Edgar Award

Edgar Allan Poe, 1848The Edgar Award is named for American writer Edgar Allan Poe, a master of the macabre who is credited with inventing the modern detective story.

Edgar Award, any of several annual awards presented by the Mystery Writers of America (MWA), a professional organization founded in 1945 to promote and elevate the standards of mystery writing. It is named for American writer Edgar Allan Poe, whose short story “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” (1841) is considered to be one of the first detective stories.

The MWA’s slogan is “Crime doesn’t pay
enough.”

The first Edgar Awards ceremony was held in 1946. Prizes were given for best first novel, best motion picture, best radio drama, and outstanding mystery criticism. Since then, many new categories have been introduced and some discontinued. Among the notable Edgar Awards presented annually are:

  • Best novel (hardbound-only)
  • Best first novel
  • Best paperbook or e-book
  • Best fact crime (nonfiction pertaining to real crimes or how to solve crimes)
  • Best critical/biographical work (biographies are limited to those about authors of mysteries and crime books)
  • Best short story (works between 1,000 and 22,000 words)
  • Best juvenile mystery (for readers ages 5 to 12)
  • Best young adult mystery (for readers ages 13 to 18)
  • Best episode in a television series

Achievement in fields other than creative writing, such as bookselling, archiving, or publishing, is recognized with the Raven Award. The basic design of the Edgar Award is a statuette resembling a bust of Poe. The Raven Award looks like the black bird immortalized by Poe in his famous 1845 poem.

Other significant awards include those named for prominent modern mystery and crime writers: the Robert L. Fish Award (a short story category), the Lilian Jackson Braun Award (which honors the “cozy mystery” genre), and the Mary Higgins Clark Award and the Sue Grafton Memorial Award (which are given to women-centered books written in the tradition of those authors).

The Grand Master Award, considered the highest honor in mystery writing, recognizes lifetime achievement or important contributions to the genre. The tables below show Edgar Award winners in several literary categories and Grand Master Award winners since the category’s introduction in 1955.

Edgar Award winners
year best novel best first novel best fact crime best short story
1946 Watchful at Night by Julius Fast
1947 The Horizontal Man by Helen Eustis
1948 The Fabulous Clipjoint by Fredric Brown Twelve Against the Law by Edward D. Radin
1949 The Room Upstairs by Mildred Davis
1950 What a Body by Alan Green Bad Company by Joseph Henry Jackson
1951 Nightmare in Manhattan by Thomas Walsh Twelve Against Crime by Edward D. Radin “Diagnosis: Homicide” by Lawrence G. Blochman
1952 Strangle Hold by Mary McMullen True Tales from the Annals of Crime and Rascality by St. Clair McKelway “Fancies and Goodnights” by John Collier
1953 Don’t Cry for Me by William Campbell Gault Court of Last Resort by Erle Stanley Gardner “Something to Hide” by Philip MacDonald
1954 Beat Not the Bones by Charlotte Jay A Kiss Before Dying by Ira Levin Why Did They Kill? by John Bartlow Martin “Someone Like You” by Roald Dahl
1955 The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler Go, Lovely Rose by Jean Potts The Girl with the Scarlet Brand by Charles Boswell and Lewis Thompson “The House Party” by Stanley Ellin
1956 Beast in View by Margaret Millar The Perfectionist by Lane Kauffman Dead and Gone by Manly Wade Wellman “Dream No More” by Philip MacDonald
1957 A Dram of Poison by Charlotte Armstrong Rebecca’s Pride by Donald McNutt Douglass Night Fell on Georgia by Charles Samuels and Louise Samuels “The Blessington Method” by Stanley Ellin
1958 Room to Swing by Ed Lacy Knock and Wait a While by William Rawle Weeks The D.A.’s Man by Harold R. Danforth and James D. Horan “The Secret of the Bottle” by Gerald Kersh
1959 The Eighth Circle by Stanley Ellin The Bright Road to Fear by Richard Martin Stern They Died in the Chair by Wenzell Brown “Over There, Darkness” by William O’Farrell
1960 The Hours Before Dawn by Celia Fremlin The Grey Flannel Shroud by Henry Slesar Fire at Sea by Thomas Gallager “The Landlady” by Roald Dahl
1961 The Progress of a Crime by Julian Symons The Man in the Cage by John Holbrooke Vance The Overbury Affair by Miriam Allen deFord “Tiger” by John Durham
1962 Gideon’s Fire by J.J. Marric The Green Stone by Suzanne Blanc Death and the Supreme Court by Barrett Prettyman, Jr. “Affair at Lahore Cantonment” by Avram Davidson
1963 Death and the Joyful Woman by Ellis Peters The Fugitive by Robert L. Fish Tragedy in Dedham by Francis Russell “The Sailing Club” by David Ely
1964 The Light of Day by Eric Ambler Florentine Finish by Cornelius Hirschberg The Deed by Gerold Frank “Man Gehorcht” by Leslie Ann Brownrigg
1965 The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John le CarrĂ© Friday the Rabbi Slept Late by Harry Kemelman Gideon’s Trumpet by Anthony Lewis “H as in Homicide” by Lawrence Treat
1966 The Quiller Memorandum by Adam Hall In The Heat of the Night by John Ball In Cold Blood by Truman Capote “The Possibility of Evil” by Shirley Jackson
1967 The King of the Rainy Country by Nicolas Freeling The Cold War Swap by Ross Thomas The Boston Strangler by Gerold Frank “The Chosen One” by Rhys Davies
1968 God Save the Mark by Donald E. Westlake Act of Fear by Michael Collins A Private Disgrace by Victoria Lincoln “The Oblong Room” by Edward D. Hoch
1969 A Case of Need by Jeffery Hudson Silver Street by E. Richard Johnson; and The Bait by Dorothy Uhnak Poe the Detective by John Evangelist Walsh “The Man Who Fooled the World” by Warner Law
1970 Forfeit by Dick Francis A Time for Predators by Joe Gores The Case That Will Not Die by Herbert B. Ehrmann “Goodbye, Pops” by Joe Gores
1971 The Laughing Policeman by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö The Anderson Tapes by Lawrence Sanders A Great Fall by Mildred Savage “In the Forests of Riga the Beasts Are Very Wild Indeed” by Margaret Finn Brown
1972 The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth Finding Maubee by A.H.Z. Carr Beyond a Reasonable Doubt by Sandor Frankel “Moonlight Gardener” by Robert L. Fish
1973 The Lingala Code by Warren Kiefer Squaw Point by R.H. Shimer Hoax by Lewis Chester, Stephen Fay, and Magnus Linkletter “The Purple Shroud” by Joyce Harrington
1974 Dance Hall of the Dead by Tony Hillerman The Billion Dollar Sure Thing by Paul E. Erdman Legacy of Death by Barbara Levy “The Whimper of Whipped Dogs” by Harlan Ellison
1975 Peter’s Pence by Jon Cleary Fletch by Gregory McDonald Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry “The Fallen Curtain” by Ruth Rendell
1976 Hopscotch by Brian Garfield The Alvarez Journal by Rex Burns A Time to Die by Tom Wicker “The Jail” by Jesse Hill Ford
1977 Promised Land by Robert B. Parker The Thomas Berryman Number by James Patterson Blood and Money by Thomas Thompson “Like a Terrible Scream” by Etta Revesz
1978 Catch Me: Kill Me by William H. Hallahan A French Finish by Robert Ross By Persons Unknown by Barbara Amiel and George Jonas “Chance After Chance” by Thomas Walsh
1979 The Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett Killed in the Ratings by William L. DeAndrea Till Death Do Us Part by Vincent Bugliosi and Ken Hurwitz “The Cloud Beneath the Eaves” by Barbara Owens
1980 The Rheingold Route by Arthur Maling The Lasko Tangent by Richard North Patterson The Falcon and the Snowman by Robert Lindsey “Armed and Dangerous” by Geoffrey Norman
1981 Whip Hand by Dick Francis The Watcher by K. Nolte Smith A True Deliverance by Fred Harwell “Horn Man” by Clark Howard
1982 Peregrine by William Bayer Chiefs by Stuart Woods The Sting Man by Robert W. Greene “The Absence of Emily” by Jack Ritchie
1983 Billingsgate Shoal by Rick Boyer The Butcher’s Boy by Thomas Perry The Vatican Connection by Richard Hammer “There Are No Snakes in Ireland” by Frederick Forsyth
1984 La Brava by Elmore Leonard The Bay Psalm Book Murder by Will Harriss Very Much a Lady by Shana Alexander “The New Girlfriend” by Ruth Rendell
1985 Briar Patch by Ross Thomas Strike Three, You’re Dead by R.D. Rosen Double Play: The San Francisco City Hall Killings by Mike Weiss “By Dawn’s Early Light” by Lawrence Block
1986 The Suspect by L.R. Wright When the Bough Breaks by Jonathan Kellerman Savage Grace by Stephen M.L. Aronson and Natalie Robins “Ride the Lightning” by John Lutz
1987 A Dark-Adapted Eye by Barbara Vine No One Rides for Free by Larry Beinhart Careless Whispers: The True Story of a Triple Murder and the Determined Lawman Who Wouldn’t Give Up by Carlton Stowers “Rain in Pinton County” by Robert Sampson
1988 Old Bones by Aaron Elkins Death Among Strangers by Deidre S. Laiken CBS Murders by Richard Hammer “Soft Monkey” by Harlan Ellison
1989 A Cold Red Sunrise by Stuart M. Kaminsky Carolina Skeletons by David Stout In Broad Daylight by Harry N. MacLean “Flicks” by Bill Crenshaw
1990 Black Cherry Blues by James Lee Burke The Last Billable Hour by Susan Wolfe Doc: The Rape of the Town of Lovell by Jack Olsen “Too Many Crooks” by Donald E. Westlake
1991 New Orleans Mourning by Julie Smith Postmortem by Patricia D. Cornwell In a Child’s Name by Peter Maas “Elvis Lives” by Lynne Barrett
1992 A Dance at the Slaughterhouse by Lawrence Block Slow Motion Riot by Peter Blauner Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets by David Simon “Nine Sons” by Wendy Hornsby
1993 Bootlegger’s Daughter by Margaret Maron The Black Echo by Michael Connelly Swift Justice by Harry Farrell “Mary, Mary, Shut the Door” by Benjamin M. Schutz
1994 The Sculptress by Minette Walters A Grave Talent by Laurie R. King Until the Twelfth of Never by Bella Stumbo “Keller’s Therapy” by Lawrence Block
1995 The Red Scream by Mary Willis Walker The Caveman’s Valentine by George Dawes Green To Protect and Serve by Joe Domanick “The Dancing Bear” by Doug Allyn
1996 Come to Grief by Dick Francis Penance by David Housewright Circumstantial Evidence by Pete Earley “The Judge’s Boy” by Jean B. Cooper
1997 The Chatham School Affair by Thomas H. Cook Simple Justice by John Morgan Wilson Power to Hurt by Darcy O’Brien “Red Clay” by Michael Malone
1998 Cimarron Rose by James Lee Burke Los Alamos by Joseph Kanon The Death of Innocents by Richard Firstman and Jamie Talan “Keller on the Spot” by Lawrence Block
1999 Mr. White’s Confession by Robert Clark A Cold Day in Paradise by Steve Hamilton To the Last Breath by Carlton Stowers “Poachers” by Tom Franklin
2000 Bones by Jan Burke The Skull Mantra by Eliot Pattison Blind Eye by James B. Stewart “Heroes” by Anne Perry
2001 The Bottoms by Joe R. Lansdale Conspiracy of Paper by David Liss Black Mass: The Irish Mob, the FBI, & a Devil’s Deal by Dick Lehr and Gerard O’Neill “Missing in Action” by Peter Robinson
2002 Silent Joe by T. Jefferson Parker Line of Vision by David Ellis Son of a Grifter by Kent Walker “Double-Crossing Delancy” by S.J. Rozan
2003 Winter and Night by S.J. Rozan The Blue Edge of Midnight by Jonathon King Fire Lover by Joseph Wambaugh “Mexican Gatsby” by Raymond Steiber
2004 Resurrection Men by Ian Rankin Death of a Nationalist by Rebecca Pawel The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson “The Maids” by G. Miki Hayden
2005 California Girl by T. Jefferson Parker Country of Origin by Don Lee Conviction: Solving the Moxley Murder by Leonard Levitt “Something About a Scar” by Laurie Lynn Drummond
2006 Citizen Vince by Jess Walter Officer Down by Theresa Schwegel Rescue Artist: A True Story of Art, Thieves, and the Hunt for a Missing Masterpiece by Edward Dolnick “The Catch” by James W. Hall
2007 The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodwin The Faithful Spy by Alex Berenson Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer by James L. Swanson “The Home Front” by Charles Ardai
2008 Down River by John Hart In the Woods by Tana French Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy by Vincent Bugliosi “The Golden Gopher” by Susan Straight
2009 Blue Heaven by C.J. Box The Foreigner by Francie Lin American Lightning: Terror, Mystery, the Birth of Hollywood, and the Crime of the Century by Howard Blum “Skinhead Central” by T. Jefferson Parker
2010 The Last Child by John Hart In the Shadow of Gotham by Stefanie Pintoff Columbine by Dave Cullen “Amapola” by Luis Alberto Urrea
2011 The Lock Artist by Steve Hamilton Rogue Island by Bruce DeSilva Scoreboard, Baby: A Story of College Football, Crime, and Complicity by Ken Armstrong and Nick Perry “The Scent of Lilacs” by Doug Allyn
2012 Gone by Mo Hayder Bent Road by Lori Roy Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine, and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard “The Man Who Took His Hat Off to the Driver of the Train” by Peter Turnbull
2013 Live by Night by Dennis Lehane The Expats by Chris Pavone Midnight in Peking: How the Murder of a Young Englishwoman Haunted the Last Days of Old China by Paul French “The Unremarkable Heart” by Karin Slaughter
2014 Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger Red Sparrow by Jason Matthews The Hour of Peril: The Secret Plot to Murder Lincoln Before the Civil War by Daniel Stashower “The Caxton Private Lending Library and Book Depository” by John Connolly
2015 Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King Dry Bones in the Valley by Tom Bouman Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood by William Mann “What Do You Do?” by Gillian Flynn
2016 Let Me Die in His Footsteps by Lori Roy The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen Whipping Boy: The Forty-Year Search for My Twelve-Year-Old Bully by Allen Kurzweil “Obits” by Stephen King
2017 Before the Fall by Noah Hawley Under the Harrow by Flynn Berry The Wicked Boy: The Mystery of a Victorian Child Murderer by Kate Summerscale “Autumn at the Automat” by Lawrence Block
2018 Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke She Rides Shotgun by Jordan Harper Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann “Spring Break” by John Crowley
2019 Down the River Unto the Sea by Walter Mosley Bearskin by James A. McLaughlin Tinderbox: The Untold Story of the Up Stairs Lounge Fire and the Rise of Gay Liberation by Robert W. Fieseler “English 398: Fiction Workshop” by Art Taylor
2020 The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths Miracle Creek by Angie Kim The Less People Know About Us: A Mystery of Betrayal, Family Secrets, and Stolen Identity by Axton Betz-Hamilton “One of These Nights” by Livia Llewellyn
2021 Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara Please See Us by Caitlin Mullen Death in Mud Lick: A Coal Country Fight Against the Drug Companies that Delivered the Opioid Epidemic by Eric Eyre “Dust, Ash, Flight” by Maaza Mengiste
2022 Five Decembers by James Kestrel Deer Season by Erin Flanagan Last Call: A True Story of Love, Lust, and Murder in Queer New York by Elon Green “The Road to Hana” by R.T. Lawton
2023 Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka Don’t Know Tough by Eli Cranor Tell Me Everything: The Story of a Private Investigation by Erika Krouse “Red Flag” by Gregory Fallis
2024 Flags on the Bayou by James Lee Burke The Peacock and the Sparrow by I.S. Berry Crooked: The Roaring ’20s Tale of a Corrupt Attorney General, a Crusading Senator, and the Birth of the American Political Scandal by Nathan Masters “Hallowed Ground” by Linda Castillo
2025 The In Crowd by Charlotte Vassell Holy City by Henry Wise The Infernal Machine: A True Story of Dynamite, Terror, and the Rise of the Modern Detective by Steven Johnson “Eat My Moose” by Erika Krouse
2026 The Big Empty by Robert Crais Dead Money by Jakob Kerr Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers by Caroline Fraser “Julius Katz Draws a Straight Flush” by Dave Zeltserman
Grand Master Award winners
year author’s name notes
1955 Agatha Christie
1958 Vincent Starrett
1959 Rex Stout
1961 Ellery Queen pseudonym of Frederic Dannay and Manfred B. Lee
1962 Erle Stanley Gardner
1963 John Dickson Carr also wrote under the pseudonyms Carter Dickson, Carr Dickson, and Roger Fairbairn
1964 George Harmon Coxe
1966 Georges Simenon
1967 Baynard Kendrick
1969 John Creasey
1970 James M. Cain
1971 Mignon G. Eberhart
1972 John D. MacDonald
1973 Judson Philips, Alfred Hitchcock
1974 Ross Macdonald pseudonym of Kenneth Millar
1975 Eric Ambler
1976 Graham Greene
1978 Ngaio Marsh, Dorothy B. Hughes, Daphne du Maurier
1979 Aaron Marc Stein
1980 W.R. Burnett
1981 Stanley Ellin
1982 Julian Symons
1983 Margaret Millar
1984 John le Carré pseudonym of David John Moore Cornwell
1985 Dorothy Salisbury Davis
1986 Ed McBain
1987 Michael Gilbert
1988 Phyllis A. Whitney
1989 Hillary Waugh
1990 Helen McCloy
1991 Tony Hillerman
1992 Elmore Leonard
1993 Donald E. Westlake
1994 Lawrence Block
1995 Mickey Spillane
1996 Dick Francis
1997 Ruth Rendell also wrote under the pseudonym Barbara Vine
1998 Barbara Mertz pseudonym of Elizabeth Peters and Barbara Michaels
1999 P.D. James
2000 Mary Higgins Clark
2001 Edward D. Hoch
2002 Robert B. Parker
2003 Ira Levin
2004 Joseph Wambaugh
2005 Marcia Muller
2006 Stuart M. Kaminsky
2007 Stephen King also writes under the pseudonym Richard Bachman
2008 Bill Pronzini
2009 Sue Grafton, James Lee Burke
2010 Dorothy Gilman
2011 Sara Paretsky
2012 Martha Grimes
2013 Margaret Maron, Ken Follett
2014 Carolyn Hart, Robert Crais
2015 James Ellroy, Lois Duncan
2016 Walter Mosley
2017 Ellen Hart, Max Allan Collins
2018 Peter Lovesey, William Link, Jane Langton
2019 Martin Cruz Smith
2020 Barbara Neely
2021 Jeffery Deaver, Charlaine Harris
2022 Laurie R. King
2023 Joanne Fluke, Michael Connelly
2024 R.L. Stine, Katherine Hall Page
2025 John Sandford, Laura Lippman
2026 Donna Andrews, Lee Child
The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by René Ostberg.
Citation Information
Article Title: Edgar Award
Website Name: Encyclopaedia Britannica
Publisher: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Date Published: 07 May 2026
Access Date: November 14, 2026