Every winner, newest first

Edgar Award for Best Novel Winners

1954 to 2026

Winners by year

Newest first. The year links to everything published or awarded that year.

Edgar Award for Best Novel Winners, newest first
Year	Book and author
2026	The Big Empty by Robert Crais
2025	The In Crowd by Charlotte Vassell
2024	Flags on the Bayou by James Lee Burke
2023	Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka
2022	Five Decembers by James Kestrel
2021	Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara
2020	The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths
2019	Down the River Unto the Sea by Walter Mosley
2018	Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke
2017	Before the Fall by Noah Hawley
2016	Let Me Die in His Footsteps by Lori Roy
2015	Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King
2014	Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger
2013	Live by Night by Dennis Lehane
2012	Gone by Mo Hayder
2011	The Lock Artist by Steve Hamilton
2010	The Last Child by John Hart
2009	Blue Heaven by C. J. Box
2008	Down River by John Hart
2007	The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodwin
2006	Citizen Vince by Jess Walter
2005	California Girl by T. Jefferson Parker
2004	Resurrection Men by Ian Rankin
2003	Winter and Night by S. J. Rozan
2002	Silent Joe by T. Jefferson Parker
2001	The Bottoms by Joe R. Lansdale
2000	Bones by Jan Burke
1999	Mr. White's Confession by Robert Clark
1998	Cimarron Rose by James Lee Burke
1997	The Chatham School Affair by Thomas H. Cook
1996	Come to Grief by Dick Francis
1995	The Red Scream by Mary Willis Walker
1994	The Sculptress by Minette Walters
1993	Bootlegger's Daughter by Margaret Maron
1992	A Dance at the Slaughterhouse by Lawrence Block
1991	New Orleans Mourning by Julie Smith
1990	Black Cherry Blues by James Lee Burke
1989	A Cold Red Sunrise by Stuart M. Kaminsky
1988	Old Bones by Aaron Elkins
1987	A Dark-Adapted Eye by Barbara Vine
1986	The Suspect by L. R. Wright
1985	Briarpatch by Ross Thomas
1984	LaBrava by Elmore Leonard
1983	Billingsgate Shoal by Rick Boyer
1982	Peregrine by William Bayer
1981	Whip Hand by Dick Francis
1980	The Rheingold Route by Arthur Maling
1979	Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett
1978	Catch Me: Kill Me by William H. Hallahan
1977	Promised Land by Robert B. Parker
1976	Hopscotch by Brian Garfield
1975	Peter's Pence by Jon Cleary
1974	Dance Hall of the Dead by Tony Hillerman
1973	The Lingala Code by Warren Kiefer
1972	The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth
1971	The Laughing Policeman by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö
1970	Forfeit by Dick Francis
1969	A Case of Need by Michael Crichton
1968	God Save the Mark by Donald E. Westlake
1967	The King of the Rainy Country by Nicolas Freeling
1966	The Quiller Memorandum by Adam Hall
1965	The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John le Carré
1964	The Light of Day by Eric Ambler
1963	Death and the Joyful Woman by Ellis Peters
1962	Gideon's Fire by J. J. Marric
1961	The Progress of a Crime by Julian Symons
1960	The Hours Before Dawn by Celia Fremlin
1959	The Eighth Circle by Stanley Ellin
1958	Room to Swing by Ed Lacy
1957	A Dram of Poison by Charlotte Armstrong
1956	Beast in View by Margaret Millar
1955	The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler
1954	Beat Not the Bones by Charlotte Jay

About the Edgar Award for Best Novel

The Edgar Award for Best Novel has been presented by the Mystery Writers of America since 1954. Winners range from the espionage of John le Carré to the detective fiction of Ruth Rendell and James Lee Burke. This list covers the Best Novel category; Best First Novel is a separate award. Browse the winners by year, then open a book for its summary and prize context.

Awarded by: Mystery Writers of America
First awarded: 1946
Country: United States
Winner receives: A ceramic bust of Edgar Allan Poe

When it is announced

Announced at the Edgar Awards banquet in the spring, usually late April or May, after nominations in January. See the full announcement calendar.

How to enter

Publishers submit crime and mystery titles published in the United States during the previous year.

Official prize site. Checked August 2026. Dates move year to year, so confirm on the official site before entering.