Mystery Books

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The Best Mystery Books - Top 100

EDGAR ALLAN POE AWARD FOR BEST FIRST MYSTERY NOVEL


Founded in 1945, the Mystery Writers of America is the preeminent American organization of mystery writers. Each April, the MWA bestows the coveted Edgar Allan Poe Awards for achievement in various categories. The award for Best First Mystery Novel by an American Author was inaugurated in 1946.

1 In the Shadow of Gotham Stefanie Pintoff 2010
2 The Foreigner Francie Lin 2009
3 In the Woods Tana French 2008
4 The Faithful Spy Alex Berenson 2007
5 Officer Down Theresa Schwegel 2006
6 Country of Origin Don Lee 2005
7 Death of a Nationalist Rebecca Pawel 2004
8 The Blue Edge Of Midnight Jonathon King 2003
9 Line Of Vision David Ellis 2002
10 A Conspiracy Of Paper David Liss 2001
11 The Skull Mantra Eliot Patterson 2000
12 A Cold Day In Paradise Steve Hamilton 1999
13 Los Alamos Joseph Kanon 1998
14 Simple Justice John Morgan Wilson 1997
15 Penance David Housewright 1996
16 The Cavemans Valentine George Dawes Green 1995
17 A Grave Talent Laurie King 1994
18 The Black Echo Michael Connelly Harry Bosch series novels 1992
19 Slow Motion Peter Blauner 1992
20 Postmortem Patricia Cornwell Kay Scarpetta novels 1990
21 The Last Billable Hour Susan Wolfe 1990
22 Carolina Skeletons David Stout 1989
23 Death Among The Strangers Deidre S. Laiken 1988
24 No One Rides For Free Larry Beinhart 1987
25 When The Bough Breaks Jonathan Kellerman Alex Delaware novels 1985
26 Strike Three Youre Dead R. D. Rosen 1985
27 The Bay Psalm Book Murder Will Harriss 1984
28 The Butchers Boy Thomas Perry 1982
29 The Watcher Kay Nolte Smith 1981
30 Chiefs Stuart Woods Will Lee novels 1981
31 The Lasko Tangent Richard North Patterson novels 1979
32 Killed In The Ratings William L. DeAndrea 1978
33 A French Finish Robert Ross 1978
34 The Alvarez Journal Rex Burns 1976
35 The Thomas Berryman Number James Patterson novels 1976
36 The Billion Dollar Sure Thing Paul E. Erdman 1974
37 Fletch Gregory McDonald 1974
38 Squaw Point R. H. Shimer 1973
39 The Anderson Tapes Lawrence Sanders 1971
40 Finding Maubee A.H.Z. Carr 1971
41 A Time For Predators Joe Gores 1970
42 Silver Street E. Richard Johnson 1969
43 Act Of Fear Michael Collins 1968
44 In The Heat Of The Night John Ball 1966
45 The Cold War Swap - Spy in the Vodka Ross Thomas Mac McCorkle, a saloon owner and Mike Padillo, a spy in Bonn, Germany novel 1966
46 Friday The Rabbi Slept Late Harry Kellerman 1965
47 The Florentine Finish Cornelius Hirschberg 1964
48 The Fugitive Robert L. Fish 1963
49 The Green Stone Suzanne Blanc 1962
50 The Man In The Cage John Holbrooke 1961
51 The Grey Flannel Shroud Henry Slesar 1960
52 The Bright Road To Fear Richard Martin Stern 1959
53 Knock And Wait A While William Rawle Weeks 1958
54 Rebeccas Pride Donald McNutt Douglass 1957
55 The Perfectionist Lane Kauffman 1956
56 Go Lovely Rose Jean Potts 1955
57 A Kiss Before Dying Ira Levin 1953
58 Dont Cry For Me William Campbell Gault 1953
59 Strange Hold Mary McMullen 1952
60 What A Body Alan Green 1950
61 Nightmare In Manhattan Thomas Walsh 1950
62 The Room Upstairs Mildred davis 1949
63 The Fabulous Clipjoint Fredric Brown novel 1947
64 The Horizontal Man Helen Eustis 1946
65 Watchful At Night Julius Fast 1946