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.

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.)