The Edgar Award for Best Novel -- LIST

 

THE EDGAR AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL

2021 was the 75th anniversary of the Edgar Awards, the prestigious award for mystery writing from the  Mystery Writers of America. I'm working my way through the list of winners of the Edgar Award for Best Novel.

The Edgar Award is named in honor of Edgar Allen Poe, 19th Century American author of spooky stories. Watchful at Night by Julius Fast won the first Edgar Award, then in the category of "Best First Novel by an American Author." The "Best Novel" category has been around since 1954.

I am not going to keep updating the winners after 2022. My enthusiasm for prize-winners is waning with the 2020s. I plan to focus my efforts on reading the winners up to 2020 then declare victory and move on to other bookish projects.

So far, I've read 40 of the Best Novel winners, more than half. Those I've read or are on my TBR shelf are noted in the list below.

2022 Five Decembers by James Kestrel

2021 Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara ON OVERDRIVE

2020 The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths ON OVERDRIVE

2019 Down the River Unto the Sea by Walter Mosley ON OVERDRIVE

2018 Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke FINISHED

2017 Before the Fall by Noah Hawley FINISHED

2016 Let Me Die in His Footsteps by Lori Roy FINISHED

2015 Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King FINISHED

2014 Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger ON OVERDRIVE

2013 Live by Night by Dennis Lehane FINISHED

2012 Gone by Mo Hayder ON OVERDRIVE

2011 The Lock Artist by Steve Hamilton

2010 The Last Child by John Hart ON OVERDRIVE

2009 Blue Heaven by C. J. Box FINISHED

2008 Down River by John Hart FINISHED

2007 The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodwin FINISHED

2006 Citizen Vince by Jess Walter (reviewed here) FINISHED

2005 California Girl by T. Jefferson Parker FINISHED

2004 Resurrection Men by Ian Rankin FINISHED

2003 Winter and Night by S.J. Rozan FINISHED

2002 Silent Joe by T. Jefferson Parker FINISHED

2001 The Bottoms by Joe R. Lansdale

2000 Bones by Jan Burke

1999 Mr. White's Confession by Robert Clark FINISHED

1998 Cimarron Rose by James Lee Burke FINISHED

1997 The Chatham School Affair by Thomas H. Cook (reviewed here) FINISHED

1996 Come to Grief by Dick Francis FINISHED

1995 The Red Scream by Mary Willis Walker TBR SHELF

1994 The Sculptress by Minette Walters

1993 Bootlegger's Daughter by Margaret Maron FINISHED

1992 A Dance at the Slaughterhouse by Lawrence Block FINISHED

1991 New Orleans Mourning by Julie Smith FINISHED

1990 Black Cherry Blues by James Lee Burke FINISHED

1989 A Cold Red Sunrise by Stuart M. Kaminsky

1988 Old Bones by Aaron Elkins TBR SHELF

1987 A Dark-Adapted Eye by Barbara Vine TBR SHELF

1986 The Suspect by L.R. Wright

1985 Briar Patch by Ross Thomas

1984 La Brava by Elmore Leonard FINISHED

1983 Billingsgate Shoal by Rick Boyer FINISHED

1982 Peregrine by William Bayer TBR SHELF

1981 Whip Hand by Dick Francis FINISHED

1980 The Rheingold Route by Arthur Maling

1979 The Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett FINISHED

1978 Catch Me: Kill Me by William H. Hallahan TBR SHELF

1977 Promised Land by Robert B. Parker FINISHED

1976 Hopscotch by Brian Garfield

1975 Peter's Pence by Jon Cleary

1974 Dance Hall of the Dead by Tony Hillerman FINISHED

1973 The Lingala Code by Warren Kiefer

1972 The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth TBR SHELF

1971 The Laughing Policeman by Maj Sjowall, Per Wahloo FINISHED

1970 Forfeit by Dick Francis FINISHED

1969 A Case of Need by Micheal Crichton (as Jeffery Hudson) FINISHED

1968 God Save the Mark by Donald E. Westlake FINISHED

1967 The King of the Rainy Country by Nicolas Freeling FINISHED

1966 The Quiller Memorandum by Adam Hall FINISHED

1965 The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John le Carre FINISHED

1964 The Light of Day by Eric Ambler FINISHED

1963 Death and the Joyful Woman by Ellis Peters FINISHED

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 TBR SHELF

1959 The Eighth Circle by Stanley Ellin

1958 Room to Swing by Ed Lacy

1957 A Dram of Poison by Charlotte Armstrong FINISHED

1956 Beast in View by Margaret Millar FINISHED

1955 The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler FINISHED

1954 Beat Not the Bones by Charlotte Jay  FINISHED

NOTE

Updated July 3, 2025.  

OTHERS READING THESE BOOKS

If you are also reading Edgar winners, please leave comments with related posts like your lists and reviews and I will list them here. 

List: Edgar Award Winners for Best Novel

Every year, the Mystery Writers of America award the "Edgar" Award in nine categories of mystery and crime writing, plus a handful of special awards. I'm reading through the list of winners of Edgar Award for Best Novel.

The award is named in honor of Edgar Allen Poe, born in 1809. The first Edgar Award went to Watchful at Night by Julius Fast in 1947 for Best First Novel by an American Author. The "Best Novel" Award has been around since 1954.

Although I enjoy a good mystery, there are few on this list that I have read. Why is this? There may be many clues, but I suspect foul play.

I you are also reading Edgar winners and have a related post, leave a link in a comment and I will add your link in a list at the bottom of this post.

Those I have read are in red. Those on my TBR shelf are in blue.

2020 The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths

2019 House Witness by Mike Lawson

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 (reviewed here)

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 (reviewed here)

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 Briar Patch by Ross Thomas

1984 La Brava 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 The 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 Sjowall, Per Wahloo

1970 Forfeit by Dick Francis

1969 A Case of Need by Micheal Crichton (as Jeffery Hudson)

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 Carre

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




OTHERS READING THESE BOOKS

If you would like to be listed here, please leave a comment with your links to any progress reports or reviews and I will add them.

Review: Swan Peak

Dave Robicheaux and Clete Purcel can never escape their pasts or the angry demons in their heads, even to do a little fishing in Montana. Mobster Didi Gee died in a suspicious plane crash years before, but when his goons turn up in Montana, working for a pair of oil baron brothers, Dave and Clete get sucked into a whirling vortex of violence, sex, booze, and vengeance.

Swan Peak is the 16th book in James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux series and exemplifies everything that is good and bad about the long-running saga. Burke is the best there is at writing literary, atmospheric mysteries peopled with complex characters and glorifying their settings (usually Louisiana, occasionally Montana). The stories are dark, sometimes a little twisted, and always exciting, with multi-faceted plots addressing important social issues.

But sometimes Burke lays it on with a trowel, and he does in Swan Peak. In addition to mobsters and crooked oil barons, there's a sadistic prison guard tracking an escaped convict, a self-medicating adulterous wife, a charlatan preacher with an eye for teenage girls, a porn producer and his call girl companion, and a vicious serial killer. That's a lot of bad guys crowded into the Bitterroot Valley. And all of them are deformed, addicted, damaged, particularly cruel, or otherwise extra creepy.

Swan Peak is a page turner, but may leave the reader needing to take a Burke break.

OTHER REVIEWS

My review of Crusader's Cross is here
My review of The Tin Roof Blowdown is here

If you would like your review of this book or any other JLB book listed here, please leave a comment with a link.

NOTES

Swan Peak counts for my "topographical" choice for the What's in a Name Challenge, and as another book for the Mt. TBR and Off the Shelf Challenges.

Author of the Day: James Lee Burke

James Lee Burke writes wonderful, literary mysteries. He has a couple of series going, but his most famous is his Dave Robicheaux series, featuring an ex- boozer and ex-New Orleans homicide cop now settled in New Iberia Parish.

The series has gone on for so long, that Robicheaux has gone from cop, to bait shop owner, to sheriff, to ex-sheriff, to sheriff again. He's on his 4th wife. It's hard to say how old he is, but he must be over 70. His three-legged pet raccoon named Tripod is the oldest living raccoon in history, since it first appeared in Heaven's Prisoners in 1988 and was still scampering around, at least as of The Tin Roof Blowdown in 2006. Just how long do raccoons live?

The series is dark, complex, plenty gritty, and rich with lyrical details of beauty and evil. Once you sink your teeth into one, you want to gobble them all up. But I have found that more than a couple at a time are too much. I get tired of Robicheaux's dry drunk sermonizing, bored by the 700th description of rain on the bayou, and as worn out by the parade of creepy bad guys as Robicheaux himself must be. But then a few months or so will pass and I am ready for another.

Those I have read are in red. Those currently on my TBR shelf are in blue.

The Neon Rain

Heaven's Prisoners

Black Cherry Blues

A Morning for Flamingos

A Stained White Radiance

In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead

Dixie City Jam

Burning Angel

Cadillac Jukebox

Sunset Limited

Purple Cane Road

Jolie Blon's Bounce

Last Car to Elysian Fields

Crusader's Cross (reviewed here)

Pegasus Descending

The Tin Roof Blowdown (reviewed here)

Swan Peak (reviewed here)

The Glass Rainbow

NOTES

Last updated October 4, 2012.

Review: The Tin Roof Blowdown

Sometimes fiction can make real what the news or government reports, no matter how immediate or thorough, cannot. In The Tin Roof Blowdown, the 16th novel in James Lee Burke’s Dave Robicheaux series, Burke describes the devastation and tragedy of Hurricane Katrina with a gut-wrenching emotional intensity that no amount of news footage could ever achieve.

While the hurricane rages and floodwaters rise, Robicheaux and his sidekick, Clete Purcell, track down the usual assortment of psychopathic deviants and lost souls, including several rapists, Mafioso hooligans, a junky priest, and mercenary black marketeers.  The details of the plot get a little shaggy, but as a historical record and ode to a New Orleans that is gone forever, this one deserves its fourth star.  

OTHER REVIEWS

If you want your review listed here, please leave a comment with a link. .

Review of the Day: Crusader's Cross

James Lee Burke is one of the best, but I think his more recent books sometimes rehash the plots of some of the other ones. Crusader's Cross felt like I had read it all before: Dave Robicheaux acts holier than thou, Clete Purcell beats someone up, a shoot out in a hunting cabin on stilts, colorful mob characters, a drunk/insane lady hits on Dave, a serial killer, Dave's wife is kidnapped, the three-legged raccoon . . . .

It is like all the components are on the computer and a program rearranges them, picks new names, and prints it out. Maybe Roald Dahl was right -- these books are all written by the Great Automatic Grammatizator!