Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense

 The Kiss of Death Chapter of RWA is happy to announce the 2024 Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense Contest will open January 1, 2024, 12:01 am, MST. 

The Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense is named for Daphne du Maurier, the author of Rebecca, a suspense novel with romantic and gothic overtones and a precursor to today’s romantic suspense. The writing contest is for published and unpublished authors of mystery, suspense, and thrillers with or without romantic subplots.

The contest provides helpful feedback by trained judges. Winning or placing in the competition adds a boost to the entrant’s writing career. There are two divisions within the contest: Published and Unpublished. Entries should be received between January 1, 2024 – March 15, 2024. Finalists for each division will be announced in May [Unpublished] and June [Published]. Winners are traditionally announced during the Awards Ceremony at the Death by Chocolate Party held annually during the RWA® National Conference in July. 

Would you like to judge? Go to KODContest.com to register as a judge.

Watch the 2023 Daphne duMaurier Award for Excellence Presentation here. You can download the transcript here

We have added a NEW CATEGORY to the contest, Cozy Mystery. Last year, to honor the 25th Anniversary of the contest, we included the category, Novella Mystery/Suspense, to the published division. If you are considering entering the contest this year, please read through the rules and submission guidelines carefully, as there have been modifications.

Scoresheets for non-finalists will be released by June 30, 2023.

Categories

  • Short Romantic Mystery/Suspense: works with a central romance that have a word count of 40k-65k.
  • Historical Romantic Mystery/Suspense: works over 65,000 words with a central romance set in a time that predates the end of World War II.
  • Cozy Mystery: works over 40,000 words with an amateur sleuth, where sex, violence, and profanity occur off the page. Entries in the category are not required to have a romantic storyline.
  • Mainstream Mystery/Suspense: works over 65,000 words where the mystery/suspense is the main plot.
  • Paranormal (PTTF) Romantic Mystery/Suspense: works over 65,000 words with a central romance and in which paranormal, fantasy, time travel, and/or futuristic elements play a significant role.
  • Long Romantic Mystery/Suspense: works with a central romance that have a word count of 65k and above.
  • Novella Mystery/Suspense: works between 25,000 and 40,000 words where the mystery/suspense is the main plot. The novella may have other elements, such as romance, paranormal, historical, or contemporary.

Need help determining which category you’re in or other questions about the contest? Check out the FAQ page for more information!

Division Specific

THANK YOU! I am so thrilled. I appreciate everything you and the chapter have done to make this opportunity available to me.

Please thank all the judges for me. Their comments had me squealing with delight; I’m sure dogs in the next county noticed.

…this lovely award helped me to reset my vision and get my excitement back. It means more than I can say.

25th Anniversary of the Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense – 2023 Finalists

UNPUBLISHED DIVISION:

MAINSTREAM CATEGORY WINNERS

First Place:                    Black Mark                       Paul Spencer

Second Place:              Facets of Murder             Julie Ciccarelli

Third Place:                  Nothing But The Truth   Caroline Garrod

Honorable Mention:   Oriole                                 Mary Keenan

Honorable Mention:   Vintage Model                  TK Sheffield

ROMANTIC SUSPENSE CATEGORY WINNERS

First Place:                     High Altitude Abduction                Elaine Clampitt

Second Place:               Tamsin Lee and the Jaguar God   Annie R McEwen

Third Place:                   His Partner                                       Karen White-Owens

Honorable Mention:    Murder’s Mistress                           Eliza Carter

Honorable Mention:    Suspended in Darkness                 Anne Belen

Overall Unpublished

Division Winner:

Elaine Clampitt for

High Altitude Abduction

Overall Published

Division Winner:

Toni Anderson for

Cold Silence

PUBLISHED DIVISION:

MAINSTREAM CATEGORY WINNERS

First Place:                     Spirit Daughters           Carol Potenza

Second Place:               Exposed                         Anna J Stewart

Third Place:                   Last Liar Standing        Danielle Wong

Honorable Mention:    Compromised Vows    Nadine Dandorf

Honorable Mention:     Hooker Avenue            Jode Millman

LONG CATEGORY WINNERS

First Place:                       Cold Silence           Toni Anderson

Second Place:                 Disarming Caine   Janet Oppedisano

Third Place:                     Crash Site              Rachel Grant

Honorable Mention:      Flash Point             Tracey Devlyn

Honorable Mention:     Into the Storm       Rachel Grant

NOVELLA CATEGORY WINNERS

First Place:                       Cold Drip                      Heather Day Gilbert

Second Place:                  Justified Vengeance    Lori Matthews

Third Place:                      The Vow                        DL Wood

Honorable Mention:      Roast Date                   Heather Day Gilbert

Honorable Mention:      Christmas Threat        Lynn Shannon

SHORT CATEGORY WINNER

First Place:                       Necessary Peril                    Lynn Shannon

Second Place:                 Wyoming Winter Rescue     Juno Rushdan

Third Place:                     Shielding Her Son                KD Richards

Honorable Mention:     Twin Murder Mix-Up           Sami A. Abrams

Honorable Mention:     Christmas Baby Rescue      Jordyn Redwood

ROMANTIC SUSPENSE CATEGORY FINALISTS

First Place:                      Fiona and the Enigmatic Earl   Grace Callaway

Second Place:                 The Belle of Belgrave Square   Mimi Matthews

Third Place:                     Heartstone                                  Rose Sartin

Honorable Mention:     Connection                                 RL Merrill

Honorable Mention:     Forbidden Love                          Marissa Garner

We asked our 2023 finalists what their favorite writing craft books were, and asked our published finalists to share writing advice. You can read their answers by clicking HERE.

Previous Winners and Finalists:2023 Published and Unpublished

The Kiss of Death Board is thrilled that our very active member Jacki Renée is transitioning from our board to a Director-at-Large role on RWA’s national board, where she has also been asked to chair RWA’s Vivian Task Force. RWA has indicated that there is no conflict of interest with Jacki finishing her duties as co-chair for KOD’s 2021 awards. Therefore the KOD board has requested she stay on in lieu of accepting her resignation from the position of co-chair of the KOD 2021 Daphne awards, which she graciously offered to do. Continuity is crucial during our award’s judging and award-granting stages, which are expected to finish in July of 2021. The KOD Board doesn’t feel there is a conflict of interest. If you have any questions, please contact KOD President Erin Novotny at PresidentKOD@gmail.com.

Sincerely,

Kiss of Death Board