The Edgar® Awards - Past Winners



Grand Master Award Winners
The Grand Master Award, given yearly by the MWA, represents the pinnacle of achievement in the mystery field. This prestigious and highly coveted award was established to recognize not only important contributions to the mystery field over time, but a significant output of consistently high quality as well.

2008 Bill Pronzini
2007 Stephen King
2006 Stuart Kaminsky
2005 Marcia Muller
2004 Joseph Wambaugh
2003 Ira Levin
2002 Robert B. Parker
2001 Edward D. Hoch
2000 Mary Higgins Clark
1999 P.D. James
1998 Barbara Mertz
(aka Elizabeth Peters
and Barbara Michaels)
1997 Ruth Rendell
1996 Dick Francis
1995 Mickey Spillane
1994 Lawrence Block
1993 Donald E. Westlake
1992 Elmore Leonard
1991 Tony Hillerman
1990 Helen McCloy
1989 Hillary Waugh
1988 Phyllis A. Whitney
1987 Michael Gilbert
1986 Ed McBain
1985 Dorothy Salisbury Davis
1984 John le Carré
1983 Margaret Millar
1982 Julian Symons
1981 Stanley Ellin
1980 W.R. Burnett
1979 Aaron Marc Stein
1978 Daphne du Maurier
1978 Dorothy B. Hughes
1978 Ngaio Marsh
1976 Graham Greene
1975 Eric Ambler
1974 Ross Macdonald
1973 Alfred Hitchcock
1973 Judson Philips
1972 John D. MacDonald
1971 Mignon G. Eberhart
1970 James M. Cain
1969 John Creasey
1967 Baynard Kendrick
1966 Georges Simenon
1964 George Harmon Coxe
1963 John Dickson Carr
1962 Erle Stanley Gardner
1961 Ellery Queen
(Frederic Dannay
and Manfred B. Lee)
1959 Rex Stout
1958 Vincent Starrett
1955 Agatha Christie


Ellery Queen Award Winners
The Ellery Queen Award was established in 1983 to honor writing teams and outstanding people in the mystery-publishing industry.

2006 Kate Stine
2006 Brian Skupin
2005 Carolyn Marino
2003 Ed Gorman
2002 Janet Hutchings
2002 Cathleen Jordan
2001 Douglas Green
2000 Susanne Kirk
1999 Sara Ann Freed
1998 Hiroshi Hayakawa
1997 François Guérif
1996 Jacques Barzun
1995 Martin Greenberg
1994 Otto Penzler
1992 Margaret Norton
1990 Joel Davis
1989 Richard Levinson
and William Link
1988 Ruth Cavin
1987 Eleanor Sullivan
1985 Joan Kahn
1983 Emma Lathem
(Mary Jane Latsis
and Martha Henissart)


Raven Award Winners
A special award given for outstanding achievement in the mystery field outside the realm of creative writing.

2008 Kate’s Mystery Books (Kate Mattes, owner)
2008 Library of Congress, Center for the Book
2007 Books & Books (Mitchell Kaplan, owner)
2007 Mystery Loves Company (Kathy and Tom Harig, owners)
2006 Men of Mystery Conference (Joan Hansen, creator)
2006 Black Orchid Bookshop (Bonnie Claeson & Joe Guglielmelli, owners)
2005 Murder by the Book, Houston, TX (Martha Farrington, Owner) Raven Award
2005 DorothyL listserv (founded by Diane Kovacs and Kara Robinson)
2005 Cape Cod Radio Mystery Theatre (founded by Steve Oney)
2004 Ray and Pat Browne Library for Popular Culture Studies,
Bowling Green State University
2004 Vanity Fair magazine, Graydon Carter, editor
2003 Otto Penzler, owner of Mysterious Bookshop
2003 Pat Thomas, Ed Thomas, owners of Book Carnival
2003 Poe Museum, Richmond, Virginia
2002 Charles Champlin, Los Angeles Times book critic
2002 Anthony Mason, CBS Sunday Morning's "Fine Print"
2002 Douglas Smith, CBS Sunday Morning's "Fine Print"
2001 Barbara Peters, The Poisoned Pen
2001 Tom and Enid Schanz, The Rue Morgue
2000 The Mercantile Library (Harold Augenbraum, director)
1999 Steven Bochco
1998 Sylvia Burack, editor of The Writer
1997 Marvin Lachman
1996 The Library of America, for their publication of the collected writings of Raymond Chandler
1995 Dr. Paul LeClerc, President, New York Public Library
1993 President Bill Clinton, Reader of the Year
1992 Harold Q. Masur, for his years of service to MWA as general counsel
1991 Sarah Booth Conroy, Reader of the Year
1991 Carol Brener, for her skill in selling books to the public
1989 The Bouchercon Annual World Mystery Convention
1989 Shear Madness by Marilyn Abrams and Bruce Jordan (Cranberry Productions),
for longest-running off-Broadway play
1988 Angela Lansbury
1988 Vincent Price
1986 Suzi Oppenheimer, Reader of the Year
1985 Eudora Welty, Reader of the Year
1984 Sylvia Porter, Reader of the Year
1983 Isaac Bashevis Singer, Reader of the Year
1980 "Muppet Murders" (Muppet Show)
1979 Alberto Tedeschi (Mondadori), publisher of the most succesful Italian series of mysteries
1978 I Am My Brother's Keeper by Richard N. Hughes (WPIX), for being the best showcase for mystery stories
1978 Danny Arnold (ABC), as the executive producer of Barney Miller, TV police series
1978 Edwin Gorey, for the sets he designed for Dracula on Broadway
1976 Eddie Lawrence, Reader of the Year
1976 Leo Margolies, editor of Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine
1975 ABC-TV, for its World Wide Mystery series
1975 Royal Shakespeare Company, for the company's revival of the play Sherlock Holmes
1975 Radio Mystery Theatre (CBS), for the Hy Brown nightly mysteries
1971 Judith Crist, Reader of the Year
1968 Joey Adams, Reader of the Year
1967 Richard Watts Jr., Reader of the Year
1967 Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, on its twenty-sixth anniversary and as the
best showcase for mystery stories
1965 Dr. Milton Helpern for his work in forensic medicine
1965 Philip Wittenberg for his long years of voluntary service (scroll)
1962 The Defenders, a TV show in its first year
1961 Ilka Chase, Reader of the Year
1960 Ray Brennan, for crime reporting
1960 David C. Cook, for Best Detective Stories of the Year
1960 Phyllis McGinley, Mystery Fan of the Year
1960 Alfred Hitchcock, for his contribution to the mystery
1960 Gail Jackson, producer of Perry Mason TV series
1959 Franklin Delano Roosevelt (posthumous), Reader of the Year (scroll accepted by Eleanor Roosevelt)
1959 Lawrence G. Blochman, for long and distinguished service to MWA and The Third Degree
1959 Frederic G. Melcher on his retirement after thirty-five years with Publishers Weekly
1959 Western Printing & Lithographing Co., for Dell book jackets
1958 Harper & Bros., for general excellence
1958 Dell, a scroll for their Great Mystery Series book jackets
1957 Miss Dorothy Kilgallen, Reader of the Year
1955 Berton Rouche, for his collection of stories of medical detection, Eleven Blue Men
1954 Dr. Harrison Martland, retiring medical examiner, Essex County, New Jersey
1954 Dr. Thomas A. Gonzales, retiring medical examiner, New York City
1954 Tom Lehrer, for his mystery parodies
1953 E.T. Guymon Jr., for his outstanding library of mystery literature


Robert L. Fish Award Winners
This award, administered by the Mystery Writers of America, is sponsored by the Robert L. Fish estate and is given to recognize and encourage promising new writers. Each year the Edgar® Short Story Committee selects the best first mystery short story by an American author whose fiction has not been previously published. The author receives a plaque and a monetary award.

2006 Eddie Newton "Home" Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, 5/05
2005 Thomas Morrissey "Can't Catch Me" Brooklyn Noir (Akashic Books)
2004 Sandy Balzo "The Grass is Always Greener" Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, 3/03
2003 Mike Doogan "War Can Be Murder" Mysterious North (anthology)
2002 Ted Hertel, Jr. "My Bonnie Lies" Mammoth Book of Legal Thrillers (anthology)
2001 M.J. Jones "The Witch and the Relic Thief" Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, 10/00
2000 Mike Reiss "Cro-Magnon, P.I." Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, 7-8/99
1999 Bryn Bonner "Clarity" Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, 5/98
1998 Rosalind Roland "If Thine Eye Offend Thee" Murder x 13 (anthology)
1997 David Vaughn "The Prosecuter of Duprey" Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, 1/96
1996 James Sarafin "The Word for Breaking August Sky" Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, 7/95
1995 Batya Swift Yasgur "Me and Mr. Harry" Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, 12/94
1994 D.A. McGuire "Wicked Twist" Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, 10/93
1993 Steven Saylor "A Will Is a Way" Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, 3/92
1991 Jerry F. Skarky "Willie's Story" Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, 6/90
1990 Connie Colt "Hawks" Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, 6/89
1989 Linda O. Johnston "Different Drummers" Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, 7/88
1988 Eric M. Heideman "Roger, Mr. Whilkie!" Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, 7/87
1987 Mary Kittredge "Father to the Man" Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, 11/86
1986 Doug Allyn "Final Rites" Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, 12/85
1985 Bill Crenshaw "Poor Dumb Mouths" Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, 5/84
1984 Lilly Carlson "Locked Doors" Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, 10/83


Mary Higgins Clark Award Winners
In recognition of their 25 year partnership in crime with best-selling author Mary Higgins Clark, Simon and Schuster has sponsored an award in her name to be given annually for ten years, starting in 2001. The announcement of this unique award honoring the Queen of Suspense was made at the 55th Annual Edgar Allan Poe Awards®, where Ms. Clark was inducted as a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America.

Nominated books are chosen from those sent to the MWA Edgar Awards® Committees for Best Novel, Best First Novel, and Best Paperback Novel. The winner is selected by a special MWA committee for the book most closely written in the Mary Higgins Clark tradition, according to the following guidelines set forth by Ms. Clark:

  • The protagonist is a very nice young woman, 27-38 or so, whose life is suddenly invaded. She is not looking for trouble - she is doing exactly what she should be doing and something cuts across her bow (as in ship).
  • She solves her problem by her own courage and intelligence.
  • She's in an interesting job.
  • She's self-made - independent - has primarily good family relationships.
  • No on-scene violence.
  • No four-letter words or explicit sex scenes.

2008 Sandi Ault Wild Indigo Berkley Prime Crime
2007 Fiona Mountain Bloodline St. Martin's Minotaur
2006 Karen Harper Dark Angel MIRA Books
2005 Rochelle Krich Grave Endings Ballantine Books
2004 M.K. Preston Song of the Bones Intrigue Press
2003 Rose Conners Absolute Certainty Scribners
2002 Judith Kelman Summer of Storms Putnam
2001 Barbara D'Amato Authorized Personnel Only Forge