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Summer is the best time to enter the M&M Book Awards

You have until July 31st to share your Novel with us and enter the 2025 CIBAs!

This Division is dedicated to one of the most Well-known Mystery authors, Dame Agatha Christie. Writer of Poirot, Miss Marple, Tommy and Tuppence, and so much more.

WWI Nurse, Writer, Playwright (and record holder of longest running Stage Play, The Mousetrap which opened in 1952), and Archaeologist, the latter of which contributed greatly to her novels.

When she wasn’t busy writing, She spent quite a good amount of her life working on excavations in Egypt and Iraq with her 2nd Husband, archaeologist Max Mallowan.

But enough about Christie. The Hall of Fame features the Grand Prize Winners of the Mystery and Mayhem Award who we are proud to have in the Chanticleer Family!

If Two Are Dead: A Garnick and Paschal Mystery
By Jeanne Matthews

An enigmatic raven-haired beauty mysteriously murdered and cast into a stranger’s grave, left for scurrilous resurrection men to uncover in the dark of night! In Jeanne Matthews’s historical mystery If Two Are Dead, Detectives Quinn Paschal and Gabriel Garnick take up this case of vicious murder and ignite a mire of secrets and resentment at the pinnacle of 1867 Chicago society.

After catching the body-snatchers in the act of stealing a freshly buried corpse to sell for medical research, Quinn and Garnick realize the body found in Emmett Buck’s grave is by no means that of a young man, but that of a woman, whose bloody head and clean clothes point to a complex mystery. With only her appearance and some identifying jewelry, Quinn insists they can and will catch the killer of ‘Marietta A.V.’ Enlisting the help of an unscrupulous journalist, they locate her husband, a wealthy and influential doctor.

The woman’s husband, Dr. Horace E. Vinings, offers them an incredible reward if they can find Marietta’s killer. But Quinn and Garnick suspect he might not like the answer he receives.

Read More Here

A Haunting at Linley: A Henrietta and Inspector Howard Novel
By Michelle Cox

In this seventh book of the series, Clive and Henrietta return to England to find Castle Linley in financial ruin. When Clive’s cousin, Wallace, invites an estate agent in to assess the home’s value, the agent is later found poisoned, throwing all of the Castle’s guests into suspicion. Clive and Henrietta are soon drawn into an investigation, which is slowed by an incompetent local inspector and several unexplained phenomena—the cause of which many, especially the frail Lady Linley, believe to be the workings of the ghost of a hanged maid.

Meanwhile, Gunther and Elsie have begun life on a farm in Omaha. Circumstances are difficult, but they are content—until Oldrich Exely appears, proposing an option Elsie finds difficult to ignore. Melody Merriweather, still masquerading as a nun to aid Elsie’s escape, likewise finds it difficult to ignore a letter with tragic news from home, while Julia, on the other hand, receives a very different sort of letter from Glenn Forbes.

Back in England, Clive is called away to London on suspicious business, leaving Henrietta to carry on with the investigation alone. When she is mysteriously locked in the study one night, however, things take on a more deadly, supernatural feel, leaving her to fear that Lady Linley’s “ghost” might just be real after all…

Order it today!

A Spying Eye: A Henrietta and Inspector Howard Novel
By Michelle Cox

Brooding Château du Freudeneck, just outside Strasbourg, France has villains in the drawing rooms, stolen art hidden in the cellars, and bats in the belfry – all the best elements for a 19th-century Gothic mystery.

However, in Michelle Cox’s novel, A Spying Eye it’s the 20th century. The Great War is passed, but the next war already looms on the horizon. The people of Strasbourg feel the growing conflict sharply, at the heart of Alsace-Lorraine, a fertile region that has been contested between France and Germany since time immemorial.

Which means those bats are in the unfortunate head of the elderly Baron Von Harmon, the current lord and master (as much as he’s still able to be, at least) of the Chateau, while the stolen art is pursued by both the villainous Nazis and the only slightly-less villainous agents of Britain’s MI5.

Read More Here

Ophelia’s Room
By Michael Scott Garvin

Ophelia’s Room by Michael Scott Garvin begins with a bang – and a child’s whimper.

A frantic, distraught father pounds on a bolted chapel door in a small country hospital…. A tiny, two-day-old infant cries in peril….  A deranged grandfather sees demons in every shadowy corner.

The opening scene read like something out of a young parent’s nightmare. Will their child be healthy? Will they grow up to be successful? Will the child be safe in their grandparents’ arms?  Questions that any new mother and father ask themselves. In Garvin’s Ophelia’s Room, the answers are terrifying.

Read More Here

The Discovery
By Patrick M. Garry

Patrick M. Garry’s The Discovery encompasses a narrative that traverses a family legal case jigsaw puzzle toward a discovery of self by exploring the ghost of ancient regrets, basic human desires, and questions of faith.

Frank Horgan, a former lawyer at one of Minneapolis’ largest firms, now practices small-case litigation in the little community of Basswood Hills. Frank, a victim of his own follies, has one more chance to restore his career to its former glory. But not before a huge legal matter comes knocking on his door at his father’s diner. This case kicks off the legal drama, bringing in several main and secondary characters to play their parts in the ultimate discovery of buried contentedness and eventually a scandal that breaks into the national newspaper.

Meanwhile, Frank comes upon the case of the most prominent McCorkle family in Basswood Hills.

Read More Here

These Authors Solved the Mystery of Success

From Victorian Chicago to wartime France, these Hall of Fame winners prove that the best mysteries don’t just puzzle readers—they transport them to other worlds entirely. Each of these celebrated authors cracked the code that so many mystery writers struggle with: how to stand out in a crowded genre.

What’s their secret?

They didn’t let their stories remain unsolved cases buried in obscurity.

Your cozy mystery deserves the same recognition. In Dame Agatha Christie’s tradition, the M&M Awards celebrate authors who understand that the most satisfying mysteries combine clever plotting with unforgettable characters.

The Case for Your Mystery

Will your amateur sleuth be next to join this prestigious lineup? Whether your story unfolds in a quaint English village or a bustling American town, the M&M Awards provide the recognition and promotional platform that transforms hidden gems into must-read mysteries.

Time is running out—submit by July 31, 2025!

Don’t let your mystery remain a cold case. Enter the M&M Awards today!

The Mystery & Mayhem Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Cozy and Not-So-Cozy Mysteries. The Grand Prize Winner, Jeanne Matthews’s book, If Two Are Dead will be promoted for years to come in our annual Hall of Fame article, as well as be featured on the M&M contest page year ’round!

The best part about being a Chanticleer Int’l Book Award Winner is the love and attention you get all year ‘round!

The 2024 M&M Winners were announced at the 2025 Chanticleer Authors Conference in April, and you can see the official winners post here!

Join us in celebrating the 2024 First Place M&M Winners!

Patrick E. Craig – The Boy In Blue Denim

Imagine if Miss Marple were Amish!

Jenny Hershberger returns to Apple Creek, Ohio, called by Detective Elbert Wainwright to help solve another cold case—a young Amish boy murdered in a deadly snowstorm and never identified. But as she digs into the case, she finds so many connections to her own life that the story becomes like a house of mirrors. As Jenny and Bobby Halverson travel from Apple Creek to Shipshewana, to Texas and Colorado, and back to Apple Creek, the trail grows warmer each day. But each step uncovers a new murder… and a new twist. Who is the killer? And who is…THE BOY IN BLUE DENIM?

Find it Locally and on Amazon!

Lori Roberts Herbst – Graven Images

A photo assignment at the cemetery leads Callie Cassidy to a corpse—this one above ground. Now, her search for the killer unearths some long-buried secrets…

Callie’s mother Maggie, a notorious hobby jumper, has embarked on a new pursuit—grave rubbing. When she recruits her daughter to photograph her first endeavor at the local cemetery, Callie brings golden retriever Woody and tabby cat Carl along for the outing. It’s a breathtaking autumn morning in Rock Creek Village, Colorado. Golden aspen leaves rustle in the cool breeze, and the air is filled with the scent of pine. What could go wrong on a day like this?

Then, a ghostly woman emerges from the trees, bleeding from a head wound and claiming to have no memory of how she arrived, or even who she is. Maggie quickly identifies her as a woman who disappeared from the village forty years ago—without a trace.

If that’s not enough intrigue, Woody disobeys her and sprints deeper into the cemetery. When Callie catches up to him, he is sitting sentinel at the tombstone of a recently deceased villager. And behind the stone, a man lies on the ground—with a pickaxe jutting from his neck.

Callie recognizes him as the low-level mobster who has been dating her best friend Tonya’s mother—and they’d been having problems. Did Tonya’s mother kill the man? Could it have been the mysterious woman? Or maybe someone with ties to his crime family?

Callie can’t resist investigating—and this time, Detective Raul Sanchez welcomes her assistance. Because if they can’t solve the crime soon, the town may be facing grave consequences…

Find it Locally and on Amazon!

Gail Noble-Sanderson – A Cup of Revenge

Swansea Station – 1947 The war is over, and with hopes of reconstruction beginning, rationing ending, and lives starting over, Drew awaits the decision regarding a new position with the railway. But mystery and mayhem arrive aboard an afternoon train carrying the new vicar, Liam O’Neill, and a cadre of visitors from Ireland. Drew’s attention is once again focused on unraveling the threads of revenge and solving another murder. The unfolding of an unexpected relationship with the young vicar proves another mystery for Drew to unravel. This is the second book in the award-winning Drew Davies Railway Mystery Series.

Find it Locally and on Amazon!

M.K. Graff – Death in the Orchard

The third Trudy Genova mystery from award-winning author M. K. Graff brings Trudy home, leaving her New York City studio consulting job to visit her rural hometown of Schoharie, three hours north. NYPD detective Ned O’Malley accompanies Trudy, primed to meet her family, but with a secret mission to find out what really happened when her father died eleven years ago.

Mario Genova’s death was deemed a tragic accident, but Trudy feels there was more to her beloved father acting out of character the day before he died. After years of hard work building a successful apple orchard business with her mother, Mario cleaned out their bank accounts. No reason-and no money-was ever found. As Trudy and Ned try to investigate without informing her family of their actions, a new death occurs on Genova Orchards property, and once again Trudy’s family is under scrutiny.

Find it Locally and on Amazon!

Miriam Verbeek – The Forest

She’s hired to find criminals. What if they find her first? She’s racing to stay alive and bring them to justice.

Saskia is an unlikely hero, a computer geek and mountain bike enthusiast, but when she arrives in the highlands of Australia to help restructure a family-owned logging company, she soon finds herself in the heart of a wild chase to uncover a surprising plethora of crimes. With the fate of a logging community hanging in the balance, can Saskia unravel the mystery in the forest before it’s too late?

From Chanticleer:

The Forest, a slow-burning mystery and the second book in Miriam Verbeek’s Saskia van Essen series, follows a young investigator trying to unravel a mystery that sits deep in the core of a private logging organization.

Saskia, a co-owner of International Financial Services, is requested by Tania to help uncover a network of criminal activity in her family’s Australian timber business. After taking over the company as its new director, Tania doubts the legitimacy of their remarkable profits, given high expenses, severe competition, and a substantial reduction in timber production that should have made it difficult to make any substantial gains.

Wasting no time, Saskia travels to Australia, having agreed to investigate possible criminal activity while helping the timber mill restructure.

Read More Here

Find it Locally and on Amazon!

Kari Bovee – The Pryce of Conceit

1885. Arabella Pryce is struggling with heartbreak. In keeping with her late husband’s final wishes, she must leave behind her dazzling celebrity and breathe new life into their namesake hotel in Colorado.

But when a beloved town beauty is found dead, all eyes—and suspicion—turn to her.

With blood-stained evidence, handsome sheriffs, and libelous journalists turning her investigation into a dangerous drama, this determined thespian fears she’s missed her cue for survival.

Amid whispered betrayals and shadowed secrets, a mischievous ghost guides her through a maze of perilous clues, drawing her ever closer to a truth more shocking than the lies surrounding her.

Can she unmask the true killer and clear her name before her reputation is ruined forever?

Find it Locally and on Amazon!

Thank you for joining us to celebrate the 2024 M&M First Place Winners!

Your book can join the Tiers of Achievement, but only if you submit to the Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards!

Got a Cozy Mystery? The 2025 M&M Book Awards are open through the end of July!

Got a Marketing Conundrum for Your Cozy Mystery?

Solve It by Entering the M&M Awards!

The submissions for the 2025 CIBAs are underway, and Mystery & Mayhem Awards close submissions on July 31, 2025!

The Mystery and Mayhem Awards celebrate the art of the puzzle, inspired by the legendary Agatha Christie and the tradition of mysteries where brilliant minds triumph over criminal schemes. While our Clue Awards focus on gritty thrillers and our Global Thriller Awards feature high-stakes suspense on a global scale, M&M honors the cozy (and not-so-cozy) mysteries where amateur sleuths reign supreme and the violence often happens off-page.

Why rely on police detectives when a curious librarian, a sharp-eyed baker, or a meddling village resident can solve the case just as well? From quaint English villages to small American towns, the M&M Awards recognize stories where wit, observation, and a good cup of tea are often more valuable than forensic labs and SWAT teams.

The Categories Where Curiosity Conquers Crime

• Amateur Sleuth features everyday heroes who stumble into mysteries—think Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache series or the Thursday Murder Club, where regular people use extraordinary insight to catch criminals.
• Romantic Mystery blends heart-fluttering romance with puzzling crimes, proving that love and mystery make the perfect pair—whether it’s a meet-cute over a murder scene or romance blooming during a dangerous investigation.
• Historical Mystery transports readers to bygone eras where period details and historical context add richness to the puzzle—from Victorian London to Jazz Age speakeasies, these stories prove that human nature and criminal minds are timeless.
• Classic/British Cozy honors the tradition of Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, and modern masters who understand that the most satisfying mysteries often happen in drawing rooms rather than dark alleys.
• Mystery Caper/Adventure features lighter, more playful mysteries with humor and hijinks—think Knives Out energy where the puzzle-solving is as entertaining as it is clever.
• Animal Mystery showcases our four-legged detectives and the humans who love them, proving that sometimes the best witness has fur and four paws.
• Small Town Cozy Mystery explores the dark secrets hiding behind picket fences and friendly facades, where everyone knows everyone—and someone knows too much.
• Blended Genre celebrates mysteries that incorporate elements of fantasy, paranormal, or other genres while maintaining that cozy mystery heart.

Congratulations once more to our 2024 M&M Grand Prize Winner
Jeanne Matthews for
If Two Are Dead!

Set in 1867 Chicago, this compelling novel showcases everything we love about historical mysteries: rich period detail, complex characters, and a puzzle that keeps readers guessing until the final revelation. Matthews’ masterful blend of historical authenticity and classic mystery plotting in the Historical Mystery category exemplifies the sophisticated storytelling we seek to recognize. In addition to all the featured posts that have already gone out for the M&M Awards, If Two Are Dead will be regularly promoted throughout the year and for the next five years in our upcoming Hall of Fame post. Jeanne Matthews will also be invited to participate in a Chanticleer 10-Question Interview, and If Two Are Dead will receive a coveted Chanticleer Editorial Review.

Looking for Your Next Puzzling Read?

Check out some of these incredible cozy and not-so-cozy mysteries we’ve reviewed recently that showcase the delightful diversity of the genre!

RED HERRINGS RADIO: The Media Mysteries Series Book 6
By Gail Hulnick

From its very first page, Red Herrings Radio, from Gail Hulnick’s Media Mysteries series, evokes the classic mystery novels of days gone by. We meet protagonist Lillian on September 7, 1964, in the pre-dawn hours as she heads to work. The early shift at a bustling radio station may seem like excitement enough, but soon Lillian’s faced with unexpected and unpleasant thrills: there’s a dead body at work, and it’s one of her best friends.

Red Herrings Radio uses many elements of classic mystery, even down to the noir lighting of the early-morning streets. Yet it also diverges from mystery-novel tradition in interesting ways.

Unlike many older mystery books, it has not only a female sleuth, but a focus on the challenges and barriers faced by a woman in the 1960s. The book is studded with authentic period details, from Beatles mania and folk music to the Royal Tour and the World’s Fair. It also doesn’t shy away from the weightier topics of the era. As Lillian investigates Susan’s death, she finds herself grappling with looming issues like abortion and gender equality. Author Gail Hulnick gives these issues their due complexity, painting a realistic picture of the 1960s as an era of global change and growing pains.

Read more here! 

A HAUNTING At LINLEY: A Henrietta and Inspector Howard Novel
By Michelle Cox

Dire darkness descends upon Castle Linley in A Haunting at Linley by award-winning author Michelle Cox. Lord Linley is dead, black blankets and sashes cover windows, mirrors, and all sources of light. Mourning overtakes all—well, almost all.

Henrietta and her husband, Inspector Clive Howard, return to England and the estate. They come to offer comfort, but quickly discover the family needs much more help than anticipated.

Lord Linley’s death is only the first.

Read more here!

TOMMY ROCKET And The GOOBER PATROL
By Thomas R. Kuhn

Tommy Rocket and the Goober Patrol by Thomas R. Kuhn follows Nate, a young boy growing up in the 1970s, whose friendship with the kid genius robot builder, Tommy Rocket, leads him into mysterious adventures.

Tommy’s father invented the Prometheus chip that gives sentience to robots, and from a young age Tommy started creating a gang of robots called the Goober Patrol. Eccentric and wheelchair-bound, Tommy prefers to tinker with his robots at home. But he befriends Nate after he saves Tommy from bullies.

When Tommy’s aptly named ‘Monster-bot’ gets loose, Nate is tasked with finding and securing the rogue bot before anyone finds out. But the two boys soon find out there is more at work than one missing robot. There’s another tinkerer in town and they’re building their own special group of robots—which look just like one of Tommy’s creations. Nate and Tommy have to find out who has gotten their hands on the Prometheus chip before it’s too late.

Read more here!

PARALLEL SECRETS
By ML Barrs

In the small Missouri town of Walkers Corner, it seems everyone has a dark secret. In Parallel Secrets by ML Barrs, a TV journalist comes to town to do a magazine piece on a missing girl and begins uncovering many of those hidden stories.

Motivated by feelings of guilt for not following up on a previous unsolved case, Vicky Robeson’s joins the search for the missing child. She’s tenacious in her investigation. As a TV station journalist currently between jobs, she has well-honed investigative skills, specifically in her ability to wheedle stories from even the most reluctant people. She’s familiar with Walkers Corner; and  as a reporter for a St. Louis TV station, she covered the case of a never-identified mystery girl. She believes the two cases are connected. The similarities that link these cases to her own experiences as a child make her unable to let this new story go.

Safe to say, her investigating is not welcomed by most of the locals in this close-knit town.

Read more here! 

These reviews represent just a glimpse of the clever plots and charming characters waiting to be discovered in today’s mystery fiction.

See the Chanticleer Difference for Yourself!

We’re excited about all the wonderful mysteries we receive every year for both the CIBAs and for our Editorial Reviews. Throughout this year’s M&M Book Awards, we had the pleasure of promoting over 70 books as they advanced through our competition tiers. The Chanticleer International Book Awards offers an incredible $30,000 in cash, prizes, and promotion across all divisions!

This is the journey from beginning to end for the CIBAs! Every list you make means more promotion for you and your work as each advancement tier is posted right here on our website, on our social media, and also out in our newsletter! Your book deserves to be discovered.

Don’t Let Your Mystery Remain Unsolved!

The cozy mystery market is more vibrant than ever, with readers hungry for clever puzzles, charming characters, and satisfying resolutions. Whether your amateur sleuth is a retired teacher with a knack for observation, a small-town baker who stumbles upon murder, or a historical figure solving crimes in a bygone era, the M&M Awards provide the recognition and promotional platform your mystery deserves.

Mystery fiction has the unique power to engage readers’ minds while providing the comfort of justice served and puzzles solved. Don’t let your story remain a cold case—submit to the M&M Awards today and join the ranks of celebrated mystery writers who’ve found their audience through Chanticleer!

Submit to the M&M Awards today!