Annual literary award
The Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best First Novel was established in 1946.
Only debut novels written by authors with United States citizenship are eligible and may be published in hardcover, paperback, or e-book. If an American author has published a novel of any genre or under any name previously, they are ineligible for the award, unless the novel was self-published. Authors ineligible for the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best First Novel may be eligible for the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel or the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Paperback Original .[ 1]
Winners for the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best First Novel are listed below.
1950s Best First Novel winners[ 2]
Year
Author
Title
Result
Ref.
1950
Alan Green
What A Body
Winner
Geoffrey Holiday Hall
The End Is Known
Finalist
William Krasner
Walk the Dark Streets
Finalist
G. G. Lobell and N. D. Lobell
The Shadow and the Blot
Finalist
Evelyn Piper
The Innocent
Finalist
Bart Spicer
The Dark Light
Finalist
1951
Thomas Walsh
Nightmare in Manhattan
Winner
Patricia Highsmith
Strangers on a Train
Finalist
Thaddeus O’Finn
Happy Holiday!
Finalist
Thomas Sterling
The House Without a Door
Finalist
1952
Mary McMullen
Strangle Hold
Winner
Lee Herrington
Carry My Coffin Slowly
Finalist
David William Meredith
The Christmas Card Murders
Finalist
Thurston Scott
Cure It with Honey (I’ll Get Mine)
Finalist
Robert B. Sinclair
The Eleventh Hour
Finalist
1953
William Campbell Gault
Don't Cry for Me
Winner
Peggy Bacon
The Inward Eye
Finalist
1954
Ira Levin
A Kiss Before Dying
Winner
1955
Jean Potts
Go, Lovely Rose
Winner
1956
Lane Kauffman
The Perfectionist
Winner
Harold R. Daniels
In His Blood
Finalist
Fred Levon
Much Ado About Murder
Finalist
1957
Donald McNutt Douglass
Rebecca's Pride
Winner
1958
William Rawle Weeks
Knock and Wait a While
Winner
Warren Carrier
Bay of the Damned
Finalist
James Cross
Root of Evil
Finalist
1959
Richard Martin Stern
The Bright Road to Fear
Winner
Edgar Bohle
The Man Who Disappeared
Finalist
Frances Duncombe
Death of a Spinster
Finalist
Harry Olesker
Now Will You Try for Murder?
Finalist
1960s Best First Novel winners[ 2]
Year
Author
Title
Result
Ref.
1960
Henry Slesar
The Grey Flannel Shroud
Winner
Mary O. Rank
A Dream of Falling
Finalist
1961
John Holbrooke Vance
The Man in the Cage
Winner
[ 3]
William Johnston
The Marriage Cage
Finalist
David McCarthy
The Killing at Big Tree
Finalist
Dell Shannon
Case Pending
Finalist
Donald E. Westlake
The Mercenaries
Finalist
1962
Suzanne Blanc
The Green Stone
Winner
Malcolm Braly
Felony Tank
Finalist
Olivia Dwight
Close His Eyes
Finalist
Alex Gordon
The Cipher
Finalist
Brèni James
Night of the Kill
Finalist
Winfred Van Atta
Shock Treatment
Finalist
1963
Robert L. Fish
The Fugitive
Winner
Daniel Broun
Counterweight
Finalist
Richard Unekis
The Chase
Finalist
1964
Cornelius Hirschberg
Florentine Finish
Winner
M. Fagyas
The Fifth Woman
Finalist
Frances Rickett
The Prowler
Finalist
James Michael Ullman
The Neon Haystack
Finalist
1965
Harry Kemelman
Friday the Rabbi Slept Late
Winner
Amanda Cross
In the Last Analysis
Finalist
Rubin Weber
The Grave-Maker’s House
Finalist
1966
John Ball
In the Heat of the Night
Winner
Jack D. Hunter
The Expendable Spy
Finalist
Vincent McConnor
The French Doll
Finalist
Alexandra Roudybush
Before the Ball Was Over
Finalist
1967
Ross Thomas
The Cold War Swap
Winner
Babs Deal
Fancy’s Knell
Finalist
Robert Elegant
A Kind of Treason
Finalist
George Lanning
The Pedestal
Finalist
1968
Michael Collins
Act of Fear
Winner
James Dawson
Hell Gate
Finalist
P. E. H. Dunston
Mortissimo
Finalist
Charles Early
The Tigers Are Hungry
Finalist
John Redgate
The Killing Season
Finalist
1969
E. Richard Johnson
Tie: Silver Street
Winner
Dorothy Uhnak
The Bait
Winner
Lawrence Kamarck
The Dinosaur
Finalist
1980s Best First Novel winners[ 2]
Year
Author
Title
Result
Ref.
1980
Richard North Patterson
The Lasko Tangent
Winner
Peter Heath Fine
Night Trains
Finalist
John Logue
Follow the Leader
Finalist
1981
K. Nolte Smith
The Watcher
Winner
Betsy Aswad
Winds of the Old Days
Finalist
Oliver Banks
The Rembrandt Panel
Finalist
David Carkeet
Double Negative
Finalist
Susanne Jaffe
The Other Ann Fletcher
Finalist
1982
Stuart Woods
Chiefs
Winner
Tom Hyman
Giant Killer
Finalist
Ernest Larsen
Not a Through Street
Finalist
Geoffrey Miller
The Black Glove
Finalist
Anthony Olcott
Murder at the Red October
Finalist
1983
Thomas Perry
The Butcher's Boy
Winner
S. F. X. Dean
By Frequent Anguish
Finalist
Richard Hughes
Unholy Communion
Finalist
John Katzenbach
In the Heat of the Summer
Finalist
Ernest Savage
Two If By Sea
Finalist
1984
Will Harriss
The Bay Psalm Book Murder
Winner
Herbert Resnicow
The Gold Solution
Finalist
Mark Schorr
Red Diamond, Private Eye
Finalist
Andrew Taylor
Caroline Minuscule
Finalist
Carolyn Wheat
Dead Man’s Thoughts
Finalist
1985
R. D. Rosen
Strike Three, You're Dead
Winner
Jack Early
A Creative Kind of Killer
Finalist
Doug Hornig
Foul Shot
Finalist
Orania Papazoglou
Sweet, Savage Death
Finalist
Alison Smith
Someone Else’s Grave
Finalist
1986
Jonathan Kellerman
When the Bough Breaks
Winner
Tony Fennelly
The Glory Hole Murders
Finalist
Dick Lochte
Sleeping Dog
Finalist
Daniel Stashower
The Adventure of the Ectoplasmic Man
Finalist
1987
Larry Beinhart
No One Rides for Free
Winner
Gary Devon
Lost
Finalist
Richard Hyer
Riceburner
Finalist
Joseph Koenig
Floater
Finalist
Mike Lupica
Dead Air
Finalist
1988
Deidre S. Laiken
Death Among Strangers
Winner
Parnell Hall
Detective
Finalist
John Lantigua
Heat Lightning
Finalist
Dallas Murphy
Lover Man
Finalist
Domenic Stansberry
The Spoiler
Finalist
1989
David Stout
Carolina Skeletons
Winner
Mary Lou Bennett
Murder Once Done
Finalist
J. Madison Davis
The Murder of Frau Schutz
Finalist
Elizabeth George
A Great Deliverance
Finalist
Shelly Reuben
Julian Solo
Finalist
2020s Best First Novel winners and finalists[ 2]
Year
Author
Title
Result
Ref.
2020
Angie Kim
Miracle Creek
Winner
[ 26]
Samantha Downing
My Lovely Wife
Shortlist
John McMahon
The Good Detective
Shortlist
Lara Prescott
The Secrets We Kept
Shortlist
John Vercher
Three-Fifths
Shortlist
Lauren Wilkinson
American Spy
Shortlist
2021
Caitlin Mullen
Please See Us
Winner
[ 27] [ 28] [ 29]
Nev March
Murder in Old Bombay
Shortlist
[ 29]
Elisabeth Thomas
Catherine House
Shortlist
[ 29]
David Heska Wanbli Weiden
Winter Counts
Shortlist
[ 29]
Stephanie Wrobel
Darling Rose Gold
Shortlist
[ 29]
2022
Erin Flanigan
Deer Season
Winner
[ 30] [ 31]
Vera Kurian
Never Saw Me Coming
Shortlist
[ 32]
Fabian Nicieza
Suburban Dicks
Shortlist
[ 32]
JoAnne Tompkins
What Comes After
Shortlist
[ 32]
Caitlin Wahrer
The Damage
Shortlist
[ 32]
2023
Eli Cranor
Don’t Know Tough
Winner
[ 33] [ 34]
Erin E. Adams
Jackal
Shortlist
[ 35]
Ramona Emerson
Shutter
Shortlist
[ 35]
Katie Gutierrez
More Than You’ll Ever Know
Shortlist
[ 35]
Grace D. Li
Portrait of a Thief
Shortlist
[ 35]
2024
I.S. Berry
The Peacock and the Sparrow
Winner
[ 36] [ 37]
Amy Chua
The Golden Gate
Shortlist
[ 38] [ 39]
Ken Jaworowski
Small Town Sins
Shortlist
[ 38] [ 39]
Kristen Loesch
The Last Russian Doll
Shortlist
[ 38] [ 39]
Ritu Mukerji
Murder by Degrees
Shortlist
[ 38] [ 39]
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