# Anthony Award for Best First Novel

The Anthony Award for Best First Novel, established in 1986, is an annual award presented as part of the Anthony Awards on behalf of Mystery Writers of America.

## Recipients

Award winners and finalists :
| Year | Author | Title | Result |
| 1986 | Jonathan Kellerman | When the Bough Breaks | Winner |
| 1986 | Susan Kelly | The Gemini Man | Finalist |
| 1986 | Dick Lochte | Sleeping Dog | Finalist |
| 1986 | Robert Reeves | Doubting Thomas | Finalist |
| 1986 | Andrew Vachss | Flood | Finalist |
| 1987 | Bill Crider | Too Late To Die | Winner |
| 1987 | Joan Hess | Strangled Prose | Finalist |
| 1987 | Faye Kellerman | The Ritual Bath | Finalist |
| 1987 | Joseph Koenig | Floater | Finalist |
| 1987 | Mike Lupica | Dead Air | Finalist |
| 1988 | Gillian Roberts | Caught Dead in Philadelphia | Winner |
| 1988 | Michael Allegretto | Death on the Rocks | Finalist |
| 1988 | Robert Bowman | The House of Blue Lights | Finalist |
| 1988 | Mary Monica Pulver | Murder at the War | Finalist |
| 1988 | Les Roberts | An Infinite Number of Monkeys | Finalist |
| 1989 | Elizabeth George | A Great Deliverance | Winner |
| 1989 | Mary Lou Bennett | Murder Once Done | Finalist |
| 1989 | Caroline Graham | The Killings at Badger's Drift | Finalist |
| 1989 | Linda Grant | Random Access Murder | Finalist |
| 1989 | Gar Anthony Haywood | Fear of the Dark | Finalist |
| 1989 | David Stout | Carolina Skeletons | Finalist |
| 1990 | Karen Kijewski | Katwalk | Winner |
| 1990 | Jill Churchill | Grime & Punishment | Finalist |
| 1990 | Melodie Johnson Howe | The Mother Shadow | Finalist |
| 1990 | Edith Skom | The Mark Twain Murders | Finalist |
| 1990 | Susan Wolfe | The Last Billable Hour | Finalist |
| 1991 | Patricia Cornwell | Postmortem | Winner |
| 1991 | Janet Dawson | Kindred Crimes | Finalist |
| 1991 | Diane Mott Davidson | Catering to Nobody | Finalist |
| 1991 | Rochelle Krich | Where’s Mommy Now? | Finalist |
| 1991 | James McCahery | Grave Undertaking | Finalist |
| 1992 | Sue Henry | Murder on the Iditarod Trail | Winner |
| 1992 | Mary Cahill | Carpool | Finalist |
| 1992 | Margaret Lucke | A Relative Stranger | Finalist |
| 1992 | Rebecca Rothenberg | The Bulrush Murders | Finalist |
| 1992 | Leslie Elizabeth Watts | The Chocolate Box | Finalist |
| 1992 | Gloria White | Murder on the Run | Finalist |
| 1993 | Barbara Neely | Blanche on the Lam | Winner |
| 1993 | Susan Wittig Albert | Thyme of Death | Finalist |
| 1993 | Carol Higgins Clark | Decked | Finalist |
| 1993 | Michael Connelly | The Black Echo | Finalist |
| 1993 | Charlene Weir | The Winter Widow | Finalist |
| 1994 | Nevada Barr | Track of the Cat | Winner |
| 1994 | Jan Burke | Goodnight, Irene | Finalist |
| 1994 | Laurie R. King | A Grave Talent | Finalist |
| 1994 | Sharan Newman | Death Comes as Epiphany | Finalist |
| 1994 | Abigail Padgett | Child of Silence | Finalist |
| 1995 | Caleb Carr | The Alienist | Winner |
| 1995 | David Guterson | Snow Falling on Cedars | Finalist |
| 1995 | Alex Keegan | Cuckoo | Finalist |
| 1995 | Dennis Lehane | A Drink Before the War | Finalist |
| 1995 | Carol O'Connell | Mallory’s Oracle | Finalist |
| 1995 | Laura Joh Rowland | Shinjū | Finalist |
| 1995 | Michelle Spring | Every Breath You Take | Finalist |
| 1995 | Doug J. Swanson | Big Town | Finalist |
| 1995 | Christopher West | Death of a Blue Lantern | Finalist |
| 1996 | Virginia Lanier | Death in Bloodhound Red | Winner |
| 1996 | Richard Barre | The Innocents | Finalist |
| 1996 | G.M. Ford | Who in Hell Is Wanda Fuca? | Finalist |
| 1996 | Charles Kenney | Hammurabi’s Code | Finalist |
| 1996 | Martha C. Lawrence | Murder in Scorpio | Finalist |
| 1997 | Dale Furutani | Death in Little Tokyo | Winner |
| 1997 | Terris McMahan Grimes | Somebody Else’s Child | Winner |
| 1997 | Michael McGarrity | Tularosa | Finalist |
| 1997 | Charles Todd | A Test of Wills | Finalist |
| 1997 | Michael C. White | A Brother’s Blood | Finalist |
| 1998 | Lee Child | Killing Floor | Winner |
| 1998 | Grace Edwards | If I Should Die | Finalist |
| 1998 | Maureen Jennings | Except the Dying | Finalist |
| 1998 | Philip Reed | Bird Dog | Finalist |
| 1998 | Robert E. Skinner | Skin Deep, Blood Red | Finalist |
| 1999 | William Kent Krueger | Iron Lake | Winner |
| 1999 | Jerrilyn Farmer | Sympathy for the Devil | Finalist |
| 1999 | Jacqueline Fielder | Tiger’s Palette | Finalist |
| 1999 | Steve Hamilton | A Cold Day in Paradise | Finalist |
| 1999 | Donald Harstad | Eleven Days | Finalist |
| 2000 | Donna Andrews | Murder With Peacocks | Winner |
| 2000 | Cara Black | Murder in the Marais | Finalist |
| 2000 | April Henry | Circles of Confusion | Finalist |
| 2000 | Kris Neri | Revenge of the Gypsy Queen | Finalist |
| 2000 | Paula L. Woods | Inner City Blues | Finalist |
| 2001 | Qiu Xiaolong | Death of a Red Heroine | Winner |
| 2001 | Stephen Booth | Black Dog | Finalist |
| 2001 | David Liss | A Conspiracy of Paper | Finalist |
| 2001 | Scott Phillips | The Ice Harvest | Finalist |
| 2001 | Bob Truluck | Street Level | Finalist |
| 2001 | Douglas E. Winter | Run | Finalist |
| 2002 | C.J. Box | Open Season | Winner |
| 2002 | K. J. Erikson | Third Person Singular | Finalist |
| 2002 | Jan Grape | Austin City Blue | Finalist |
| 2002 | Denise Hamilton | The Jasmine Trade | Finalist |
| 2002 | Andy Straka | A Witness Above | Finalist |
| 2003 | Julia Spencer-Fleming | In the Bleak Midwinter | Winner |
| 2003 | David Corbett | The Devil’s Redhead | Finalist |
| 2003 | Libby Fischer Hellmann | An Eye for Murder | Finalist |
| 2003 | Jonathon King | The Blue Edge of Midnight | Finalist |
| 2003 | Eddie Muller | The Distance | Finalist |
| 2004 | P. J. Tracy | Monkeewrench | Winner |
| 2004 | Erin Hart | Haunted Ground | Finalist |
| 2004 | Rebecca Pawel | Death of a Nationalist | Finalist |
| 2004 | Lono Waiwaiole | Wiley’s Lament | Finalist |
| 2004 | Jacqueline Winspear | Maisie Dobbs | Finalist |
| 2005 | Harley Jane Kozak | Dating Dead Men | Winner |
| 2005 | Sandra Balzo | Uncommon Grounds | Finalist |
| 2005 | Judy Clemens | Till the Cows Come Home | Finalist |
| 2005 | Jilliane Hoffman | Retribution | Finalist |
| 2005 | J. A. Konrath | Whiskey Sour | Finalist |
| 2006 | Chris Grabenstein | Tilt-a-Whirl | Winner |
| 2006 | Megan Abbott | Die a Little | Finalist |
| 2006 | Brian Freeman | Immoral | Finalist |
| 2006 | Randall Hicks | The Baby Game | Finalist |
| 2006 | Theresa Schwegel | Officer Down | Finalist |
| 2007 | Louise Penny | Still Life | Winner |
| 2007 | John Hart | King of Lies | Finalist |
| 2007 | Steve Hockensmith | Holmes on the Range | Finalist |
| 2007 | Cornelia Read | A Field of Darkness | Finalist |
| 2007 | Alexandra Sokoloff | The Harrowing | Finalist |
| 2008 | Tana French | In the Woods | Winner |
| 2008 | Sean Chercover | Big City, Bad Blood | Finalist |
| 2008 | Lisa Lutz | The Spellman Files | Finalist |
| 2008 | Craig McDonald | Head Games | Finalist |
| 2008 | Marcus Sakey | The Blade Itself | Finalist |
| 2009 | Stieg Larsson | The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo | Winner |
| 2009 | Rosemary Harris | Pushing Up Daisies | Finalist |
| 2009 | Julie Kramer | Stalking Susan | Finalist |
| 2009 | G. M. Malliet | Death of a Cozy Writer | Finalist |
| 2009 | Tom Rob Smith | Child 44 | Finalist |
| 2010 | Sophie Littlefield | A Bad Day for Sorry | Winner |
| 2010 | Alan Bradley | The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie | Finalist |
| 2010 | Bryan Gruley | Starvation Lake | Finalist |
| 2010 | Stuart Neville | The Ghosts of Belfast | Finalist |
| 2010 | Stefanie Pintoff | In the Shadow of Gotham | Finalist |
| 2011 | Hilary Davidson | The Damage Done | Winner |
| 2011 | Bruce DeSilva | Rogue Island | Finalist |
| 2011 | Paul Doiron | The Poacher’s Son | Finalist |
| 2011 | Graham Moore | The Sherlockian | Finalist |
| 2011 | James Thompson | Snow Angels | Finalist |
| 2012 | Sara J. Henry | Learning To Swim | Winner |
| 2012 | Darrell James | Nazareth Child | Finalist |
| 2012 | Leonard Rosen | All Cry Chaos | Finalist |
| 2012 | Rochelle Staab | Who Do, Voodoo? | Finalist |
| 2012 | Taylor Stevens | The Informationist | Finalist |
| 2012 | Steve Ulfelder | Purgatory Chasm | Finalist |
| 2012 | S. J. Watson | Before I Go To Sleep | Finalist |
| 2013 | Chris Pavone | The Expats | Winner |
| 2013 | Daniel Friedman | Don’t Ever Get Old | Finalist |
| 2013 | Owen Laukkanen | The Professionals | Finalist |
| 2013 | Matthew Quirk | The 500 | Finalist |
| 2013 | Michael Sears | Black Fridays | Finalist |
| 2014 | Matt Coyle | Yesterday’s Echo | Winner |
| 2014 | Roger Hobbs | Ghostman | Finalist |
| 2014 | Becky Masterman | Rage Against the Dying | Finalist |
| 2014 | Kimberly McCreight | Reconstructing Amelia | Finalist |
| 2014 | Todd Robinson | The Hard Bounce | Finalist |
| 2015 | Lori Rader-Day | The Black Hour | Winner |
| 2015 | Kristi Belcamino | Blessed Are the Dead | Finalist |
| 2015 | M. P. Cooley | Ice Shear | Finalist |
| 2015 | Julia Dahl | Invisible City | Finalist |
| 2015 | Allen Eskens | The Life We Bury | Finalist |
| 2016 | Glen Erik Hamilton | Past Crimes | Winner |
| 2016 | Patricia Abbott | Concrete Angel | Finalist |
| 2016 | Rob Hart | New Yorked | Finalist |
| 2016 | Art Taylor | On the Road with Del & Louise | Finalist |
| 2016 | Brian Panowich | Bull Mountain | Finalist |
| 2017 | Joe Ide | IQ | Winner |
| 2017 | Bill Beverly | Dodgers | Finalist |
| 2017 | Nadine Nettmann | Decanting a Murder | Finalist |
| 2017 | Renee Patrick | Design for Dying | Finalist |
| 2017 | Nicholas Petrie | The Drifter | Finalist |
| 2018 | Kellye Garrett | Hollywood Homicide | Winner |
| 2018 | Jane Harper | The Dry | Finalist |
| 2018 | Jordan Harper | She Rides Shotgun | Finalist |
| 2018 | Christopher Irvin | Ragged; or, The Loveliest Lies of All | Finalist |
| 2018 | Kristen Lepionka | The Last Place You Look | Finalist |
| 2019 | Oyinkan Braithwaite | My Sister, the Serial Killer | Winner |
| 2019 | Tracy Clark | Broken Places | Finalist |
| 2019 | John Copenhaver | Dodging and Burning | Finalist |
| 2019 | Aimee Hix | What Doesn’t Kill You | Finalist |
| 2019 | James A. McLaughlin | Bearskin | Finalist |
| 2020 | Tara Laskowski | One Night Gone | Winner |
| 2020 | Tori Eldridge | The Ninja Daughter | Finalist |
| 2020 | Angie Kim | Miracle Creek | Finalist |
| 2020 | John Vercher | Three-Fifths | Finalist |
| 2020 | Lauren Wilkinson | American Spy | Finalist |
| 2021 | David Heska Wanbli Weiden | Winter Counts | Winner |
| 2021 | Mary Keliikoa | Derailed | Finalist |
| 2021 | Nev March | Murder in Old Bombay | Finalist |
| 2021 | Erica Ruth Neubauer | Murder at the Mena House | Finalist |
| 2021 | Richard Osman | The Thursday Murder Club | Finalist |
| 2022 | Mia P. Manansala | Arsenic and Adobo | Winner |
| 2022 | Yasmin Angoe | Her Name Is Knight | Finalist |
| 2022 | Zakiya Dalila Harris | The Other Black Girl | Finalist |
| 2022 | Heather Levy | Walking Through Needles | Finalist |
| 2022 | Wanda M. Morris | All Her Little Secrets | Finalist |
| 2023 | Nita Prose | The Maid | Winner |
| 2023 | Eli Cranor | Don’t Know Tough | Finalist |
| 2023 | Ramona Emerson | Shutter | Finalist |
| 2023 | Harini Nagendra | The Bangalore Detectives Club | Finalist |
| 2023 | Rob Osler | Devil’s Chew Toy | Finalist |