Fond Books
Archive Collection

Edgar Award for Best Novel Winners

1954–2026

The Edgar Award for Best Novel is the most prestigious honour in crime and mystery writing, presented since 1954 by the Mystery Writers of America. Named for Edgar Allan Poe, it has recognised masters of suspense from John le Carré and Dick Francis to Ruth Rendell and James Lee Burke.

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Year Title & Author Historical Context
2026 The Big Empty by Robert Crais 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 Be...
2025 The In Crowd by Charlotte Vassell The In Crowd won the 2025 Edgar Award for Best Novel and continues Charlotte Vassell's series featuring Detective Inspector Caius Beauchamp.
2024 Flags on the Bayou by James Lee Burke Flags on the Bayou won the 2024 Edgar Award for Best Novel for James Lee Burke, a previously named Mystery Writers of America Grand Master best kno...
2023 Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka Notes on an Execution won the 2023 Edgar Award for Best Novel and was widely praised for subverting the conventions of the serial killer narrative.
2022 Five Decembers by James Kestrel Five Decembers won the 2022 Edgar Award for Best Novel and was published under James Kestrel, a pen name for novelist Jonathan Moore.
2021 Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line, Deepa Anappara's debut novel, won the 2021 Edgar Award for Best Novel and was inspired by her reporting on India's...
2020 The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths The Stranger Diaries won the 2020 Edgar Award for Best Novel and marked a standalone departure from Elly Griffiths's popular Ruth Galloway series.
2019 Down the River Unto the Sea by Walter Mosley This novel won the 2019 Edgar Award for Best Novel, a fitting honor for Walter Mosley, who had already received the Mystery Writers of America Gran...
2018 Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke Bluebird, Bluebird won the 2018 Edgar Award for Best Novel and launched Attica Locke's acclaimed Highway 59 series featuring Ranger Darren Mathews.
2017 Before the Fall by Noah Hawley Before the Fall won the 2017 Edgar Award for Best Novel and was written by Noah Hawley, the showrunner behind the television series Fargo.
2016 Let Me Die in His Footsteps by Lori Roy With this win Lori Roy became one of the few authors to take the Edgar Award for Best Novel after previously winning the Best First Novel award.
2015 Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King Mr. Mercedes won the 2015 Edgar Award for Best Novel, a rare crime genre honor for Stephen King, and was adapted into a television series.
2014 Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger This standalone novel won the 2014 Edgar Award for Best Novel and remains a popular book club choice, a departure from Krueger's long running Cork ...
2013 Live by Night by Dennis Lehane Live by Night was adapted into a 2016 film written, directed by, and starring Ben Affleck.
2012 Gone by Mo Hayder Gone is part of Mo Hayder's Walking Man series featuring Jack Caffery, set in and around Bristol, England.
2011 The Lock Artist by Steve Hamilton The Lock Artist was a standalone novel from Steve Hamilton, who is otherwise known for his Alex McKnight series set in Michigan.
2010 The Last Child by John Hart With The Last Child, John Hart became the first author to win the Edgar Award for Best Novel in two consecutive years.
2009 Blue Heaven by C. J. Box Blue Heaven was a standalone novel for C. J. Box, who is best known for his long running Joe Pickett series.
2008 Down River by John Hart Down River was the first of John Hart's two consecutive Edgar wins for Best Novel, followed the next year by The Last Child.
2007 The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodwin The Janissary Tree was the first novel in Jason Goodwin's Yashim series and launched a sequence of mysteries set in the Ottoman Empire.
2006 Citizen Vince by Jess Walter Jess Walter set Citizen Vince during the 1980 United States presidential election, weaving real political stakes into the crime plot.
2005 California Girl by T. Jefferson Parker This was T. Jefferson Parker's second Edgar Award for Best Novel, making him one of the few writers to win the category twice.
2004 Resurrection Men by Ian Rankin Ian Rankin's Inspector Rebus novels helped define the tartan noir movement in Scottish crime writing, and this entry brought him the Edgar Award.
2003 Winter and Night by S. J. Rozan S. J. Rozan won the Edgar for an installment in her long running Lydia Chin and Bill Smith series, narrated here by Smith rather than Chin.
2002 Silent Joe by T. Jefferson Parker This was T. Jefferson Parker's first of two Edgar Awards for Best Novel, with the second arriving in 2005 for California Girl.
2001 The Bottoms by Joe R. Lansdale This standalone novel won Joe R. Lansdale the Edgar Award for Best Novel and has often been compared to To Kill a Mockingbird.
2000 Bones by Jan Burke This Irene Kelly novel won Jan Burke the Edgar Award for Best Novel.
1999 Mr. White's Confession by Robert Clark This historical mystery won Robert Clark the Edgar Award for Best Novel.
1998 Cimarron Rose by James Lee Burke This first Billy Bob Holland novel earned James Lee Burke his second Edgar Award for Best Novel.
1997 The Chatham School Affair by Thomas H. Cook This was the novel that won Thomas H. Cook the Edgar Award for Best Novel.
1996 Come to Grief by Dick Francis This Sid Halley novel made Dick Francis the first author to win the Edgar Award for Best Novel three times.
1995 The Red Scream by Mary Willis Walker This was the first Molly Cates novel and the book that won Mary Willis Walker the Edgar Award for Best Novel.
1994 The Sculptress by Minette Walters This was Minette Walters's second novel and was adapted into a 1996 BBC television drama.
1993 Bootlegger's Daughter by Margaret Maron This debut of the Deborah Knott series famously swept the major mystery awards, winning the Edgar, Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity in the same year.
1992 A Dance at the Slaughterhouse by Lawrence Block This was the second Matthew Scudder novel to win the Edgar Award for Best Novel, following Block's earlier recognition in the field.
1991 New Orleans Mourning by Julie Smith This was the first book in Julie Smith's Skip Langdon series and her Edgar winning novel.
1990 Black Cherry Blues by James Lee Burke This was the third Dave Robicheaux novel and the book that won James Lee Burke his first Edgar Award for Best Novel.
1989 A Cold Red Sunrise by Stuart M. Kaminsky A Cold Red Sunrise won Stuart M. Kaminsky the 1989 Edgar Award for Best Novel in his Inspector Rostnikov series.
1988 Old Bones by Aaron Elkins Old Bones won Aaron Elkins the 1988 Edgar Award for Best Novel in his Gideon Oliver series.
1987 A Dark-Adapted Eye by Barbara Vine A Dark-Adapted Eye was the first novel Ruth Rendell published under her Barbara Vine pen name and won the 1987 Edgar Award for Best Novel.
1986 The Suspect by L. R. Wright The Suspect made L. R. Wright the first Canadian author to win the Edgar Award for Best Novel, in 1986.
1985 Briarpatch by Ross Thomas Briarpatch won Ross Thomas the 1985 Edgar Award for Best Novel, his second after a 1967 win for The Cold War Swap.
1984 LaBrava by Elmore Leonard LaBrava won Elmore Leonard the 1984 Edgar Award for Best Novel as his reputation as a master of crime fiction took hold.
1983 Billingsgate Shoal by Rick Boyer Billingsgate Shoal introduced Doc Adams and won Rick Boyer the 1983 Edgar Award for Best Novel.
1982 Peregrine by William Bayer Peregrine won William Bayer the 1982 Edgar Award for Best Novel.
1981 Whip Hand by Dick Francis Whip Hand made Dick Francis a two time Edgar winner for Best Novel, taking the award in 1981 after his earlier win for Forfeit.
1980 The Rheingold Route by Arthur Maling The Rheingold Route won Arthur Maling the 1980 Edgar Award for Best Novel.
1979 Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett Eye of the Needle was Ken Follett's breakthrough novel and won the 1979 Edgar Award, later becoming a 1981 film starring Donald Sutherland.
1978 Catch Me: Kill Me by William H. Hallahan This thriller earned William H. Hallahan the 1978 Edgar Award for Best Novel from the Mystery Writers of America.
1977 Promised Land by Robert B. Parker The novel introduced the character Hawk and won Robert B. Parker the Edgar Award, helping launch a Spenser series that later inspired the televisio...
1976 Hopscotch by Brian Garfield Brian Garfield, also known for the novel Death Wish, adapted Hopscotch into a 1980 film starring Walter Matthau and Glenda Jackson.
1975 Peter's Pence by Jon Cleary Australian author Jon Cleary, best known for the Scobie Malone detective series, won the Edgar Award for Best Novel with this Vatican heist thriller.
1974 Dance Hall of the Dead by Tony Hillerman This was the second of Tony Hillerman's celebrated Navajo Tribal Police novels and his first Edgar Award winner.
1973 The Lingala Code by Warren Kiefer The novel won the Edgar Award for Best Novel for its Cold War story set against the political upheaval of the newly independent Congo.
1972 The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth Frederick Forsyth's debut novel became an international bestseller and was adapted into a 1973 film directed by Fred Zinnemann.
1971 The Laughing Policeman by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö Part of the influential ten book Martin Beck series, the novel was adapted into a 1973 American film starring Walter Matthau that relocated the act...
1970 Forfeit by Dick Francis Dick Francis, who had been a champion steeplechase jockey and rode for the Queen Mother, won his first Edgar Award for Best Novel with this book.
1969 A Case of Need by Michael Crichton Michael Crichton wrote the novel under the pseudonym Jeffery Hudson while attending Harvard Medical School, several years before he published The A...
1968 God Save the Mark by Donald E. Westlake Donald E. Westlake won the Edgar Award for Best Novel for this comic mystery, one of three Edgars he earned across different categories during his ...
1967 King of the Rainy Country by Nicolas Freeling The title comes from a line by the poet Charles Baudelaire, and Freeling's Van der Valk later became a popular British television series.
1966 The Quiller Memorandum by Adam Hall The novel was adapted into a 1966 film with a screenplay by Harold Pinter and went on to spawn a series of Quiller novels by Elleston Trevor writin...
1965 The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John le Carré It became an international bestseller and was adapted into the 1965 film starring Richard Burton as Alec Leamas.
1964 The Light of Day by Eric Ambler It was filmed in 1964 as Topkapi, the heist movie that won Peter Ustinov an Academy Award.
1963 Death and the Joyful Woman by Ellis Peters Ellis Peters was the pen name of Edith Pargeter, who later created the medieval monk detective Brother Cadfael.
1962 Gideon's Fire by J. J. Marric J. J. Marric was a pen name of the prolific British writer John Creasey, who published hundreds of books across many pseudonyms.
1961 The Progress of a Crime by Julian Symons Julian Symons was a leading British critic and historian of the crime genre as well as a novelist.
1960 The Hours Before Dawn by Celia Fremlin It was Celia Fremlin's debut novel and won the Edgar Award for Best Novel in 1960.
1959 The Eighth Circle by Stanley Ellin Stanley Ellin was already known as a master of the short story before this novel won the Edgar Award for Best Novel in 1959.
1958 Room to Swing by Ed Lacy It featured one of the first Black private detectives in American crime fiction, written by Leonard Zinberg under the pen name Ed Lacy.
1957 A Dram of Poison by Charlotte Armstrong It won the Edgar Award for Best Novel in 1957, one of several honors Charlotte Armstrong received during her career.
1956 Beast in View by Margaret Millar Margaret Millar was the wife of fellow crime writer Kenneth Millar, who wrote as Ross Macdonald.
1955 The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler It was the sixth of Raymond Chandler's seven Philip Marlowe novels and later inspired Robert Altman's 1973 film adaptation.
1954 Beat Not the Bones by Charlotte Jay It won the first ever Edgar Award for Best Novel in 1954, given by the Mystery Writers of America.