The Left Coast Crime “Lefty” Awards are fan awards chosen by registered members of the Left Coast Crime convention. Nominations for awards to be presented at each annual convention are made by people registered for that convention and also the immediately prior convention. A ballot listing the official nominees is given to each registrant when they check in at the convention, and final voting takes place at the convention. The ballots are tabulated and that year’s Lefty Awards are presented at the Awards Celebration. [Note: 2020 Lefty Award voting took place online after the convention was cancelled by order of San Diego County. The winners were announced on March 23, 2020.]
 2020 Lefty Award
Winners are listed first in each category.
| Lefty for Best Humorous Mystery Novel |
| ✫ |
Catriona McPherson, Scot & Soda (Midnight Ink) |
| ° |
Ellen Byron, Fatal Cajun Festival (Crooked Lane Books) |
| ° |
Leslie Karst, Murder from Scratch (Crooked Lane Books) |
| ° |
Cynthia Kuhn, The Subject of Malice (Henery Press) |
| ° |
Wendall Thomas, Drowned Under (Poisoned Pen Press) |
Lefty for Best Historical Mystery Novel
(Bruce Alexander Memorial) for books covering events before 1970 |
| ✫ |
Sujata Massey, The Satapur Moonstone (Soho Crime) |
| ° |
Susanna Calkins, Murder Knocks Twice (Minotaur Books) |
| ° |
L.A. Chandlar, The Pearl Dagger (Kensington Books) |
| ° |
Dianne Freeman, A Lady’s Guide to Gossip and Murder (Kensington Books) |
| ° |
Jennifer Kincheloe, The Body in Griffith Park (Seventh Street Books) |
| Lefty for Best Mystery Novel |
| ✫ |
Matt Coyle, Lost Tomorrows (Oceanview Publishing) |
| ° |
Steph Cha, Your House Will Pay (Ecco) |
| ° |
Tracy Clark, Borrowed Time (Kensington Books) |
| ° |
Rachel Howzell Hall, They All Fall Down (Forge Books) |
| ° |
Attica Locke, Heaven, My Home (Mulholland Books) |
| Lefty for Best Debut Mystery Novel |
| ✫ |
Carl Vonderau, Murderabilia (Midnight Ink) |
| ° |
Tori Eldridge, The Ninja Daughter (Agora Books) |
| ° |
Angie Kim, Miracle Creek (Sarah Crichton Books) |
| ° |
Tara Laskowski, One Night Gone (Graydon House) |
| ° |
John Vercher, Three-Fifths (Agora Books) |
To be eligible, titles must have been published for the first time in the United States or Canada during 2019, in book or ebook format. (If published in other countries before 2019, a book is still eligible if it meets the US or Canadian publication requirement.)
Email Awards Co-Chairs Lucinda Surber & Stan Ulrich with questions about the Left Coast Crime Awards.
History of the Left Coast Crime Awards |
