2019 - Down the River Unto the Sea, Walter Mosley, 336 pages
Former NYPD cop wrongly accused of a crime investigates a murder ten years later as a private investigator.
2019 - Down the River Unto the Sea, Walter Mosley, 336 pages
Former NYPD cop wrongly accused of a crime investigates a murder ten years later as a private investigator.
2019 - Down the River Unto the Sea, Walter Mosley, 336 pages
Former NYPD cop wrongly accused of a crime investigates a murder ten years later as a private investigator.
Follow me
Edgar Award Winners
I did the Research so you don't have to!
Created in honor of Edgar Allan Poe, the award is presented annually by the Mystery Writers of America every April. The award honors the best in mystery writing in a variety of areas: novel, 1st novel, YA mystery, short story, and true crime. For some years TV and movies were honored as well. This list reflects the winners of best novel since 2000. (I'm working on adding them all)
**Books I've read are in bold, reviewed books are bold and purple.
2022 - Five Decembers by James Kestrel, 432 pages
Set in 1941, a Hawaiian detective is tracking a killer that will lead him across the Pacific and relies on the help of a stranger and his daughter to survive. All while a Japanese fleet moves toward Pearl Harbor.
2021 - Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara, 352 pages
Three friends venture into the most dangerous corners of a sprawling Indian city to find their missing classmate.
2020 - Stranger Diaries (The) by Elly Griffiths, 352 pages
A high school literature teacher's best friend is murdered and when she doesn't know who to trust, she turns to her diary, until one day she finds someone else's notes there - is the killer after her now?
2019 - Down the River Unto the Sea, Walter Mosley, 336 pages
Former NYPD cop wrongly accused of a crime investigates a murder ten years later as a private investigator.
2018 - Bluebird, Bluebird, Attica Locke, 320 pages
Hwy 59 #1 - A black Texas Ranger investigates two racially charged murders in a small town in east Texas.
2017 - Before the Fall, Noah Hawley, 401 pages
Plane of influential/wealthy people crashes into the ocean and there are only two survivors. Story goes back and forth from passengers’ backstories to present as mystery surrounding the crash deepens.
2016 - Let Me Die in His Footsteps, Lori Roy, 322 pages
Set in Kentucky and split in two time frames, the secrets of two families in a small town touched by evil need to be resolved.
2015 - Mr. Mercedes, Stephen King, 437 pages
Hodges #1 - A driver plows through a crowd killing many and then escapes; retired cop receives letter from killer saying worse things are planned; cop hunts killer.
2014 - Ordinary Grace, William Kent Krueger, 307 pages
also Anthony award - Minnesota 1961, a young woman is murdered; secrets, adultery, and betrayal affect the young brother. A story about how tragedy affects her family and the town.
2013 - Live By Night, Dennis Lehane, 402 pages
Coughlin #2 - In Boston during Prohibition and the height of the Roaring 20s, a man from a cop family climbs the ladder of organized crime.
2012 - Gone, Mo Hayder, 416 pages
Jack Caffery #5 - Car is stolen with child in the back seat, and as Detective Jack Caffery investigates, he realizes it will happen again and the car jacker is one step ahead of the police.
2011 - The Lock Artist, Steve Hamilton, 304 pages
Traumatized boy, now a young adult, discovers his talent for unlocking anything, a talent that all the wrong people want. Will he find a way to avoid a life of crime and return home to unlock the secret that has kept him silent for years?
2010 - The Last Child, John Hart, 373 pages
Johnny Merrimon #1 - Thirteen-year-old boy’s twin sister goes missing. Though everyone thinks she's dead, he doesn't and he searches for her in the dark underside of his hometown.
2009 - Blue Heaven, C. J. Box, 352 pages
Young sister and brother are on the run in Idaho woods after witnessing a murder and are helped by an aging rancher.
2008 - Down River, John Hart, 325 pages
Man scarred by his childhood returns home and no one knows why, but when bodies start showing up the town is against him and he must prove his innocence.
2007 - The Janissary Tree, Jason Goodwin, 320 pages
Yashim #1 - Mystery series set in 1800s Istanbul – man investigates a wave of murders as the Sultan's power is threatened. Is it the Janissaries, an ancient elite soldier group trying to reclaim their power?
2006 - Citizen Vince, Jess Walter, 304 pages
Charming crook with a sordid past is on the run from cops, politicians, and the mob.
2005 - California Girl, T. Jefferson Parker, 396 pages
Three brothers (cop, minister, reporter) become involved in solving the death of a teenage beauty queen they knew as a child that changes their family and lives.
2004 - Resurrection Men, Ian Rankin, 523 pages
Inspector Rebus #13 - Inspector in Scotland is sent to a last-chance reform school for damaged cops where he joins a covert mission that takes him into a bigger scandal than he anticipated.
2003 - Winter and Night, S.J. Rozan, 400 pages
Chin & Smith #8 - Detective and his partner try to find his runaway teenage nephew; their search takes them to a small town in NJ where they discover a classmate of the nephew was murdered.
2002 - Silent Joe, T. Jefferson Parker, 341 pages
Boy is adopted by powerful and corrupt man and raised to be his right-hand helper. When the father is murdered, the son discovers the many dangerous secrets held by his father and 2 unrelated threads ultimately connect.
2001 - The Bottoms, Joe R. Lansdale, 328 pages
1933 Texas, a young boy finds a murdered black woman on his family's property. More killings cause racial tension to escalate as the amateur investigation settles on an elderly black man who is wrongly convicted. The killings continue.
2000 - Bones, Jan Burke, 432 pages
Irene Kelly #7 - Irene bets her life on a deal with a serial killer.