Edgar Award Best Novel Winner

The Big Empty

by Robert Crais

Summary

Los Angeles private investigator Elvis Cole takes a cold case from Traci Beller, a popular young influencer whose father vanished from the small town of Rancha when she was thirteen, a disappearance everyone but Traci wrote off as abandonment. As Cole digs into the decade old trail, a gang of brutal criminals begins shadowing him, and he calls on his ex Marine partner Joe Pike to confront a hidden and monstrous evil. Crais blends a tender missing persons mystery with the lean, propulsive action that defines the long running series, balancing warmth and menace.

Historical Context & Significance

The novel is the twentieth book in Robert Crais's Elvis Cole and Joe Pike series, published in January 2025, and it won the 2026 Edgar Award for Best Novel.