Abingdon's Boardinghouse Murder Wins the Macavity Award

For Immediate Release

Historical True Crime Book Wins the Macavity Award

Abingdon’s Boardinghouse Murder named best mystery-based nonfiction

 

October 27, 2025

Abingdon, Va.– Greg Lilly’s historical true crime book, Abingdon’s Boardinghouse Murder, has been named the winner of the 2025 Macavity Award for Best Mystery-related Nonfiction/Critical book.

The Macavity Award honors the “mystery cat” of T.S. Eliot (Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats). Each year the members of Mystery Readers International nominate and vote for their favorite mysteries from the previous year. The awards consist of five categories: Best Mystery Novel, Best First Mystery, Best Mystery Short Story, Best Historical Novel, and Best Mystery-related Nonfiction/Critical.

“I’m thrilled Abingdon’s Boardinghouse Murder won the Macavity for nonfiction,” Greg Lilly states. “When the finalists were announced earlier this year, I was honored to be listed with such gifted writers and meticulous researchers.”

Abingdon’s Boardinghouse Murder was published by the History Press in May 2024. The historical true crime book has been shortlisted for the Agatha (Malice Domestic convention) and the Anthony (Bouchercon) awards.

Lilly first heard about the local tale when he moved back to Southwest Virginia. “Our real estate agent drove us around Abingdon. He pointed out a home on Valley Street and casually said, ‘The murder house is available.’ We passed on that opportunity. We bought a house a couple of blocks away.” During the pandemic, the spark to research the historic crime ignited. “The new owners of that house had a Fourth of July cookout. Neighbors from up and down the street attended, and the conversation soon turned to the house’s history. Everyone had a theory or a really good story about the trial and conviction of the woman who ran the boardinghouse in 1945.”

The time period intrigued Lilly. “This tale had all the elements of historical fiction with the twists of a true story. The Great War (WWI), Spanish flu pandemic, World War II, the changing role of women—all set the stage of the culture that led to this tragedy,” Lilly says. “Plus, everyone still has an opinion about Jimmy and Helen. Usually, those opinions were formed by hand-me-down tales from grandparents or parents that had grown wilder with each telling, as most storytelling does. I wanted to know the facts.”

Lilly sees the genre of true crime in transition. Podcasts and streaming service shows grew in popularity for more than a decade. The narration ranged in tone from humorous to spooky to journalistic. The topics covered themes such as celebrity cases, serial killers, stalking, police procedurals, or organized crime. This is Lilly’s first true crime book. His previous books were historical and contemporary fiction and mysteries. “My editor explained one of the reasons she wanted me to write this book was because of my background in fiction that emphasized character development, setting, conflict, and story structure.”

The award recognition of Abingdon’s Boardinghouse Murder illustrates reader appreciation for authenticity and respect. “True crime is about real people in tragic circumstances,” Lilly says. “People make good decisions and flawed decisions. They have admirable traits and bad traits. They are real. Writing about their situation and outcome, I want to honor the dead, their descendants, and the ones they left behind.”

 

Abingdon’s Boardinghouse Murder is available at local bookstores and online at retailers such as Amazon.com and BN.com. Contact Greg Lilly for virtual and in-person events at info@GregLilly.com

 

---About the Book---

Title: Abingdon's Boardinghouse Murder

By Greg Lilly

Imprint: The History Press

ISBN: 9781467157322

Price: $24.99

Publication date: 05/20/2024

 On a bitter November night in 1945, a widow shot her young boarder, a World War II veteran, and left him to die on the floor of his room. She tossed the gun under the neighbor’s porch and then took a taxi to join her teenage daughters at a movie. When the body was found, after several conflicting statements, she settled on the claim that he shot himself—four times, twice in the back. The Commonwealth of Virginia called it murder in a jealous rage. The trial enthralled the nation.

The historical true crime explores the lives and conflicts of the victim and the accused, as well as the culture, lore, and legends that have grown over the past 80 years.

Author Greg Lilly uses interviews and newspaper coverage of the murder, the investigation and the trial to reveal the facts of the Abingdon boardinghouse murder.

 

--- About the Author ---

Greg Lilly grew up in Southwest Virginia then lived in Charlotte, North Carolina. The rich storytelling tradition of the South captivated him, and he began writing. He first turned to creating short stories after plot lines emerged from the technical manuals he wrote for a large family-owned corporation. He published short stories and the Derek Mason Mystery series.

Moving to Sedona, Arizona, Greg chronicled the high desert characters–past and present–in his novels. Greg relocated to Williamsburg, Virginia, where he wrote and edited a monthly regional magazine. He’s the founder and past-president of the Williamsburg Book Festival.

Today, he lives and writes in Abingdon, Virginia.

https://greglilly.com/

 
 --- About Mystery Readers International ---

Mystery Readers International, the largest mystery fan/reader organization in the world, is open to all readers, fans, critics, editors, publishers, and writers. Started by Janet A. Rudolph in Berkeley, California, it now has members in all 50 of the United States and 18 foreign countries. Members vote each year to nominate and select the winners of the Macavity Award.

https://mysteryreaders.org/macavity-awards/

 

--- About Arcadia Publishing – The History Press is an imprint of Arcadia Publishing ---

Arcadia Publishing is the nation’s leading publisher of books of local nonfiction and rarely explored pockets of history. Our mission is to connect people with their past, with their communities and with one another. Arcadia has a catalog of thousands of titles exploring the story of America one city, state, or county at a time.

https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/products/abingdons-boardinghouse-murder-9781467157322

 

Contact Information

Greg Lilly

info@GregLilly.com

www.GregLilly.com

Best Nonfiction Agatha Award nomination!

 

Good news!

Abingdon’s Boardinghouse Murder is a finalist for the Agatha Award for Best Nonfiction book.

The Agatha Awards are presented by the attendees of the Malice Domestic convention each year.  From the website (https://www.malicedomestic.net/), the organization’s “About” page says:

“Established in 1989, Malice Domestic is an annual fan convention that takes place each year in Maryland, just outside of Washington, D.C. Malice celebrates the Traditional Mystery, books best typified by the works of Agatha Christie. The genre is loosely defined as mysteries which contain no explicit sex, or excessive gore or violence.”

The attendees of the convention nominate, then based on the number of nominations, post the top five in each category to the final ballot. The winner for each category is voted for and presented during the Malice Domestic convention.

Since the launch of the book in May 2024, I have had several book signings, author talks, radio interviews, and an appearance this summer at Bouchercon in Nashville on a panel about true crime.

I’m grateful for all the support and encouragement for Abingdon’s Boardinghouse Murder.

Thank you!

Unboxing new true crime book -- Abingdon's Boardinghouse Murder

Cover Reveal - Abingdon's Boardinghouse Murder

 

The History Press has sent me...

the cover for

ABINGDON'S BOARDINGHOUSE MURDER

About the cover:

The publisher uses certain elements that they have found successful in historical true crime genre's book design: 

• the geographic location in the title
• a time period photo 
• images of the major players

This works well to grab attention and to tell readers who, what, when, and where.

The "how" and "why" are inside the book! 

Fiction ==> Non-Fiction

 Jumping into the True Crime pool.

I have published fiction since 2008--five novels, three middle grade books, and several short stories. 

To make a living, I have edited and written white papers, artists' bios, sales collateral, grant applications, arts & culture magazine articles, and a swimming pool full of personal profiles for Williamsburg's Next Door Neighbors magazine.

(10+ years of writing five profiles a month = over 600 articles published @ 2,000 word per profiles [I did this calculation for me] grand-totals to: 1,200,000 published words in just the NDN magazine.)

I moved back to southwest Virginia after many years living in other areas of the country. As we drove around Abingdon, Virginia, to see houses, our real estate agent pointed to a two-story home in the heart of the historic district. “The Murder House is available,” he said. Immediately, I said, “No. Actually, hell no.”

Maybe, I shouldn’t have been so quick to dismiss it. We bought a house about a block away–without a criminal history. During the pandemic, I attended a Fourth of July cookout at the Murder House. All the neighbors had stories to tell of the killing of a 22-year-old WWII Marine who boarded with a 44-year-old widow and her three daughters. Some tales were shocking, some fantastical, others scandalous.

I had finished my latest book and began plotting a novel, but the Murder House tale lured me to dig deeper. Newspaper coverage of the 1945 murder, investigation, and trial revealed the facts and the fascination the nation had with the crime.

Research revealed more twists and turns than fiction. Characters were exposed by primary sources like birth certificates, census listings, military documents, death certificates, and then the information found in old newspapers added layers of captured dialogue and attitude to these long-gone, real-life people.

This HAD to be my next project.

I was feeling like William Holden at the poolside.

I researched, wrote a chapter outline, created character profiles (I know that's a fiction term), and then tapped my business writing experience to craft a proposal.

Arcadia Publishing's The History Press offered to publish the true crime. The editor told me that she liked that I had a fiction background to warm up the cold facts, breathing life into them and making the story come alive.

I like that, too.

This week, The History Press gave me the publication date for Abingdon's Boardinghouse Murder -- May 2024.

Huzzah!

Banned Books & Censored Writing

We just finished Banned Book Week at the public libraries. This is always an interesting event to spotlight the list of brilliant literature banned at some point in the books’ existence. Banned for the language, the description, the characters, the plot, and/or the ideas the authors conveyed. The small-minded and fearful censors fall into history as the bad guys of the Banned Books’ narratives.

But what about the everyday suggestions to ordinary (non-NYT Best Selling) authors to curb what we write? Off-handed comments from those closest to us: “That one scene is too risqué for me to tell my friends to read your book.” “I liked the story, but the language didn’t need to be that harsh.” “Does the character HAVE to be involved in a three-way?”

Yes, yes the character HAS to be who he is, and no, it’s not me. Life is harsh, crude, coarse, skinned, and blistering. Not all authors have Hallmark movies dancing in their heads. There is a market for Hallmark movie plots. For that, we’re grateful. But, Truth frees the soul, and needs to find the page, even though exposing it is not profitable.

A couple of years ago, Rita Mae Brown headlined the Williamsburg Book Festival. She is one of the authors who inspired me to write when I was young. At William & Mary that evening, she talked about how telling the truth is not always easy for a writer. She admitted she writes her cozy/cat mysteries for the income they provide. Her classic (and probably banned in many places) Rubyfruit Jungle changed lives because she spoke her truth. Many readers recognized themselves in her characters.

In the audience, I heard people behind me say, “She just had to bring up Rubyfruit Jungle. I love her Sneaky Pie Brown series. She should just talk about that.”

Everyday censors.

We all do it if we know it or not. Maybe I’m trying to inhibit comforting stories. I know we need a variety of tones and storytellers. Reading is like diet – steak, hamburger, corndogs, or chicken soup (sorry, vegans) can all be enjoyable options throughout the week. Let writers chew some steak from time to time.

My message to other writers and to myself:

When someone denounces all or part of a work, it has touched a nerve. You have told the truth for story and character and situation. The attempted censor bristled at the authenticity, the candor, and the concrete facts you have exposed. Well done. Get banned.

Shadow Resident at the Martha Washington Inn...

Shadow Resident at the Martha Washington Inn... 

I workout at the Martha's spa/exercise facilities. Usually I arrive before sunrise so I can get it finished before I start work. I like to walk to the Martha in the early morning and then do strength training with the LifeFitness machines. Those are in a small room with glass windows on three sides and the fourth side is ancient brick from one of the original buildings (late 1800s).

Half way through the routine, I noticed a movement against the brick - a shadow.

In an instant it was gone.

Did an eyelash cause that? I brushed at my eyes, but nothing seemed different. I said "hello" and asked her name, "Lennie" is what came into my mind, and I continued my routine.

I'm not a person to discount a haint experience, especially at the Martha with its history of the Martha Girls and Barter Theatre actors and all the guests who have traveled through creaky hallways.

Maybe the shadow was just a loose eyelash or a trick of the rising sun. But, I like to think I have a partner making sure I get the workout done, urging me to show up on a regular basis, keeping me company...or me keeping her company during those lonely pre-dawn hours.

I hope Lennie tells me some stories.