The Edgar® Award

The Edgar Allan Poe Awards® (the "Edgars®") are awarded annually by the Mystery Writers of America to authors of distinguished work in various categories of the genre.

2009 (nominees)

Best Novel Blue Heaven by C. J. Box

Best First Novel by an American Author: The Foreigner by Francie Lin

Best Paperback Original: China Lake by Meg Gardiner

Best Motion Picture Screenplay: In Bruges by Martin McDonagh

Grand Masters: James Lee  Burke and Sue Grafton

2008

Best Novel: Down River by John Hart

Best First Novel by an American Author: In the Woods by Tana French

Best Paperback Original: Queenpin by Megan Abbott

Best Motion Picture Screenplay: Michael Clayton by Tony Gilroy

Grand Master: Bill Pronzini

2007

Best Novel: The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodwin (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

Best First Novel by an American Author: The Faithful Spy by Alex Berenson (Random House)

Best Paperback Original: Snakeskin Shamisen by Naomi Hirahara (Bantam Dell)

Best Motion Picture Screenplay: The Departed by William Monahan (Warner Bros.)

Grand Master: Steven King

2006

Best Novel: Citizen Vince by Jess Walter (Regan Books)

Best First Novel by an American Author: Officer Down by Theresa Schwegel (St. Martin's Minotaur)

Best Paperback Original: Girl in the Glass by Jeffrey Ford (Dark Alley)

Best Motion Picture Screenplay: Syriana by Stephen Gaghan, based on the novel by Robert Baer (Warner Bros.)

Grand Master: Stuart Kaminsky

2005

Best Novel: California Girl by T. Jefferson Parker (Wm. Morrow)

Best First Novel: Country of Origin by Don Lee (W.W. Norton & Company)

Best Paperback Original: The Confession by Domenic Stansberry (Hard Case Crime)

Best Motion Picture Screenplay: A Very Long Engagement by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, based on the novel by Sebastien Japrisot (2003 Productions)

Grand Master: Marcia Muller

2004

Best Novel: Resurrection Men by Ian Rankin (Little, Brown)

Best First Novel: Death of a Nationalist by Rebecca Pawel (Soho Press)

Best Paperback Original: Find Me Again by Sylvia Maultash Warsh (Dundurn Group)

Grand Master: Joseph Wambaugh

2003

Best Novel: Winter and Night by S. J. Rozan (St. Martin's Minotaur)

Best First Novel: The Blue Edge of Midnight by Jonathon King (Dutton)

Best Paperback Original: Out of Sight by T.J. MacGregor (Pinnacle)

Grand Master: Ira Levin

2002

Best Novel: Silent Joe by T. Jefferson Parker (Hyperion)

Best First Novel: Line of Vision by David Ellis (G.P. Putnam's Sons)

Best Paperback Original: Adios Muchachos by Daniel Chavarria (Akashic Books)

Grand Master: Robert B. Parker

2001

Best Novel: The Bottoms by Joe R. Lansdale (Mysterious Press)

Best First Novel: Conspiracy of Paper by David Liss (Random House)

Best Paperback Original: The Black Maria by Mark Graham (Avon)

Grand Master: Edward D. Hoch

2000

Best Novel: Bones by Jan Burke (Simon & Schuster)

Best First Novel: The Skull Mantra by Eliot Pattison (St. Martin's Press)

Best Paperback Original: Fulton County Blues by Ruth Birmingham (Berkley Prime Books)

Grand Master: Mark Higgins Clark

1999

Best Novel: Mr. White's Confession by Robert Clark (Picador w:st="on">USA)

Best First Novel: A Cold Day in Paradise by Steve Hamilton (St. Martin's Press)

Best Paperback Original: The Widower's Two-Step by Rick Riordan (Bantam)

Grand Master: P. D. James

1998

Best Novel: Cimarron Rose by James Lee Burke (Hyperion)

Best First Novel: Los Alamos by Joseph Kanon (Broadway Books)

Best Paperback Original: Charm City by Laura Lippman (Avon)

Grand Master: Barbara Mertz (Elizabeth Peters, Barbara Michaels)

1997

Best Novel: The Chatham School Affair by Thomas H. Cook (Bantam)

Best First Novel: Simple Justice by John Morgan Wilson (Doubleday)

Best Paperback Original: Fade Away by Harlan Coben (Dell)

Grand Master: Ruth Rendell

1996

Best Novel: Come to Grief by Dick Francis (Putnam)

Best First Novel: Penance by David Housewright (Foul Play/Countryman Press)

Best Paperback Original: Tarnished Blue by William Heffernan (Onyx)

Grand Master: Dick Francis

1995

Best Novel: The Red Scream by Mary Willis Walker (Doubleday)

Best First Novel: The Caveman's Valentine by George Dawes Green (Warner Books)

Best Paperback Original: Final Appeal by Lisa Scottoline (Harper)

Grand Master: Mickey Spillane

1994

Best Novel: The Sculptress by Minette Walters (St. Martin's Press)

Best First Novel: A Grave Talent by Laurie R. King (St. Martin's Press)

Best Paperback Original: Dead Folk's Blues by Steven Womack (Ballantine)

Grand Master: Lawrence Block

1993

Best Novel: Bootlegger's Daughter by Margaret Maron (Mysterious Press)

Best First Novel: The Black Echo by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)

Best Paperback Original: A Cold Day for Murder by Dana Stabenow (Berkley)

Grand Master: Donald E. Westlake

1992

Best Novel: A Dance at the Slaughterhouse by Lawrence Block (Wm. Morrow)

Best First Novel: Slow Motion Riot by Peter Blauner (Wm. Morrow)

Best Paperback Original: Dark Maze by Thomas Adcock (Pocket Books)

Grand Master: Elmore Leonard

1991

Best Novel: New Orleans Mourning by Julie Smith (St. Martin's Press)

Best First Novel: Postmortem by Patricia D. Cornwell (Scribners)

Best Paperback Original: The Man Who Would Be F.Scott Fitzgerald by David Handler (Bantam)

Grand Master: Tony Hillerman

1990

Best Novel: Black Cherry Blues by James Lee Burke (Little, Brown)

Best First Novel: The Last Billable Hour by Susan Wolfe (St. Martin's Press)

Best Paperback Original: The Rain by Keith Peterson (Bantam)

Grand Master: Helen McCloy

1989

Best Novel: A Cold Red Sunrise by Stuart M. Kaminsky (Scribners)

Best First Novel: Carolina Skeletons by David Stout (Mysterious Press)

Best Paperback Original: The Telling of Lies by Timothy Findley (Dell)

Grand Master: Hillary Waugh

1988

Best Novel: Old Bones by Aaron Elkins (Mysterious Press)

Best First Novel: Death Among Strangers by Deidre S. Laiken (Macmillan)

Best Paperback Original: Bimbos of the Death Sun by Sharyn McCrumb (TSR)

Grand Master: Phyllis A. Whitney

1987

Best Novel: A Dark-Adapted Eye by Barbara Vine (Bantam)

Best First Novel: No One Rides for Free by Larry Beinhart (Wm. Morrow)

Best Paperback Original: The Junkyard Dog by Robert Campbell (Signet)

Grand Master: Michael Gilbert

1986

Best Novel: The Suspect by L.R. Wright (Viking)

Best First Novel: When the Bough Breaks by Jonathan Kellerman (Atheneum)

Best Paperback Original: Pigs Get Fat by Warren Murphy (NAL)

Grand Master: Ed McBain

1985

Best Novel: Briar Patch by Ross Thomas (Simon & Schuster)

Best First Novel: Strike Three, You're Dead by R. D. Rosen (Walker)

Best Paperback Original: Grandmaster by Molly Cochran, Warren Murphy (Pinnacle)

Grand Master: Dorothy Salisbury Davis

1984

Best Novel: La Brava by Elmore Leonard (Arbor House)

Best First Novel: The Bay Psalm Book Murder by Will Harriss (Walker)

Best Paperback Original: Mrs. White by Margaret Tracy (Dell)

Grand Master: John le Carre

1983

Best Novel: Billingsgate Shoal by Rick Boyer (Houghton Mifflin)

Best First Novel: The Butcher's Boy by Thomas Perry (Scribners)

Best Paperback Original: Triangle by Teri White (Ace/Charter)

Grand Master: Margaret Millar

1982

Best Novel: Peregrine by William Bayer (Congdon & Lattes)

Best First Novel: Chiefs by Stuart Woods (W. W. Norton & Co.)

Best Paperback Original: The Old Dick by L.A. Morse (Avon)

Grand Master: Julian Symons

1981

Best Novel: Whip Hand by Dick Francis (Harper & Row)

Best First Novel: The Watcher by K. Nolte Smith (Coward, McCann & Geoghegan)

Best Paperback Original: Public Murders by Bill Granger (Jove Books)

Grand Master: Stanley Ellin

1980

Best Novel: The Rheingold Route by Arthur Maling (Harper & Row)

Best First Novel: The Lasko Tangent by Richard North Patterson (W.W. Norton & Co.)

Best Paperback Original: The Hog Murders by William L. DeAndrea (Avon)

Grand Master: W. R. Burnett

1979

Best Novel: The Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett (Arbor House)

Best First Novel: Killed in the Ratings by William L. DeAndrea (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich)

Best Paperback Original: Deceit and Deadly Lies by Frank Bandy (Charter)

Grand Master: Aaron Marc Stein

1978

Best Novel: Catch Me: Kill Me by William H. Hallahan (Bobbs-Merrill)

Best First Novel: A French Finish by Robert Ross (Putnam)

Best Paperback Original: The Quark Maneuver by Mike Jahn (Ballantine)

Grand Masters: Daphne du Maurier, Dorothy B. Hughes, and Ngaio Marsh

1977

Best Novel: Promised Land by Robert B. Parker (Houghton Mifflin)

Best First Novel: The Thomas Berryman Number by James Patterson (Little, Brown)

Best Paperback Original: Confess, Fletch by Gregory McDonald (Avon)

1976

Best Novel: Hopscotch by Brian Garfield (M. Evans)

Best First Novel: The Alvarez Journal by Rex Burns (Harper & Row)

Best Paperback Original: Autopsy by John R. Feegel (Avon)

Grand Master: Graham Greene

1975

Best Novel: Peter's Pence by Jon Cleary (Wm. Morrow)

Best First Novel: Fletch by Gregory McDonald (Bobbs-Merrill)

Best Paperback Original: The Corpse That Walked by Roy Winsor (Fawcett)

Grand Master: Eric Ambler

1974

Best Novel: Dance Hall of the Dead by Tony Hillerman (Harper & Row)

Best First Novel: The Billion Dollar Sure Thing by Paul E. Erdman (Scribners)

Best Paperback Original: Death of an Informer by Will Perry (Pyramid)

Grand Master: Ross Macdonald (Kenneth Millar)

1973

Best Novel: The Lingala Code by Warren Kiefer (Random House)

Best First Novel: Squaw Point by R.H. Shimer (Harper & Row)

Best Paperback Original: The Invader by Richard Wormser (Gold Medal)

Grand Masters: Alfred Hitchcock and Judson Philips

1972

Best Novel: The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth (Viking)

Best First Novel: Finding Maubee by A.H.Z. Carr (Putnam)

Best Paperback Original: For Murder I Charge More by Frank McAuliffe (Ballantine)

Grand Master: John D. MacDonald

1971

Best Novel: The Laughing Policeman by Maj Sjowall, Per Wahloo (Pantheon)

Best First Novel: The Anderson Tapes by Lawrence Sanders (Putnam)

Best Paperback Original: Flashpoint by Dan J. Marlowe (Gold Medal)

Grand Master: Mignon C. Eberhart

1970

Best Novel: Forfeit by Dick Francis (Harper & Row)

Best First Novel: A Time for Predators by Joe Gores (Random House)

Best Paperback Original: The Dragon's Eye by Scott C.S. Stone (Gold Medal)

Grand Master: James M. Cain

1969

Best Novel: A Case of Need by Jeffery Hudson (World)

Best First Nove (tie): The Bait by Dorothy Uhnak (Simon & Schuster) and Silver Street by E. Richard Johnson (Harper & Row)

Grand Master: John Creasey

1968

Best Novel: God Save the Mark by Donald E. Westlake (Random House)

Best First Novel: Act of Fear by Michael Collins (Dodd, Mead)

1967

Best Novel: The King of the Rainy Country by Nicolas Freeling (Harper & Row)

Best First Novel: The Cold War Swap by Ross Thomas (Morrow)

Grand Master: Baynard Kendrick

1966

Best Novel: The Quiller Memorandum by Adam Hall (Simon & Schuster)

Best First Novel: In The Heat of the Night by John Ball (Harper & Row)

Grand Master: Georges Simenon

1965

Best Novel: The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John le Carre (Coward-McCann)

Best First Novel: Friday the Rabbi Slept Late by Harry Kemelman (Crown)

1964

Best Novel: The Light of Day by Eric Ambler (Knopf)

Best First Novel: Florentine Finish by Cornelius Hirschberg (Harper & Row)

Grand Master: George Harmon Coxe

1963

Best Novel: Death and the Joyful Woman by Ellis Peters (Doubleday)

Best First Novel: The Fugitive by Robert L. Fish (Simon & Schuster)

Grand Master: John Dickson Carr

1962

Best Novel: Gideon's Fire by J. J. Marric (Harper)

Best First Novel: The Green Stone by Suzanne Blanc (Harper)

Grand Master: Erle Stanley Gardner

1961

Best Novel: The Progress of a Crime by Julian Symons (Harper)

Best First Novel: The Man in the Cage by John Holbrooke Vance (Random House)

Grand Master: Ellery Queen (Frederic Dannay, Manfred B. Lee)

1960

Best Novel: The Hours Before Dawn by Celia Fremlin (Lippincott)

Best First Novel: The Grey Flannel Shroud by Henry Slesar (Random House)

1959

Best Novel: The Eighth Circle by Stanley Ellin (Random House)

Best First Novel: The Bright Road to Fear by Richard Martin Stern (Ballantine)

Grand Master: Rex Stout

1958

Best Novel: Room to Swing by Ed Lacy (Harper)

Best First Novel: Knock and Wait a While by William Rawle Weeks (Houghton Mifflin)

Grand Master: Vincent Starrett

1957

Best Novel: A Dram of Poison by Charlotte Armstrong (Coward-McCann)

Best First Novel: Rebecca's Pride by Donald McNutt Douglass (Harper)

1956

Best Novel: Beast in View by Margaret Millar (Random House)

Best First Novel: The Perfectionist by Lane Kauffman (Lippincott)

1955

Best Novel: The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler (Houghton Mifflin)

Best First Novel: Go, Lovely Rose by Jean Potts (Scribners)

Grand Master: Agatha Christie

1954

Best Novel: Beat Not the Bones by Charlotte Jay (Harper)

Best First Novel: A Kiss Before Dying by Ira Levin (Simon & Schuster)

1953

Best First Novel: Don't Cry for Me by William Campbell Gault (Dutton)

1952

Best First Novel: Strangle Hold by Mary McMullen (Harper)

1951

Best First Novel: Nightmare in Manhattan by Thomas Walsh (Little, Brown)

1950

Best First Novel: What A Body by Alan Green (Simon & Schuster)

1949

Best First Novel: The Room Upstairs by Mildred Davis (Simon & Schuster)

1948

Best First Novel: The Fabulous Clipjoint by Fredric Brown (Dutton)

1947

Best First Novel: The Horizontal Man by Helen Eustis (Harper)

1946

Best First Novel: Watchful at Night by Julius Fast (Rinehart & Co.)