| Lambda Literary Award for Mystery | |
| Network List: | --> |
| Ratings: | --> |
| Main: | Lambda Literary Award |
| Image Upright: | --> |
| Awarded For: | LGBT Mystery |
| Sponsor: | Lambda Literary Foundation |
| Date: | Annual |
| Venue: | or |
| Site: | --> |
| Hosts: | --> |
| Current Awards: | --> |
| Winner: | or |
| Winners: | --> |
| Most Wins: | --> |
The Lambda Literary Award for Mystery is an annual literary award, presented by the Lambda Literary Foundation, to a mystery novel by or about people in the LGBT community. Prior to 2021, the award was separated into separate categories for Gay and Lesbian Mystery.
| Lesbian Mystery/Science Fiction | Lesb. M/SF | 1989 | |
| Gay Mystery/Science Fiction | Gay M/SF | 1989 | |
| Lesbian Mystery | Lesbian Mys. | 1990-2020 | |
| Gay Mystery | Gay Mys. | 1990-2020 | |
| LGBTQ Mystery | LGBTQ | 2021 |
| Category | Author | Title | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Gay M/SF | Goldenboy | Winner | [1] | |
| Death Takes the Stage | Finalist | ||||
| Obedience | |||||
| Unicorn Mountain | |||||
| Who’s Next | |||||
| Lesb. M/SF | Skiptrace | Winner | |||
| The Crystal Curtain | Finalist | ||||
| Heavy Gilt | |||||
| Lessons In Murder | |||||
| Mundane's World | |||||
| 1990 | Gay Mys. | Simple Suburban Murder | Winner | [2] | |
| Caravaggio Shawl | Finalist | ||||
| Faultlines: Stories of Suspense | |||||
| Finale edited | |||||
| Somewhere in the Night | |||||
| Lesbian Mys. | The Beverly Malibu | Winner | |||
| The Contactees Die Young | Finalist | ||||
| Dog Collar Murders | |||||
| Fatal Reunion | |||||
| Hallowed Murder | |||||
| 1991 | Gay Mys. | Howtown | Winner | [3] | |
| Black Marble Pool | Finalist | ||||
| Body To Dye For | |||||
| Boy Who Was Buried This Morning | |||||
| Why Isn’t Becky Twitchell Dead? | |||||
| Lesbian Mys. | Gaudi Afternoon | Winner (tie) | |||
| Ninth Life | |||||
| A Captive In Time | Finalist | ||||
| Death Down Under | |||||
| Slick | |||||
| 1992 | Gay Mys. | A Country of Old Men | Winner | [4] | |
| Best Performance by a Patsy | Finalist | ||||
| Master’s Counterpoints | |||||
| Sorry Now? | |||||
| The Face on the Cutting Room Floor | |||||
| Lesbian Mys. | Murder by Tradition | Winner | |||
| Cop Out | Finalist | ||||
| The Providence File | |||||
| Everything You Have is Mine | |||||
| Final Session | |||||
| 1993 | Gay Mys. | The Hidden Law | Winner | [5] | |
| Final Atonement | Finalist | ||||
| Love You to Death | |||||
| One for the Master, Two for the Fool | |||||
| Third Man Out | |||||
| Lesbian Mys. | Crazy for Loving | Winner (tie) | |||
| Two-Bit Tango | |||||
| Deaths of Jocasta | Finalist | ||||
| Lavender House Murder | |||||
| Stage Fright | |||||
| 1994 | Gay Mys. | Catilina’s Riddle | Winner | [6] | |
| Bohannon’s Country | Finalist | ||||
| Dead On Your Feet | |||||
| Mae West Murder Case | |||||
| Torsos | |||||
| Lesbian Mys. | Divine Victim | Winner | |||
| Case of the Not-So-Nice Nurse | Finalist | ||||
| I'll Be Leaving You Always | |||||
| Long Goodbyes | |||||
| Trouble In Transylvania | |||||
| 1995 | Gay Mys. | Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil | Winner | [7] | |
| Mad Man | Finalist | ||||
| Mask for a Diva | |||||
| Queer Kind of Love | |||||
| The Alienist | |||||
| Lesbian Mys. | Small Sacrifice | Winner | |||
| Body Guard | Finalist | ||||
| Case of the Good-For-Nothing Girlfriend | |||||
| My Sweet Untraceable You | |||||
| Sister's Keeper | |||||
| 1996 | Gay Mys. | Closet | Winner | [8] | |
| Another Dead Teenager | Finalist | ||||
| Queer Kind of Umbrella | |||||
| Shock to the System | |||||
| The Venus Throw | |||||
| Lesbian Mys. | The Intersection of Law and Desire | Winner | |||
| Baby, It's Cold | Finalist | ||||
| Faint Praise | |||||
| Hangdog Hustle | |||||
| Night Songs | |||||
| Someone to Watch | |||||
| 1997 | Gay Mys. | Death of Friends | Winner | [9] | |
| Murder on the Appian Way | Finalist | ||||
| Simple Justice | |||||
| Time to Check Out | |||||
| Tribe | |||||
| Lesbian Mys. | Robber's Wine | Winner | |||
| Final Take | Finalist | ||||
| Inner Circle | |||||
| Liberty Square | |||||
| 1998 | Gay Mys. | The Magician’s Tale | Winner | [10] | |
| Gossip | Finalist | ||||
| Hostage | |||||
| Revision of Justice | |||||
| The Burning Plain | |||||
| Lesbian Mys. | Father Forgive Me | Winner | |||
| Apparition Alley | Finalist | ||||
| Evil Dead Center | |||||
| No Daughter of the South | |||||
| Old Black Magic | |||||
| 1999 | Gay Mys. | Outburst | Winner | [11] | |
| Dead as a Doornail | Finalist | ||||
| Federal Fag | |||||
| Strachey’s Folly | |||||
| Uprising | |||||
| Lesbian Mys. | The Blue Place | Winner | |||
| Mother May I | Finalist | ||||
| Past Due | |||||
| Shaman's Moon | |||||
| Wicked Games | |||||
| 2000 | Gay Mys. | Justice at Risk | Winner | [12] | |
| Drop Dead | Finalist | ||||
| Innuendo | |||||
| The Death of a Constant Lover | |||||
| The Gumshoe, the Witch, and the Virtual Corpse | |||||
| Lesbian Mys. | Hunting the Witch | Winner | |||
| Lost Daughters | Finalist | ||||
| Murder Undercover | |||||
| She Came in Drag | |||||
| Sleeping Bones | |||||
| 2001 | Gay Mys. | The Limits of Justice | Winner | [13] | |
| A Density of Souls | Finalist | ||||
| Love’s Last Chance | |||||
| Name Games | |||||
| Nothing Gold Can Stay | |||||
| Lesbian Mys. | Mommy Deadest | Winner | |||
| Booked for Murder | Finalist | ||||
| The Case of the Orphanned Bassoonists | |||||
| Death Understood | |||||
| When Evil Changes Face | |||||
| 2002 | Gay Mys. | Rag and Bone | Winner | [14] | |
| Boy Toy | Finalist | ||||
| Making a Killing | |||||
| Sex and Murder.Com | |||||
| The Butcher’s Son | |||||
| Lesbian Mys. | Merchant of Venus | Winner | |||
| Back to Salem | Finalist | ||||
| Kiss the Girls and Make Them Spy | |||||
| Moving Targets | |||||
| Witchfire | |||||
| 2003 | Gay Mys. | The Snow Garden | Winner | [15] [16] | |
| Hot Spot | Finalist | ||||
| Murder in the Rue Dauphine | |||||
| The Hired Man | |||||
| The Lodger | |||||
| Lesbian Mys. | Good Bad Woman | Winner (tie) | |||
| Immaculate Midnight | |||||
| Accidental Murder | Finalist | ||||
| The Weeping Buddha | |||||
| Death by Prophecy | |||||
| 2004 | Gay Mys. | Blind Eye | Winner | [17] | |
| Bourbon Street Blues | Finalist | ||||
| Dead Egotistical Morons | |||||
| It Takes Two | |||||
| Wearing Black to the White Party | |||||
| Lesbian Mys. | Damn Straight | Winner | |||
| Cry Havoc | Finalist | ||||
| The Woman Who Found Grace | |||||
| Epitaph for an Angel | |||||
| Owl of the Desert | |||||
| 2005 | Gay Mys. | Flight of Aquavit | Winner | [18] | |
| Jackson Square Jazz | Finalist | ||||
| Moth and Flame | |||||
| Someone You Know | |||||
| The Role Players | |||||
| Lesbian Mys. | Hancock Park | Winner | |||
| An Intimate Ghost | Finalist | ||||
| Commitment to Die | |||||
| The Wombat Strategy | |||||
| Death by Discount | |||||
| 2006 | Gay Mys. | One of These Things is Not Like the Other | Winner | [19] | |
| Cajun Snuff | Finalist | ||||
| The Actor’s Guide to Greed | |||||
| The Paper Mirror | |||||
| White Tiger | |||||
| Lesbian Mys. | Desert Blood: The Juarez Murders | Winner | |||
| Darkness Descending | Finalist | ||||
| The Iron Girl | |||||
| Justice Served | |||||
| Women of Mystery | |||||
| 2007 | Gay Mys. | The Lucky Elephant Restaurant | Winner | [20] | |
| Mardi Gras Mambo | Finalist | ||||
| Provincetown Follies, Bangkok Blues | |||||
| The Back Passage | |||||
| The Hell You Say | |||||
| Lesbian Mys. | The Art of Detection | Winner | |||
| The Weekend Visitor | Finalist | ||||
| Idaho Code | |||||
| Night Vision | |||||
| Sleep of Reason | |||||
| 2008 | Gay Mys. | Murder in the Rue Chartres | Winner | [21] [22] | |
| Double Abduction | Finalist | ||||
| Drag Queen in the Court of Death | |||||
| Mahu Surfer | |||||
| Pierce | |||||
| Stain of the Berry | |||||
| Lesbian Mys. | Wall of Silence | Winner | |||
| In the Name of the Father | Finalist | ||||
| Laura's War | |||||
| Mortal Groove | |||||
| Selective Memory | |||||
| 2009 | Gay Mys. | First You Fall | Winner | [23] | |
| Mahu Fire | Finalist | ||||
| Spider Season | |||||
| Sundowner Ubuntu | |||||
| The Fisher Boy | |||||
| Lesbian Mys. | Whacked | Winner | |||
| Blind Faith | Finalist | ||||
| Calling the Dead | |||||
| Losers Weepers | |||||
| Sweet Poison | |||||
| 2010 | Gay Mys. | What We Remember | Winner | [24] | |
| All Lost Things | Finalist | ||||
| Killer of Orchids | |||||
| Murder in the Garden District | |||||
| Straight Lies | |||||
| Lesbian Mys. | Death of a Dying Man | Winner | |||
| Command of Silence | Finalist | ||||
| The Mirror and the Mask | |||||
| From Hell to Breakfast | |||||
| Toasted | |||||
| 2011 | Gay Mys. | Echoes | Winner | [25] | |
| Cockeyed | Finalist | ||||
| Rubber Baby Buggy Bumpers | |||||
| Smoked | |||||
| Vieux Carre Voodoo | |||||
| Lesbian Mys. | Fever of the Bone | Winner | |||
| The Cruel Ever After | Finalist | ||||
| Missing Lynx | |||||
| Parallel Lies | |||||
| Water Mark | |||||
| 2012 | Gay Mys. | Red White Black and Blue | Winner | [26] | |
| Blue’s Bayou | Finalist | [27] | |||
| Boystown: Three Nick Nowak Mysteries | |||||
| Malabarista | |||||
| The Affair of the Porcelain Dog | |||||
| Lesbian Mys. | Dying to Live | Winner | |||
| Hostage Moon | Finalist | ||||
| Rainey Nights: A Rainey Bell Thriller | |||||
| Retirement Plan | |||||
| Trick of the Dark | |||||
| 2013 | Gay Mys. | Lake on the Mountain: A Dan Sharp Mystery | Winner | [28] [29] | |
| Bokassa’s Last Apostle | Finalist | ||||
| Dos Equis | |||||
| Fires of London | |||||
| The Yellow Canary | |||||
| Lesbian Mys. | Ill Will | Winner | |||
| Jacob's War | Finalist | ||||
| Lemon Reef | |||||
| Molly: House on Fire | |||||
| Rest for the Wicked | |||||
| 2014 | Gay Mys. | The Prisoner of the Riviera: A Francis Bacon Mystery | Winner | [30] [31] | |
| Baton Rouge Bingo | Finalist | ||||
| Boystown 5: Murder Book | |||||
| Fierce | |||||
| Foxed | |||||
| In Real Life, The 3rd Gemini & Flowers Mystery | |||||
| Pawn of Satan | |||||
| Pretty Boy Dead | |||||
| The General and the Elephant Clock of Al-Jazari | |||||
| Lesbian Mys. | High Desert | Winner | |||
| Cross and Burn | Finalist | ||||
| Death of the Demon | |||||
| The Killer Wore Leather: A Mystery | |||||
| Point of Betrayal | |||||
| The Rainey Season | |||||
| She Overheard Murder | |||||
| Taken by the Wind | |||||
| Turning on the Tide | |||||
| Web of Obsessions | |||||
| The Wild Beasts of Wuhan: An Ava Lee Novel | |||||
| 2015 | Gay Mys. | Blackmail, My Love: A Murder Mystery | Winner | [32] [33] | |
| A Gathering Storm | Finalist | ||||
| Boystown 6: From the Ashes | |||||
| Calvin’s Head | |||||
| DeadFall | |||||
| Fair Game | |||||
| Moon Over Tangier | |||||
| The Next | |||||
| Lesbian Mys. | The Old Deep and Dark | Winner | |||
| The Acquittal | Finalist | ||||
| Done to Death | |||||
| Slash and Burn | |||||
| UnCatholic Conduct | |||||
| 2016 | Gay Mys. | Boystown 7: Bloodlines | Winner | [34] [35] | |
| After the Horses | Finalist | [36] | |||
| Cheap as Beasts | |||||
| Introducing Sunfish & Starfish: Tropical Drag Queen Detectives | |||||
| Murder and Mayhem | |||||
| Orient | |||||
| The Boys from Eighth and Carpenter | |||||
| The Swede | |||||
| Lesbian Mys. | Ordinary Mayhem | Winner (tie) | |||
| Tarnished Gold | |||||
| The Grave Soul | Finalist | ||||
| The Red Files | |||||
| The Tattered Heiress: Volume Two of the Charlotte Olmes Mystery Series | |||||
| Illicit Artifacts | |||||
| No Good Reason | |||||
| Relatively Rainey | |||||
| 2017 | Gay Mys. | Speakers of the Dead: A Walt Whitman Mystery | Winner | [37] | |
| Bitter Legacy | Finalist | [38] | |||
| Homo Superiors | |||||
| Lay Your Sleeping Head | |||||
| Nights in Berlin | |||||
| Lesbian Mys. | Pathogen | Winner | |||
| Blood Money Murder | Finalist | ||||
| Bury Me When I'm Dead | |||||
| Collide-O-Scope | |||||
| Final Cut | |||||
| Requiem for Immortals | |||||
| Under Contract | |||||
| Walk-in | |||||
| 2018 | Gay Mys. | Night Drop | Winner | [39] [40] | |
| Boystown 10: Gifts Given | Finalist | [41] | |||
| Love is Heartless | |||||
| Ring of Silence | |||||
| Street People | |||||
| The Mystery of the Curiosities | |||||
| Tramps and Thieves | |||||
| Long Shadows | |||||
| Lesbian Mys. | Huntress | Winner | |||
| The Girl on the Edge of Summer | Finalist | ||||
| The Last First Time | |||||
| A Quiet Death | |||||
| Fever in the Dark | |||||
| Murder Under the Fig Tree: A Palestine Mystery | |||||
| Odd Numbers | |||||
| Repercussions | |||||
| 2019 | Gay Mys. | Late Fees: A Pinx Video Mystery | Winner | [42] | |
| Black Diamond Fall | Finalist | [43] | |||
| Boystown 11: Heart’s Desire | |||||
| Death Checks In | |||||
| Dodging and Burning: A Mystery | |||||
| Somewhere Over Lorain Road | |||||
| Survival Is a Dying Art: An Angus Green Novel | |||||
| The God Game: A Dan Sharp Mystery | |||||
| Lesbian Mys. | A Study in Honor: A Novel | Winner | |||
| Alice Isn't Dead A Novel | Finalist | ||||
| The Locket | |||||
| A Matter of Blood | |||||
| A Whisper of Bones | |||||
| Secrets of the Last Castle | |||||
| Stolen: A Kieran Yeats Mystery | |||||
| 2020 | Gay Mys. | Carved in Bone: A Henry Rios Novel | Winner | [44] [45] [46] | |
| ChoirMaster: A Mister Puss Mystery | Finalist | [47] [48] | |||
| Death Takes a Bow | |||||
| Rewind | |||||
| Royal Street Reveillon | |||||
| The Fourth Courier | |||||
| The Nowhere | |||||
| The Quaker | |||||
| Lesbian Mys. | Galileo | Winner | |||
| The Blood Runs Cold | Finalist | ||||
| The Hound of Justice | |||||
| The Mirror of Muraro | |||||
| Gnarled Hollow | |||||
| Twisted at the Root: A Jane Lawless Mystery | |||||
| 2021 | LGBTQ | I Hope You're Listening | Winner | [49] [50] [51] | |
| Death Before Dessert | Finalist | [52] | |||
| Find Me When I'm Lost | |||||
| Fortune Favors the Dead | |||||
| Vera Kelly Is Not a Mystery | |||||
| 2022 | LGBTQ | The Savage Kind | Winner | [53] | |
| Bath Haus | Finalist | [54] | |||
| Finding the Vein | |||||
| Lies With Man | |||||
| Murder Under Her Skin | |||||
| 2023 | LGBTQ+ | Dirt Creek: A Novel | Winner | [55] | |
| Finalist | [56] | ||||
| And There He Kept Her | |||||
| Dead Letters from Paradise | |||||
| Lavender House | |||||
| 2024 | LGBTQ+ | A Calculated Risk | Winner | [57] | |
| Don't Forget the Girl | Finalist | [58] | |||
| Transitory | |||||
| Where the Dead Sleep |