | Do Unto Others | | Winner |
| 1995 | Janet Evanovich | One for the Money | | Finalist |
| 1995 | Lynda S. Robinson | Murder in the Place of Anubis | | Finalist |
| 1995 | April Smith | North of Montana | | Finalist |
| 1996 | Dianne Day | The Strange Files of Fremont Jones | Doubleday | Winner |
| 1996 | Jeanne M. Dams | The Body in the Transept | | Finalist |
| 1996 | Teri Holbrook | A Far and Deadly Cry | | Finalist |
| 1996 | Jody Jaffe | Horse of a Different Killer | | Finalist |
| 1996 | Virginia Lanier | Death in Bloodhound Red | | Finalist |
| 1997 | Dale Furutani | Death in Little Tokyo | St. Martin's | Winner |
| 1997 | Linda Fairstein | Final Jeopardy | | Finalist |
| 1997 | Anne George | Murder on a Girls’ Night Out | | Finalist |
| 1997 | Michael C. White | A Brother’s Blood | | Finalist |
| 1998 | Penny Warner | Dead Body Language | Bantam Books | Winner |
| 1998 | Lee Child | Killing Floor | G. P. Putnam's Sons | Finalist |
| 1998 | Aljean Harmetz | Off the Face of the Earth | Scribner | Finalist |
| 1998 | Laura Lippman | Charm City | Avon | Finalist |
| 1998 | Sujata Massey | The Salaryman's Wife | HarperPaperbacks | Finalist |
| 1999 | Jerrilyn Farmer | Sympathy for the Devil | Avon | Winner |
| 1999 | Jacqueline Fiedler | Tiger's Palette | Pocket Books | Finalist |
| 1999 | Robin Hathaway | The Doctor Digs a Grave | St. Martin's | Finalist |
| 2000 | Paula L. Woods | Inner City Blues | Soho Press | Winner |
| 2000 | Donna Andrews | Murder with Peacocks | St. Martin's | Finalist |
| 2000 | Cara Black | Murder in the Marais | Soho Press | Finalist |
| 2000 | Kris Neri | Revenge of the Gypsy Queen | Rainbow Books | Finalist |
| 2001 | David Liss | A Conspiracy of Paper | St. Martin's | Winner |
| 2001 | Kate Grilley | Death Dances to a Reggae Beat | Berkley Prime Crime | Finalist |
| 2001 | Marcia Simpson | Crow in Stolen Colors | Berkley Prime Crime | Finalist |
| 2001 | Julie Wray Herman | Three Dirty Women and the Garden of Death | Silver Dagger Mysteries | Finalist |
| 2002 | C. J. Box | Open Season | Henry Holt & Co. | Winner |
| 2002 | Denise Hamilton | The Jasmine Trade | Scribner | Finalist |
| 2002 | M.K. Preston | Perhaps She'll Die | Intrigue | Finalist |
| 2002 | Karin Slaughter | Blindsighted | William Morrow & Co. | Finalist |
| 2003 | Julia Spencer-Fleming | In the Bleak Midwinter | Hodder & Stoughton/Viking | Winner |
| 2003 | Jonathon King | The Blue Edge of Midnight | Dutton | Finalist |
| 2003 | Eddie Muller | The Distance | Scribner | Finalist |
| 2003 | Radine Trees Nehring | A Valley To Die For | St. Kitts Press | Finalist |
| 2004 | Jacqueline Winspear | Maisie Dobbs | Libraries Unlimited | Winner |
| 2004 | James Hime | Night of the Dance | St. Martin's/Minotaur Books | Finalist |
| 2004 | Rebecca C. Pawel | Death of a Nationalist | Soho Press | Finalist |
| 2004 | Olen Steinhauer | The Bridge of Sighs | St. Martin's/Minotaur Books | Finalist |
| 2005 | Harley Jane Kozak | Dating Dead Men | Midnight Ink | Winner |
| 2005 | Sandra Balzo | Uncommon Grounds | Five Star | Finalist |
| 2005 | Naomi Hirahara | Summer of the Big Bachi | Delta | Finalist |
| 2005 | J. A. Konrath | Whiskey Sour | Hyperion | Finalist |
| 2005 | Dylan Schaffer | Misdemeanor Man | Bloomsbury Publishing | Finalist |
| 2006 | Brian Freeman | Immoral | St. Martin's/Minotaur Books | Winner |
| 2006 | Mike Harrison | All Shook Up | ECW Press | Finalist |
| 2006 | Randall Hicks | Baby Game | Wordslinger Press | Finalist |
| 2007 | Nick Stone | Mr. Clarinet | Crum Creek | Winner |
| 2007 | Jane K. Cleland | Consigned to Death | Minotaur Books | Finalist |
| 2007 | Troy Cook | 47 Rules of Highly Effective Bank Robbers | Capital Crime Press | Finalist |
| 2007 | John Hart | King of Lies | Minotaur Books | Finalist |
| 2007 | Cornelia Read | A Field of Darkness | Mysterious | Finalist |
| 2008 | Tana French | In the Woods | W. W. Norton & Co. | Winner |
| 2008 | Matt Beynon Rees | The Collaborator of Bethlehem | Minotaur Books | Finalist |
| 2008 | Joe Hill | Heart-Shaped Box | Penguin | Finalist |
| 2008 | Lisa Lutz | The Spellman Files | Hodder & Stoughton/Atria | Finalist |
| 2008 | Tim Maleeny | Stealing the Dragon | Oceanview | Finalist |
| 2009 | Stieg Larsson | The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo | HarperCollins / Ecco | Winner |
| 2009 | Zoë Ferraris | Finding Nouf | Bantam Books | Finalist |
| 2009 | G.M. Malliet | Death of a Cozy Writer | Metro | Finalist |
| 2009 | Charlie Newton | Calumet City | McFarland & Company | Finalist |
| 2009 | Scott Pratt | An Innocent Client | Ballantine Books | Finalist |
| 2009 | Michael Stanley | A Carrion Death | Random House | Finalist |
| 2009 | Dan Waddell | The Blood Detective | Soho Press | Finalist |
| 2010 | Alan Bradley | The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie | Delacorte Publishing | Winner |
| 2010 | Jamie Freveletti | Running from the Devil | William Morrow & Co. | Finalist |
| 2010 | Sophie Littlefield | A Bad Day for Sorry | Minotaur Books | Finalist |
| 2010 | Stuart Neville | The Ghosts of Belfast | Soho Crime | Finalist |
| 2010 | Malla Nunn | A Beautiful Place to Die | Picador | Finalist |
| 2011 | Bruce DeSilva | Rogue Island | Forge Books/Tom Doherty Associates | Winner |
| 2011 | Hilary Davidson | The Damage Done | Forge Books | Finalist |
| 2011 | Paul Doiron | The Poacher's Son | Minotaur Books | Finalist |
| 2011 | Sasscer Hill | Full Mortality | Wildside Press | Finalist |
| 2011 | Simon Lelic | A Thousand Cuts | Viking Press | Finalist |
| 2012 | Leonard Rosen | All Cry Chaos | Permanent Press | Winner |
| 2012 | Sara J. Henry | Learning to Swim | Crown | Finalist |
| 2012 | Darrell James | Nazareth Child | Midnight Ink | Finalist |
| 2012 | Alice LaPlante | Turn of Mind | Atlantic Monthly | Finalist |
| 2012 | Taylor Stevens | The Informationist | Crown | Finalist |
| 2012 | S. J. Watson | Before I Go to Sleep | Harper | Finalist |
| 2013 | Daniel Friedman | Don't Ever Get Old | Minotaur Books – Thomas Dunne Books | Winner |
| 2013 | Susan M. Boyer | Low Country Boil | Henery Press | Finalist |
| 2013 | Susan Elia MacNeal | Mr. Churchill's Secretary | Random House – Bantam Books | Finalist |
| 2013 | Chris Pavone | The Expats | Crown | Finalist |
| 2014 | Terry Shames | A Killing at Cotton Hill | Seventh Street Books | Winner |
| 2014 | Matt Coyle | Yesterday's Echo | Oceanview Publishing | Finalist |
| 2014 | Becky Masterman | Rage Against the Dying | Minotaur Books | Finalist |
| 2014 | Jenny Milchman | Cover of Snow | Ballantine Books | Finalist |
| 2014 | Derek Miller | Norwegian by Night | Houghton Mifflin Harcourt | Finalist |
| 2015 | Julia Dahl | Invisible City | Minotaur Books | Winner |
| 2015 | Kristi Belcamino | Blessed Are the Dead | Witness Impulse | Finalist |
| 2015 | Tom Bouman | Dry Bones in the Valley | W. W. Norton & Co. | Finalist |
| 2015 | Sarah Hilary | Someone Else's Skin | Penguin Books | Finalist |
| 2015 | Elizabeth Little | Dear Daughter | Viking Press | Finalist |
| 2015 | Lori Rader-Day | The Black Hour | Seventh Street Books | Finalist |
| 2016 | Glen Erik Hamilton | Past Crimes | William Morrow & Co. | Winner |
| 2016 | Patricia Abbott | Concrete Angel | Polis | Finalist |
| 2016 | Chris Holm | The Killing Kind | Mulholland Books | Finalist |
| 2016 | David Joy | Where All Light Tends to Go | G. P. Putnam's Sons | Finalist |
| 2016 | Ausma Zehanat Khan | The Unquiet Dead | Minotaur Books | Finalist |
| 2016 | Art Taylor | On the Road with Del and Louise | Henery | Finalist |
| 2017 | Joe Ide | IQ | Mulholland Books | Winner |
| 2017 | Fiona Barton | The Widow | UK: Bantam Books US: NAL | Finalist |
| 2017 | Flynn Berry | Under the Harrow | Penguin Books | Finalist |
| 2017 | Bill Beverly | Dodgers | No Exit Press | Finalist |
| 2017 | Renee Patrick | Design for Dying | Forge Books | Finalist |
| 2018 | Sheena Kamal | The Lost Ones | William Morrow & Co. | Winner |
| 2018 | Kellye Garrett | Hollywood Homicide | Midnight Ink | Finalist |
| 2018 | Jane Harper | The Dry | Flatiron Books | Finalist |
| 2018 | Jordan Harper | She Rides Shotgun | Ecco Press | Finalist |
| 2018 | Kristen Lepionka | The Last Place You Look | Minotaur Books | Finalist |
| 2018 | Wendall Thomas | Lost Luggage | Poisoned Pen Press | Finalist |
| 2019 | John Copenhaver | Dodging and Burning | Pegasus Books | Winner |
| 2019 | Oyinkan Braithwaite | My Sister, the Serial Killer | Doubleday | Finalist |
| 2019 | Delia Owens | Where the Crawdads Sing | G. P. Putnam's Sons | Finalist |
| 2019 | Catherine Steadman | Something in the Water | Ballantine Books | Finalist |
| 2019 | C.J. Tudor | The Chalk Man | Crown | Finalist |
| 2020 | Tara Laskowski | One Night Gone | Graydon House Books | Winner |
| 2020 | Samantha Downing | My Lovely Wife | Penguin Books | Finalist |
| 2020 | Tori Eldridge | The Ninja Daughter | Agora Books | Finalist |
| 2020 | Angie Kim | Miracle Creek | Sarah Crichton Books | Finalist |
| 2020 | J.P. Pomare | Call Me Evie | G. P. Putnam's Sons | Finalist |
| 2020 | Lauren Wilkinson | American Spy | Random House | Finalist |
| 2021 | David Heska Wanbli Weiden | Winter Counts | Ecco Press | Winner |
| 2021 | Deepa Anappara | Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line | Random House | Finalist |
| 2021 | Nev March | Murder in Old Bombay | Minotaur Books | Finalist |
| 2021 | Richard Osman | The Thursday Murder Club | Pamela Dorman Books | Finalist |
| 2021 | Stephanie Wrobel | Darling Rose Gold | Berkley Books | Finalist |
| 2022 | Mia P. Manansala | Arsenic and Adobo | Berkley Books | Winner |
| 2022 | Alexandra Andrews | Who Is Maude Dixon? | Little, Brown, & Co. | Finalist |
| 2022 | Abigail Dean | Girl A | Viking Press | Finalist |
| 2022 | Erin Flanagan | Deer Season | University of Nebraska Press | Finalist |
| 2022 | Wanda M. Morris | All Her Little Secrets | William Morrow & Co. | Finalist |

## Best Mystery Nonfiction/Critical

The Macavity Award for Best Mystery Non-fiction/Critical Book was established in 1987. This category has had multiple names since its inception and reviews the best mystery-related critical, biographical, and otherwise nonfiction titles.
Best Mystery Nonfiction/Critical winners and finalists :
| Year | Author | Title | Publisher | Result |
| 1987 | Marcia Muller and Bill Pronzini | 1001 Midnights | | Winner |
| 1988 | Bill Pronzini | Son of Gun in Cheek | | Winner |
| 1989 | Victoria Nichols and Susan Thompson | Silk Stalkings | | Winner |
| 1990 | H. R. F. Keating | The Bedside Companion to Crime | | Winner |
| 1991 | Gillian Gill | Agatha Christie: The Woman and Her Mysteries | | Winner |
| 1992 | Tony Hillerman and Ernie Bulow | Talking Mysteries: A Conversation with Tony Hillerman | | Winner |
| 1993 | Ellen Nehr | Doubleday Crime Club Compendium | Doubleday | Winner |
| 1994 | Ed Gorman (ed.) | The Fine Art of Murder | | Winner |
| 1995 | Dean James and Jean Swanson | By a Woman's Hand | | Winner |
| 1996 | Willetta L. Heising | Detecting Women | Purple Moon | Winner |
| 1997 | Willetta Heising | Detecting Women 2 | Purple Moon Press | Winner |
| 1998 | Jan Grape, Dean James, and Ellen Nehr | Deadly Women | Carroll & Graf | Winner |
| 1998 | Ben Macintyre | The Napoleon of Crime: Life and Times of Adam Worth, Master Thief | Farrar, Straus & Giroux | Finalist |
| 1998 | Natalie Kaufman and Carol Kay | G Is for Grafton | Henry Holt & Co. | Finalist |
| 1998 | Ian Ousby | Guilty Parties: A Mystery Lover's Companion | Thames & Hudson | Finalist |
| 1999 | Jean Swanson and Dean James | Killer Books | Berkley Books | Winner |
| 1999 | Alzina Stone Dale | Mystery Reader's Walking Guide to Washington, DC | Passport Books | Finalist |
| 1999 | Ed Gorman and Martin Greenberg | Speaking of Murder | Berkley Books | Finalist |
| 1999 | Eddie Muller | Dark City: The Lost World of Film Noir | St. Martin's | Finalist |
| 1999 | Victoria Nichols and Susan Thompson | Silk Stalkings II | Scarecrow | Finalist |
| 2000 | Tom Nolan | Ross Macdonald | Penguin Rough Guides | Winner |
| 2000 | Jo Grossman and Robert Weibezahl (eds.) | A Taste of Murder | Dell | Finalist |
| 2000 | Daniel Stashower | Teller of Tales: The Life of Arthur Conan Doyle | Henry Holt & Co. | Finalist |
| 2001 | Marvin Lachman | The American Regional Mystery | Minotaur Books | Winner |
| 2001 | Martin Booth | The Doctor and the Detective: A Biography of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle | Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's/Minotaur Books | Finalist |
| 2001 | Margaret Caldwell Thomas | essays | Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's/Minotaur Books | Finalist |
| 2001 | Martha Hailey Dubose | Women of Mystery: the Lives and Works of Notable Women Crime Novelists | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, January 2000 | Finalist |
| 2001 | Jim Huang (ed.) | 100 Favorite Mysteries of the Century | Crum Creek Press | Finalist |
| 2002 | G. Miki Hayden | Writing the Mystery: A Start to Finish Guide for Both Novice and Professional | Howdunit Series, Writers Digest Books | Winner |
| 2002 | Max Allan Collins | The War of the World Murders | Collectors Press | Finalist |
| 2002 | Michael J. Hayde | My Name's Friday: The Unauthorized but True Story of Dragnet and the Films of Jack Webb | Cumberland House | Finalist |
| 2002 | Tony Hillerman | Seldom Disappointed: A Memoir | HarperCollins | Finalist |
| 2002 | Jeffrey Marks | Who Was that Lady? Craig Rice: The Queen of Screwball Mystery | Delphi Books | Finalist |
| 2003 | Jim Huang (ed.) | They Died in Vain: Overlooked, Underappreciated, and Forgotten Mystery Novels | William Morrow & Co. | Winner |
| 2003 | Mike Ashley | The Mammoth Encyclopedia of Crime Fiction | Carroll & Graf | Finalist |
| 2003 | Jeff Marks | Intent to Sell: Marketing the Genre Novel | Deadly Alibi Press | Finalist |
| 2003 | Eddie Muller | The Art of Noir: The Posters and Graphics from the Classic Era of Film Noir | The Overlook Press | Finalist |
| 2004 | Gary Warren Niebuhr | Make Mine a Mystery: A Reader's Guide to Mystery and Detective Fiction | G. P. Putnam's Sons | Winner |
| 2004 | Colleen A Barnett | Mystery Women: An Encyclopedia of Leading Women Characters in Mystery Fiction, Vol. 3 | Poisoned Pen Press | Finalist |
| 2004 | Jo Grossman and Robert Weibezahl | A Second Helping of Murder: More Diabolically Delicious Recipes from Contemporary Mystery Writers | Poisoned Pen Press | Finalist |
| 2004 | Andrew Wilson | Beautiful Shadow: A Life of Patricia Highsmith | Bloomsbury Publishing | Finalist |
| 2005 | D. P. Lyle, MD | Forensics for Dummies | William Morrow & Co. | Winner |
| 2005 | Frankie Y. Bailey and Steven Chermak | Famous American Crimes & Trials, Vol. 1 | Praeger Publishers | Finalist |
| 2005 | Jim Doherty | Just the Facts: True Tales of Cops & Criminals | Deadly Serious Press | Finalist |
| 2005 | Leslie S. Klinger | The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Short Stories | W. W. Norton | Finalist |
| 2005 | Darrell B. Lockhart | Latin American Mystery Writers: An A-to-Z Guide | Greenwood Press | Finalist |
| 2006 | Melanie Rehak | Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her | Columbia University Press | Winner |
| 2006 | Jonathan Goodman | Tracks to Murder | Kent State University Press | Finalist |
| 2006 | Stuart Kaminsky with Laurie Roberts (photo) | Behind the Mystery: Top Mystery Writers Interviewed | Hothouse Press | Finalist |
| 2006 | Leslie S. Klinger (ed.) | New Annotated Sherlock Holmes: The Novels | W. W. Norton & Co. | Finalist |
| 2006 | Mary Roach | Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife | W. W. Norton & Co. | Finalist |
| 2007 | Jim Huang and Austin Lugar (eds.) | Mystery Muses: 100 Classics That Inspire Today's Mystery Writers | Five Star | Winner |
| 2007 | Chris Roerden | Don't Murder Your Mystery: 24 Fiction Writing Techniques to Save Your Manuscript From Ending Up D.O.A. | Bella Rosa Books | Finalist |
| 2007 | Daniel Stashower | The Beautiful Cigar Girl: Mary Rogers, Edgar Allan Poe, and the Invention of Murder | Dutton | Finalist |
| 2008 | Roger Sobin (ed.) | The Essential Mystery Lists: For Readers, Collectors, and Librarians | Harcourt | Winner |
| 2008 | Barry Forshaw | Rough Guide to Crime Fiction | McFarland & Co. | Finalist |
| 2008 | Jean Gould O'Connell | Chester Gould: A Daughter's Biography of the Creator of Dick Tracy | Michael Joseph/ Delacorte | Finalist |
| 2008 | Jon Lellenberg, Daniel Stashower, and Charles Foley (eds.) | Arthur Conan Doyle: A Life in Letters | Walker | Finalist |
| 2008 | Lee Lofland | Police Procedure and Investigation: A Guide for Writers | HarperPress/Penguin | Finalist |
| 2009 | Frankie Y. Bailey | African American Mystery Writers: A Historical & Thematic Study | Onyx | Winner |
| 2009 | Leonard Cassuto | Hard-Boiled Sentimentality: The Secret History of American Crime Stories | | Finalist |
| 2009 | Kathy Lynn Emerson | How to Write Killer Historical Mysteries | St. Martin's | Finalist |
| 2009 | David Geherin | Scene of the Crime: The Importance of Place in Crime and Mystery Fiction | Bleak House Books | Finalist |
| 2009 | Harry Lee Poe | Edgar Allan Poe: An Illustrated Companion to His Tell-Tale Stories | Houghton Mifflin Harcourt | Finalist |
| 2009 | Kate Summerscale | The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: A Shocking Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective | Poisoned Pen Press | Finalist |
| 2010 | P.D. James | Talking About Detective Fiction | Alfred A. Knopf | Winner |
| 2010 | John Buntin | L.A. Noir: The Struggle for the Soul of America's Most Seductive City | Random House: Harmony Books | Finalist |
| 2010 | Craig McDonald | Rogue Males: Conversations & Confrontations About the Writing Life | Bleak House Books | Finalist |
| 2010 | Otto Penzler (ed.) | The Line Up: The World's Greatest Crime Writers Tell the Inside Story of Their Greatest Detectives | Little, Brown, & Co. | Finalist |
| 2010 | Laney Salisbury and Aly Sujo | Provenance: How a Con Man and a Forger Rewrote the History of Modern Art | Penguin Books | Finalist |
| 2010 | Elena Santangelo | Dame Agatha's Shorts: An Agatha Christie Short Story Companion | Bella Rosa Books | Finalist |
| 2011 | John Curran | Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks: Fifty Years of Mysteries in the Making | HarperCollins | Winner |
| 2011 | Deborah Blum | The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York | Penguin Books | Finalist |
| 2011 | Yunte Huang | Charlie Chan: The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and His Rendezvous with American History | W. W. Norton & Co. | Finalist |
| 2011 | Maxim Jakubowski (ed.) | Following the Detectives: Real Locations in Crime Fiction | New Holland | Finalist |
| 2011 | David Morrell and Hank W. Wagner (eds.) | Thrillers: 100 Must Reads | Oceanview Publishing | Finalist |
| 2012 | Charlaine Harris | The Sookie Stackhouse Companion | Ace Books | Winner |
| 2012 | Leslie Budewitz | Books, Crooks and Counselors: How to Write Accurately About Criminal Law and Courtroom Procedure | Linden | Finalist |
| 2012 | John Curran | Agatha Christie: Murder in the Making: More Stories and Secrets from Her Notebooks | HarperCollins | Finalist |
| 2012 | A.B. Emrys | Wilkie Collins, Vera Caspary and the Evolution of the Casebook Novel | McFarland & Company | Finalist |
| 2012 | T. J. English | The Savage City: Race, Murder, and a Generation on the Edge | William Morrow & Co. | Finalist |
| 2013 | John Connolly and Declan Burke (eds.) | Books to Die For: The World's Greatest Mystery Writers on the World's Greatest Mystery Novels | Simon & Schuster – Atria/Emily Bestler | Winner |
| 2013 | Paul French | Midnight in Peking: How the Murder of a Young Englishwoman Haunted the Last Days of Old China | Penguin Books | Finalist |
| 2013 | Otto Penzler (ed.) | In Pursuit of Spenser: Mystery Writers on Robert B. Parker and the Creation of an American Hero | BenBella/Smart Pop | Finalist |
| 2014 | Daniel Stashower | The Hour of Peril: The Secret Plot to Murder Lincoln Before the Civil War | Minotaur Books | Winner |
| 2014 | Roseanne Montillo | The Lady and Her Monsters: A Tale of Dissections, Real-Life Dr. Frankensteins, and the Creation of Mary Shelley's Masterpiece | William Morrow & Co. | Finalist |
| 2014 | Charles J. Rzepka | Being Cool: The Work of Elmore Leonard | Johns Hopkins University Press | Finalist |
| 2015 | Hank Phillippi Ryan (ed.) | Writes of Passage: Adventures on the Writer's Journey | Henery Press | Winner |
| 2015 | Charles Brownson | The Figure of the Detective: A Literary History and Analysis | McFarland & Company | Finalist |
| 2015 | J.W. Ocker | Poe-Land: The Hallowed Haunts of Edgar Allan Poe | Countryman | Finalist |
| 2015 | Adam Plantinga | 400 Things Cops Know: Street Smart Lessons from a Veteran Patrolman | Quill Driver | Finalist |
| 2016 | Martin Edwards | The Golden Age of Murder: The Mystery of the Writers Who Invented the Modern Detective Story | HarperCollins | Winner |
| 2016 | Kathryn Harkup | A Is for Arsenic: The Poisons of Agatha Christie | Bloomsbury Sigma | Finalist |
| 2016 | Suzanne Marrs and Tom Nolan (eds.) | Meanwhile There Are Letters: The Correspondence of Eudora Welty and Ross Macdonald | Arcade | Finalist |
| 2016 | Val McDermid | Forensics: What Bugs, Burns, Prints, DNA, and More Tell Us About Crime | Grove Press | Finalist |
| 2016 | Nathan Ward | The Lost Detective: Becoming Dashiell Hammett | Bloomsbury Publishing | Finalist |
| 2017 | Margaret Kinsman | Sara Paretsky: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction | McFarland & Company | Winner |
| 2017 | Jane K. Cleland | Mastering Suspense, Structure, and Plot: How to Write Gripping Stories that Keep Readers on the Edge of Their Seats | Writer's Digest Books | Finalist |
| 2017 | Ruth Franklin | Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life | Liveright Publishing | Finalist |
| 2017 | David J. Skal | Something in the Blood: The Untold Story of Bram Stoker, the Man Who Wrote Dracula | Liveright Publishing | Finalist |
| 2017 | Kate Summerscale | The Wicked Boy: The Mystery of a Victorian Child Murderer | Penguin Books | Finalist |
| 2018 | Martin Edwards | The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books | Poisoned Pen Press/British Library | Winner |
| 2018 | Mattias Bostrom | From Holmes to Sherlock: The Story of the Men and Women Who Created an Icon | Mysterious Press | Finalist |
| 2018 | Lawrence P. Jackson | Chester B. Himes: A Biography | W. W. Norton & Co. | Finalist |
| 2018 | Bill James and Rachel McCarthy James | The Man From the Train: The Solving of a Century-Old Serial Killer Mystery | Scribner | Finalist |
| 2018 | Michael Sims | Arthur and Sherlock: Conan Doyle and the Creation of Holmes | Bloomsbury | Finalist |
| 2018 | Tori Telfer | Lady Killers: Deadly Women Throughout History | Harper Perennial | Finalist |
| 2019 | Sarah Weinman | The Real Lolita: The Kidnapping of Sally Horner and the Novel That Scandalized the World | HarperCollins | Winner |
| 2019 | Laird R. Blackwell | The Metaphysical Mysteries of G.K. Chesterton: A Critical Study of the Father Brown Stories and Other Detective Fiction | McFarland & Company | Finalist |
| 2019 | Margalit Fox | Conan Doyle for the Defense: The True Story of a Sensational British Murder, a Quest for Justice, and the World's Most Famous Detective Writer | Random House | Finalist |
| 2019 | Leslie S. Klinger | Classic American Crime Fiction of the 1920s | Pegasus Books | Finalist |
| 2019 | Michelle McNamara | I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer | HarperCollins | Finalist |
| 2019 | Laura Thompson | Agatha Christie: A Mysterious Life | Pegasus Books | Finalist |
| 2020 | John Billheimer | Hitchcock and the Censors | University Press of Kentucky | Winner |
| 2020 | Laird R. Blackwell | Frederic Dannay | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and the Art of the Detective Short Story, McFarland & Company | Finalist |
| 2020 | Ursula Buchan | Beyond the Thirty-Nine Steps: A Life of John Buchan | Bloomsbury Publishing | Finalist |
| 2020 | Peter Houlahan | Norco '80: The True Story of the Most Spectacular Bank Robbery | American History, Counterpoint | Finalist |
| 2020 | Mo Moulton | The Mutual Admiration Society: How Dorothy L. Sayers and Her Oxford Circle Remade the World for Women | Basic Books | Finalist |
| 2020 | James Polchin | Indecent Advances: A Hidden History of True Crime and Prejudice Before Stonewall | Counterpoint | Finalist |
| 2021 | Sheila Mitchell | H.R.F. Keating: A Life of Crime | Level Best Books | Winner |
| 2021 | Leslie Brody | Sometimes You Have to Lie: The Life and Times of Louise Fitzhugh, Renegade Author of Harriet the Spy | Seal Press | Finalist |
| 2021 | Martin Edwards (ed.) | Howdunit: A Masterclass in Crime Writing by Members of the Detection Club | HarperCollins | Finalist |
| 2021 | Erin E. MacDonald | Ian Rankin: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction | McFarland & Company | Finalist |
| 2021 | Craig Sisterson | Southern Cross Crime: The Pocket Essential Guide to the Crime Fiction, Film & TV of Australia and New Zealand | Oldcastle Books | Finalist |
| 2022 | Lee Child with Laurie R. King | How to Write a Mystery: A Handbook from Mystery Writers of America | Scribner | Winner |
| 2022 | Mark Aldridge | Agatha Christie's Poirot: The Greatest Detective in the World | HarperCollins | Finalist |
| 2022 | Margalit Fox | The Confidence Men: How Two Prisoners of War Engineered the Most Remarkable Escape in History | Random House | Finalist |
| 2022 | Richard Greene | The Unquiet Englishman: A Life of Graham Greene | W. W. Norton & Co. | Finalist |
| 2022 | James McGrath Morris | Tony Hillerman: A Life | University of Oklahoma Press | Finalist |
| 2022 | John Tresch | The Reason for the Darkness of the Night: Edgar Allan Poe and the Forging of American Science | Farrar, Straus and Giroux | Finalist |
| 2022 | Edward White | The Twelve Lives of Alfred Hitchcock: An Anatomy of the Master of Suspense | W. W. Norton & Co. | Finalist |

## Best Mystery Short Story

The Macavity Award for Best Mystery Short Story was first awarded in 1987.
Best Mystery Short Story winners and finalists :
| Year | Author | Title | Publication | Result |
| 1987 | Sue Grafton | The Parker Shotgun | Mean Streets | Winner |
| 1988 | Robert Barnard | The Woman in the Wardrobe | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, December 1987 | Winner |
| 1989 | Doug Allyn | Deja Vu | Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, June 1988 | Winner |
| 1989 | Carl Martin | Fatherly Love | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, July 1988 | Finalist |
| 1990 | Nancy Pickard | Afraid All the Time | Sisters in Crime | Winner |
| 1990 | Brendan DuBois | Fire Burning Bright | Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, Winter 1989 | Finalist |
| 1990 | Jeremiah Healy | One Eye Open | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, July 1989 | Finalist |
| 1990 | Donald E. Westlake | Too Many Crooks | Playboy, August 1989 | Finalist |
| 1991 | Joan Hess | Too Much to Bare | Sisters in Crime 2 | Winner |
| 1992 | Margaret Maron | Deborah's Judgement | A Woman’s Eye | Winner |
| 1992 | Joe Gores | Dance of the Dead | The Armchair Detective, Spring 1991 | Finalist |
| 1992 | Carolyn Wheat | Life, for Short | Sisters in Crime 4 | Finalist |
| 1993 | Carolyn Hart | Henrie O's Holiday | Malice Domestic 1 | Winner |
| 1993 | Joan Hess | The Last to Know | Malice Domestic 1 | Finalist |
| 1993 | Charles McCarry | The Hand of Carlos | The Armchair Detective, Fall 1992 | Finalist |
| 1994 | Susan Dunlap | Checkout | Malice Domestic 2 | Winner |
| 1994 | M. D. Lake | Kim’s Game | Malice Domestic 2 | Finalist |
| 1995 | Deborah Adams | Cast Your Fate to the Wind | Malice Domestic 3 | Winner |
| 1995 | Jan Burke | Unharmed | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Mid-December 1994 | Winner |
| 1996 | Colin Dexter | Evans Tries an O-Level | Morse's Greatest Mystery (Crown) | Winner |
| 1996 | K. K. Beck | Rule of Law | Malice Domestic 4 | Finalist |
| 1996 | Dorothy Cannell | Cupid’s Arrow | Crimes of the Heart | Finalist |
| 1997 | Carolyn Wheat | Cruel & Unusual | Guilty As Charged (Pocket Books) | Winner |
| 1997 | Joyce Christmas | Takeout | Malice Domestic 5 | Finalist |
| 1997 | Jill Churchill | The Bun Also Rises | Malice Domestic 5 | Finalist |
| 1997 | Michael Malone | Red Clay | Murder for Love | Finalist |
| 1997 | Rosemarie Santini | The Music Lesson | New Mystery, Number 9, 1996 | Finalist |
| 1998 | Peter Robinson | Two Ladies of Rose Cottage | Malice Domestic 6 (Pocket Books) | Winner |
| 1998 | William Bankier | Real Bullets This Time | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, July 1997 | Finalist |
| 1998 | Stuart Kaminsky | Find Miriam | New Mystery Magazine, Summer 1997 | Finalist |
| 1998 | Edward Marston and Peter Lovesey | The Corbett Correspondence | Malice Domestic 6 (Pocket Books) | Finalist |
| 1998 | Polly Whitney | Etiquette Lesson | Murderous Intent Mystery Magazine | Finalist |
| 1999 | Barbara D'Amato | Of Course You Know That Chocolate Is a Vegetable | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Nov. 98 | Winner |
| 1999 | Laurien Berenson | Sleeping Dogs Lie | Canine Crimes (Ballantine Books) | Finalist |
| 1999 | Harlan Coben | A Simple Philosophy | Malice Domestic 7 (Avon) | Finalist |
| 1999 | Dean James | The Village Vampire & the Oboe of Death | Malice Domestic 7 (Avon) | Finalist |
| 2000 | Kate Grilley | Maubi and the Jumbies | The Strand Magazine, Spring 2007 | Winner |
| 2000 | Laurie King | Paleta Man | Irreconcilable Differences, edited by Lia Matera (HarperCollins) | Finalist |
| 2000 | Anne Perry | Heroes | Murder & Obsession, edited by Otto Penzler (Delacorte Press) | Finalist |
| 2000 | Carolyn Wheat | Show Me the Bones | Diagnosis Dead, edited by Jonathan Kellerman (Pocket Books) | Finalist |
| 2001 | Reginald Hill | A Candle for Christmas | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Sep-Oct 2007 | Winner |
| 2001 | Jan Burke | The Man in the Civil Suit | Malice Domestic 9 (Avon) | Finalist |
| 2001 | Joyce Christmas | The Chosen | Unholy Orders (Intrigue Press) | Finalist |
| 2002 | Jan Burke | The Abbey Ghosts | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, March 2003 | Winner |
| 2002 | Katherine Hall Page | The Would-Be Widower | Malice Domestic 10, edited by Nevada Barr (Avon) | Finalist |
| 2002 | Ted Hertel | My Bonnie Lies | The Mammoth Book of Legal Thrillers, edited by Michael Hemmingson (Carroll & Graf) | Finalist |
| 2002 | Rochelle Krich | Bitter Waters | Criminal Kabbalah, edited by Lawrence W. Raphael (Jewish Lights) | Finalist |
| 2003 | Janet Dawson | Voice Mail | Harper / Headline | Winner |
| 2003 | Diana Deverell | Boot Scoot | Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, October 2002 | Finalist |
| 2003 | Brendan DuBois | An Empire's Reach | Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, November 2002 | Finalist |
| 2003 | Toni L.P. Kelner | Bible Belt | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, June 2002 | Finalist |
| 2003 | Marcia Talley | Too Many Cooks | Much Ado About Murder, edited by Anne Perry (Berkley Prime Crime) | Finalist |
| 2003 | Carolyn Wheat | The Adventure of the Rara Avis | Murder, My Dear Watson, edited by Martin H. Greenberg, Jon Lellenberg, and Daniel Stashower (Carroll & Graf) | Finalist |
| 2004 | Sandy Balzo | The Grass Is Always Greener | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Feb 2007 | Winner |
| 2004 | Robert Barnard | Rogues Gallery | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, March 2003 | Finalist |
| 2004 | Diana Deverell | Texas Two-Step | Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, February 2003 | Finalist |
| 2004 | Beth Foxwell | No Man's Land | Blood On Their Hands, edited by Lawrence Block (Berkley Prime Crime) | Finalist |
| 2004 | G. Miki Hayden | War Crimes | A Hot and Sultry Night for Crime, edited by Jeffery Deaver (Berkley Prime Crime) | Finalist |
| 2004 | Ronnie Klaskin | Child Support | A Hot and Sultry Night for Crime, edited by Jeffery Deaver (Berkley Prime Crime) | Finalist |
| 2004 | Elaine Viets | Red Meat | Blood On Their Hands, edited by Lawrence Block (Berkley Prime Crime) | Finalist |
| 2005 | Terence Faherty | The Widow of Slane | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Sept-Oct 2005 | Winner |
| 2005 | Sandra Balzo | Viscery | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, December 2004 | Finalist |
| 2005 | Alana White | The Lady's Not for Dying | Futures Mystery Anthology Magazine, Winter 2004 | Finalist |
| 2006 | Nancy Pickard | There Is No Crime on Easter Island | Scam and Eggs, Five Star | Winner |
| 2006 | Robert Barnard | Everybody's Girl | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, May 2005 | Finalist |
| 2006 | David Corbett | It Can Happen | San Francisco Noir, Akashic Books | Finalist |
| 2006 | Steve Hockensmith | The Big Road | Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, May 2005 | Finalist |
| 2007 | Tim Maleeny | Til Death Do Us Part | MWA Presents Death Do Us Part: New Stories About Love, Lust, and Murder, edited by Harlan Coben (Little, Brown & Co.) | Winner |
| 2007 | Robert Barnard | Provenance | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Jul 2006 | Finalist |
| 2007 | Roberta Isleib | Disturbance in the Field | Seasmoke: Crime Stories by New England Writers, edited by Kate Flora, Ruth McCarty, and Susan Oleksiw (Level Best Books) | Finalist |
| 2008 | Rhys Bowen | Please Watch Your Step | Hardly Knew Her (William Morrow & Co.) | Winner |
| 2008 | Donna Andrews | A Rat's Tale | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Sept/Oct 2007 | Finalist |
| 2008 | Jon L. Breen | The Missing Elevator Puzzle | Wolfsbane & Mistletoe, edited by Harris & Kelner (Penguin) | Finalist |
| 2008 | Beverle Graves Myers | Brimstone P.I. | Wolfsbane & Mistletoe, edited by Harris & Kelner (Penguin) | Finalist |
| 2008 | Gillian Roberts | The Old Wife's Tale | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, March/April 2004 | Finalist |
| 2009 | Dana Cameron | The Night Things Changed | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Mar/Apr 2007 | Winner |
| 2009 | Sean Chercover | A Sleep Not Unlike Death | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Sep/Oct 2008 | Finalist |
| 2009 | Toni L.P. Kelner | Keeping Watch Over His Flock | Murderous Intent, Fall 1999 | Finalist |
| 2009 | Laura Lippman | Scratch a Woman | Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, Jan 2001 | Finalist |
| 2009 | Tom Piccirilli | Between the Dark and the Daylight | Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, May 2007 | Finalist |
| 2010 | Hank Phillippi Ryan | On the House | Quarry: Crime Stories by New England Writers, Level Best Books | Winner |
| 2010 | Ace Atkins | Last Fair Deal Gone Down | Crossroad Blues, Busted Flush Press | Finalist |
| 2010 | Dana Cameron | Femme Sole | Boston Noir, Akashic Books | Finalist |
| 2010 | Jim Fusilli | Digby, Attorney at Law | Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, May 2009 | Finalist |
| 2010 | Carolyn Hart | Your Turn | Two of the Deadliest, Harper | Finalist |
| 2010 | Marcus Sakey | The Desert Here and the Desert Far Away | Thriller 2: Stories You Just Can't Put Down, Mira | Finalist |
| 2010 | Luis Alberto Urrea | Amapola | Phoenix Noir, Akashic Books | Finalist |
| 2011 | Dana Cameron | Swing Shift | Crimes by Moonlight: Mysteries from the Dark Side, Berkley Books | Winner |
| 2011 | Doug Allyn | The Scent of Lilacs | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Finalist |
| 2011 | Keith Gilman | Devil's Pocket | Philadelphia Noir, Akashic Books | Finalist |
| 2011 | Richard Helms | The Gods for Vengeance Cry | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Finalist |
| 2011 | G.M. Malliet | Bookworm | Chesapeake Crimes: They Had It Comin', Wildside Press | Finalist |
| 2012 | Dana Cameron | Disarming | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, June 2011 | Winner |
| 2012 | Trina Corey | Facts Exhibiting Wantonness | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Nov. 2011 | Finalist |
| 2012 | Daryl Wood Gerber | Palace by the Lake | Fish Tales: The Guppy Anthology, Wildside Press | Finalist |
| 2012 | Barb Goffman | Truth and Consequences | Mystery Times Ten, Buddhapuss Ink | Finalist |
| 2012 | Kathleen Ryan | Heat of Passion | A Twist of Noir, Feb. 14, 2011 | Finalist |
| 2012 | Peter Turnbull | The Man Who Took His Hat Off to the Driver of the Train | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, March/April 2011 | Finalist |
| 2013 | Barb Goffman | The Lord Is My Shamus | Chesapeake Crimes: This Job Is Murder, Wildside Press | Winner |
| 2013 | Jeffrey Deaver | The Sequel | The Strand Magazine, November 2012-February 2013 | Finalist |
| 2013 | Jim Fusilli | Blind Justice | Mystery Writers of America Presents Vengeance, Little, Brown, & Co. – Mulholland Books | Finalist |
| 2013 | Karin Slaughter | The Unremarkable Heart | Mystery Writers of America Presents Vengeance, Little, Brown, & Co. – Mulholland Books | Finalist |
| 2013 | B.K. Stevens | Thea's First Husband | Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, June 2012 | Finalist |
| 2013 | Art Taylor | When Duty Calls | Chesapeake Crimes: This Job Is Murder, Wildside Press | Finalist |
| 2014 | Art Taylor | The Care and Feeding of Houseplants | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, March/April 2013 | Winner |
| 2014 | Reed Farrel Coleman | The Terminal | Kwik Krimes, edited by Otto Penzler, Thomas & Mercer | Finalist |
| 2014 | John Connolly | The Caxton Private Lending Library & Book Depository | Bibliomysteries: Short Tales About Deadly Books, edited by Otto Penzler, Bookspan | Finalist |
| 2014 | Martin Limon | The Dragon's Tail | Nightmare Range: The Collected Sueno and Bascom Short Stories, Soho Books | Finalist |
| 2014 | Gigi Pandian | The Hindi Houdini | Fish Nets: The Second Guppy Anthology, edited by Ramona DeFelice Long, Wildside Press | Finalist |
| 2014 | Travis Richardson | Incident on the 405 | The Malfeasance Occasional: Girl Trouble, edited by Clare Toohey, Macmillan | Finalist |
| 2015 | Craig Faustus Buck | Honeymoon Sweet | Murder at the Beach: The Bouchercon Anthology 2014, edited by Dana Cameron, Down & Out | Winner |
| 2015 | Barb Goffman | The Shadow Knows | Chesapeake Crimes: Homicidal Holidays, edited by Donna Andrews, Barb Goffman, and Marcia Talley, Wildside Press | Finalist |
| 2015 | Paul D. Marks | Howling at the Moon | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Nov. 2014 | Finalist |
| 2015 | Travis Richardson | The Proxy | Thuglit #13, Sept./Oct. 2014 | Finalist |
| 2015 | Art Taylor | The Odds Are Against Us | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Nov. 2014 | Finalist |
| 2016 | Megan Abbott | The Little Men | MysteriousPress.com/Open Road | Winner |
| 2016 | Mat Coward | On Borrowed Time | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, June 2015 | Finalist |
| 2016 | Loren D. Estleman | Sob Sister | Detroit Is Our Beat: Tales of the Four Horsemen, Tyrus | Finalist |
| 2016 | Barb Goffman | A Year Without Santa Claus | Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, January/February 2015 | Finalist |
| 2016 | Travis Richardson | Quack and Dwight | Jewish Noir, edited by Kenneth Wishnia, PM Press | Finalist |
| 2016 | B.K. Stevens | A Joy Forever | Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, March 2015 | Finalist |
| 2017 | Art Taylor | Parallel Play | Chesapeake Crimes: Storm Warning, Wildside Press | Winner |
| 2017 | Lawrence Block | Autumn at the Automat | In Sunlight or in Shadow, Pegasus Books | Finalist |
| 2017 | Craig Faustus Buck | Blank Shot | Black Coffee, Darkhouse Books | Finalist |
| 2017 | Greg Herren | Survivor's Guilt | Blood on the Bayou: Bouchercon Anthology 2016, Down & Out Books | Finalist |
| 2017 | Paul D. Marks | Ghosts of Bunker Hill | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Dec. 2016 | Finalist |
| 2017 | Joyce Carol Oates | The Crawl Space | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Sept.-Oct. 2016 | Finalist |
| 2018 | Paul D. Marks | Windward | Coast to Coast: Private Eyes from Sea to Shining Sea, Down & Out Books | Winner |
| 2018 | Craig Faustus Buck | As Ye Sow | Passport to Murder: Bouchercon Anthology 2017, Down and Out Books | Finalist |
| 2018 | Matt Coyle | The #2 Pencil | Coast to Coast: Private Eyes from Sea to Shining Sea, Down & Out Books | Finalist |
| 2018 | Terence Faherty | Infinite Uticas | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, May/June 2017 | Finalist |
| 2018 | Barb Goffman | Whose Wine Is it Anyway? | 50 Shades of Cabernet, Koehler Books | Finalist |
| 2018 | Art Taylor | A Necessary Ingredient | Coast to Coast: Private Eyes from Sea to Shining Sea, Down & Out Books | Finalist |
| 2019 | Art Taylor | English 398: Fiction Workshop | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Jul/Aug 2018 | Winner |
| 2019 | Craig Faustus Buck | Race to Judgment | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Nov/Dec 2018 | Finalist |
| 2019 | Leslie Budewitz | All God's Sparrows | Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, May/Jun 2018 | Finalist |
| 2019 | Barb Goffman | Bug Appétit | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Nov/Dec 2018 | Finalist |
| 2019 | Barry Lancet | Three-Star Sushi | Down & Out: The Magazine, Vol.1, No. 3 | Finalist |
| 2019 | Gigi Pandian | The Cambodian Curse | The Cambodian Curse and Other Stories | Finalist |
| 2020 | Art Taylor | Better Days | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, May/June 2019 | Winner |
| 2020 | Michael Chandos | West Texas Barbecue | The Eyes of Texas, edited by Michael Bracken (Down & Out Books) | Finalist |
| 2020 | Terence Faherty | The Cardboard Box | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Jan/Feb 2019 | Finalist |
| 2020 | Barb Goffman | Alex's Choice | Crime Travel, edited by Barb Goffman(Wildside Press) | Finalist |
| 2020 | G.M. Malliet | Whiteout | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Jan/Feb 2019 | Finalist |
| 2020 | Dave Zeltserman | Brother's Keeper | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, May/June 2019 | Finalist |
| 2021 | Gabriel Valjan | Elysian Fields | California Schemin': The 2020 Bouchercon Anthology, edited by Art Taylor (Wildside Press) | Winner |
| 2021 | Barb Goffman | Dear Emily Etiquette | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Sept/Oct 2020 | Finalist |
| 2021 | Art Taylor | The Boy Detective & The Summer of ‘74 | Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, Jan/Feb 2020 | Finalist |
| 2021 | Elaine Viets | Dog Eat Dog | The Beat of Black Wings: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Joni Mitchell, edited by Josh Pachter (Untreed Reads Publishing) | Finalist |
| 2021 | James W. Ziskin | The Twenty-Five Year Engagement | In League with Sherlock Holmes: Stories Inspired by the Sherlock Holmes Canon, edited by Laurie R. King (Pegasus Crime) | Finalist |
| 2022 | Richard Helms | Sweeps Week | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, July/August 2021 | Winner |
| 2022 | Tracy Clark | Lucky Thirteen | Midnight Hour (Crooked Lane Books) | Finalist |
| 2022 | Steve Hockensmith | Curious Incidents | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, January/February 2021 | Finalist |
| 2022 | R.T. Lawton | The Road to Hana | Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, May/June 2021 | Finalist |
| 2022 | G.M. Malliet | The White Star | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, July/August 2021 | Finalist |
| 2022 | Gigi Pandian | The Locked Room Library | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, July/August 2021 | Finalist |
| 2022 | Dave Zeltserman | Julius Katz and the Two Cousins | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, July/August 2021 | Finalist |

## Sue Feder Memorial Award for Best Historical Mystery

The Sue Feder Historical Mystery Award was established in 2006 to honor Sue Feder, "a reviewer, scholar and dedicated mystery fan, who had founded the [now defunct] Historical Mystery Appreciation Society."
Sue Feder Memorial Award for Best Historical Mystery winners and finalists, 2006-2009 :
| Year | Author | Title | Publisher | Result |
| 2006 | Jacqueline Winspear | Pardonable Lies | Scribner | Winner |
| 2006 | Rhys Bowen | In Like Flynn | St. Martin's/Minotaur Books | Finalist |
| 2006 | Tony Broadbent | Spectres in the Smoke | St. Martin's | Finalist |
| 2006 | Max Allan Collins | The War of the World Murders | | Finalist |
| 2006 | Maureen Jennings | Night's Child | McClelland & Stewart | Finalist |
| 2007 | Rhys Bowen | Oh Danny Boy | G. P. Putnam's Sons | Winner |
| 2007 | Brett Ellen Block | The Lightning Rule | William Morrow & Co. | Finalist |
| 2007 | Barbara Cleverly | The Bee's Kiss | Constable & Robinson | Finalist |
| 2007 | Anne Perry | Dark Assassin | Ballantine Books | Finalist |
| 2007 | Jacqueline Winspear | Messenger of Truth | Henry Holt | Finalist |
| 2008 | Ariana Franklin | Mistress of the Art of Death | UK: Michael Joseph Ltd/Penguin Books US: HarperCollins | Winner |
| 2008 | Rhys Bowen | Her Royal Spyness | Perseverance Press | Finalist |
| 2008 | Jason Goodwin | The Snake Stone | Simon & Schuster | Finalist |
| 2008 | Clare Langley-Hawthorne | Consequences of Sin | Simon & Schuster | Finalist |
| 2008 | Joyce Carol Oates | The Gravedigger's Daughter | Soho Press | Finalist |
| 2009 | Rhys Bowen | A Royal Pain | McFarland & Co. | Winner |
| 2009 | Ward Larsen | Stealing Trinity | Crossover Press | Finalist |
| 2009 | David Liss | The Whiskey Rebels | Crum Creek Press | Finalist |
| 2009 | Karen Maitland | Company of Liars | Viking Press/Penguin | Finalist |
| 2009 | Kelli Stanley | Nox Dormienda | Minotaur Books | Finalist |
| 2009 | Jeri Westerson | Veil of Lies | William Morrow & Co. | Finalist |
| 2010 | Rebecca Cantrell | A Trace of Smoke | Forge Books | Winner |
| 2010 | Stefanie Pintoff | In the Shadow of Gotham | Minotaur Books | Finalist |
| 2010 | Charles Todd | A Duty to the Dead | William Morrow & Co. | Finalist |
| 2010 | Jeri Westerson | Serpent in the Thorns | Minotaur Books | Finalist |
| 2010 | Jacqueline Winspear | Among the Mad | Henry Holt & Co. | Finalist |
| 2011 | Kelli Stanley | City of Dragons | Minotaur Books | Winner |
| 2011 | Barbara Hamilton | A Marked Man | Berkley Books | Finalist |
| 2011 | David Mitchell | The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet | Random House | Finalist |
| 2011 | Charles Todd | The Red Door | HarperCollins/William Morrow & Co. | Finalist |
| 2011 | Kenneth Wishnia | The Fifth Servant | HarperCollins/William Morrow & Co. | Finalist |
| 2012 | Catriona McPherson | Dandy Gilver and the Proper Treatment of Bloodstains | Thomas Dunne Books/Minotaur | Winner |
| 2012 | Rhys Bowen | Naughty in Nice | Berkley Books | Finalist |
| 2012 | Jim Fusilli | Narrows Gate | AmazonEncore | Finalist |
| 2012 | Ann Parker | Mercury's Rise | Poisoned Pen Press | Finalist |
| 2012 | Jeri Westerson | Troubled Bones | Minotaur Books | Finalist |
| 2012 | Jacqueline Winspear | A Lesson in Secrets | Harper | Finalist |
| 2013 | Charles Todd | An Unmarked Grave | HarperCollins | Winner |
| 2013 | Rebecca Cantrell | A City of Broken Glass | Forge Books | Finalist |
| 2013 | Susan Elia MacNeal | Princess Elizabeth's Spy | Random House – Bantam Books | Finalist |
| 2013 | Charles Todd | The Confession | HarperCollins | Finalist |
| 2013 | Jacqueline Winspear | Elegy for Eddie | HarperCollins | Finalist |
| 2014 | David Morrell | Murder as a Fine Art | Little, Brown, & Co. | Winner |
| 2014 | Susanna Calkins | A Murder at Rosamund's Gate | Minotaur Books | Finalist |
| 2014 | Robert Kresge | Saving Lincoln | ABQ Press | Finalist |
| 2014 | Catriona McPherson | Dandy Gilver and a Bothersome Number of Corpses | Minotaur Books | Finalist |
| 2014 | Stuart Neville | Ratlines | Soho Crime | Finalist |
| 2015 | Catriona McPherson | A Deadly Measure of Brimstone | Minotaur Books | Winner |
| 2015 | Rhys Bowen | Queen of Hearts | Berkley Prime Crime | Finalist |
| 2015 | Alan Finn | Things Half in Shadow | Gallery | Finalist |
| 2015 | Robert Harris | An Officer and a Spy | Alfred A. Knopf | Finalist |
| 2015 | Malla Nunn | Present Darkness | Atria | Finalist |
| 2015 | Charles Todd | Hunting Shadows | William Morrow & Co. | Finalist |
| 2016 | Susanna Calkins | The Masque of a Murderer | Minotaur Books | Winner |
| 2016 | Shelley Freydont | A Gilded Grave | Berkley Prime Crime | Finalist |
| 2016 | C. Joseph Greaves | Tom & Lucky (and George & Cokey Flo) | Bloomsbury | Finalist |
| 2016 | Philip Kerr | The Lady from Zagreb | Marian Wood/G. P. Putnam's Sons | Finalist |
| 2016 | Jennifer Kincheloe | Secret Life of Anna Blanc | Seventh Street Books | Finalist |
| 2016 | Laurie R. King | Dreaming Spies | Bantam Books | Finalist |
| 2017 | James W. Ziskin | Heart of Stone | Seventh Street Books | Winner |
| 2017 | Susanna Calkins | A Death Along the River Fleet | Minotaur Books | Finalist |
| 2017 | Lyndsay Faye | Jane Steele | UK: Headline Review US: G. P. Putnam's Sons | Finalist |
| 2017 | Edith Maxwell | Delivering The Truth | Midnight Ink | Finalist |
| 2017 | Catriona McPherson | The Reek of Red Herrings | US: Minotaur UK: Houghton Stodder | Finalist |
| 2017 | Ann Parker | What Gold Buys | Poisoned Pen Press | Finalist |
| 2018 | Rhys Bowen | In Farleigh Field | Lake Union Publishing | Winner |
| 2018 | James R. Benn | The Devouring | Soho Crime | Finalist |
| 2018 | Abir Mukherjee | A Rising Man | Pegasus | Finalist |
| 2018 | Renee Patrick | Dangerous to Know | Forge Books | Finalist |
| 2018 | Charles Todd | Racing the Devil | William Morrow & Co. | Finalist |
| 2018 | James W. Ziskin | Cast the First Stone | Seventh Street Books | Finalist |
| 2019 | Sujata Massey | The Widows of Malabar Hill | Soho Crime | Winner |
| 2019 | Dianne Freeman | A Lady's Guide to Etiquette and Murder | Kensington Books | Finalist |
| 2019 | Elsa Hart | City of Ink | Minotaur Books | Finalist |
| 2019 | Laurie R. King | Island of the Mad | Bantam Books | Finalist |
| 2019 | Ann Parker | A Dying Note | Poisoned Pen | Finalist |
| 2019 | Charles Todd | A Forgotten Place | William Morrow & Co. | Finalist |
| 2020 | Lara Prescott | The Secrets We Kept | Vintage | Winner |
| 2020 | Susanna Calkins | Murder Knocks Twice | Minotaur Books | Finalist |
| 2020 | L. A. Chandlar | The Pearl Dagger | Kensington Books | Finalist |
| 2020 | Dianne Freeman | A Lady's Guide to Gossip and Murder | Kensington Books | Finalist |
| 2020 | Sujata Massey | The Satapur Moonstone | Soho Crime | Finalist |
| 2020 | Edith Maxwell | Charity's Burden | Midnight Ink | Finalist |
| 2021 | James Ziskin | Turn to Stone | Seventh Street Books | Winner |
| 2021 | Rhys Bowen | The Last Mrs. Summers | Berkley Books | Finalist |
| 2021 | Elsa Hart | The Cabinets of Barnaby Mayne | Minotaur Books | Finalist |
| 2021 | Catriona McPherson | The Turning Tide | Quercus | Finalist |
| 2021 | Ann Parker | Mortal Music | Poisoned Pen Press | Finalist |
| 2021 | Ovidia Yu | The Mimosa Tree Mystery | Constable Press | Finalist |
| 2022 | Naomi Hirahara | Clark and Division | Soho Crime | Winner |
| 2022 | Rhys Bowen | The Venice Sketchbook | Lake Union | Finalist |
| 2022 | Susan Elia MacNeal | The Hollywood Spy | Bantam Books | Finalist |
| 2022 | Sujata Massey | The Bombay Prince | Soho Crime | Finalist |
| 2022 | Silvia Moreno-Garcia | Velvet was the Night | Del Rey Books | Finalist |
| 2022 | Lori Rader-Day | Death at Greenway | William Morrow & Co. | Finalist |