# Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best First Novel

The Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best First Novel was established in 1946.
Only debut novels written by authors with United States citizenship are eligible and may be published in hardcover, paperback, or e-book. If an American author has published a novel of any genre or under any name previously, they are ineligible for the award, unless the novel was self-published. Authors ineligible for the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best First Novel may be eligible for the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel or the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Paperback Original.
Winners for the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best First Novel are listed below.

## Recipients
### 1940s

1940s Best First Novel winners :
| Year | Author | Title | Result |
| 1946 | Julius Fast | Watchful at Night | Winner |
| 1947 | Helen Eustis | The Horizontal Man | Winner |
| 1948 | Fredric Brown | The Fabulous Clipjoint | Winner |
| 1949 | Mildred B. Davis | The Room Upstairs | Winner |
| 1949 | Herbert Brean | Wilders Walk Away | Finalist |
| 1949 | Richard Ellington | Shoot the Works | Finalist |

### 1950s

1950s Best First Novel winners :
| Year | Author | Title | Result |
| 1950 | Alan Green | What A Body | Winner |
| 1950 | Geoffrey Holiday Hall | The End Is Known | Finalist |
| 1950 | William Krasner | Walk the Dark Streets | Finalist |
| 1950 | G. G. Lobell and N. D. Lobell | The Shadow and the Blot | Finalist |
| 1950 | Evelyn Piper | The Innocent | Finalist |
| 1950 | Bart Spicer | The Dark Light | Finalist |
| 1951 | Thomas Walsh | Nightmare in Manhattan | Winner |
| 1951 | Patricia Highsmith | Strangers on a Train | Finalist |
| 1951 | Thaddeus O'Finn | Happy Holiday! | Finalist |
| 1951 | Thomas Sterling | The House Without a Door | Finalist |
| 1952 | Mary McMullen | Strangle Hold | Winner |
| 1952 | Lee Herrington | Carry My Coffin Slowly | Finalist |
| 1952 | David William Meredith | The Christmas Card Murders | Finalist |
| 1952 | Thurston Scott | Cure It with Honey (I’ll Get Mine) | Finalist |
| 1952 | Robert B. Sinclair | The Eleventh Hour | Finalist |
| 1953 | William Campbell Gault | Don't Cry for Me | Winner |
| 1953 | Peggy Bacon | The Inward Eye | Finalist |
| 1954 | Ira Levin | A Kiss Before Dying | Winner |
| 1955 | Jean Potts | Go, Lovely Rose | Winner |
| 1956 | Lane Kauffman | The Perfectionist | Winner |
| 1956 | Harold R. Daniels | In His Blood | Finalist |
| 1956 | Fred Levon | Much Ado About Murder | Finalist |
| 1957 | Donald McNutt Douglass | Rebecca's Pride | Winner |
| 1958 | William Rawle Weeks | Knock and Wait a While | Winner |
| 1958 | Warren Carrier | Bay of the Damned | Finalist |
| 1958 | James Cross | Root of Evil | Finalist |
| 1959 | Richard Martin Stern | The Bright Road to Fear | Winner |
| 1959 | Edgar Bohle | The Man Who Disappeared | Finalist |
| 1959 | Frances Duncombe | Death of a Spinster | Finalist |
| 1959 | Harry Olesker | Now Will You Try for Murder? | Finalist |

### 1960s

1960s Best First Novel winners :
| Year | Author | Title | Result |
| 1960 | Henry Slesar | The Grey Flannel Shroud | Winner |
| 1960 | Mary O. Rank | A Dream of Falling | Finalist |
| 1961 | John Holbrooke Vance | The Man in the Cage | Winner |
| 1961 | William Johnston | The Marriage Cage | Finalist |
| 1961 | David McCarthy | The Killing at Big Tree | Finalist |
| 1961 | Dell Shannon | Case Pending | Finalist |
| 1961 | Donald E. Westlake | The Mercenaries | Finalist |
| 1962 | Suzanne Blanc | The Green Stone | Winner |
| 1962 | Malcolm Braly | Felony Tank | Finalist |
| 1962 | Olivia Dwight | Close His Eyes | Finalist |
| 1962 | Alex Gordon | The Cipher | Finalist |
| 1962 | Brèni James | Night of the Kill | Finalist |
| 1962 | Winfred Van Atta | Shock Treatment | Finalist |
| 1963 | Robert L. Fish | The Fugitive | Winner |
| 1963 | Daniel Broun | Counterweight | Finalist |
| 1963 | Richard Unekis | The Chase | Finalist |
| 1964 | Cornelius Hirschberg | Florentine Finish | Winner |
| 1964 | M. Fagyas | The Fifth Woman | Finalist |
| 1964 | Frances Rickett | The Prowler | Finalist |
| 1964 | James Michael Ullman | The Neon Haystack | Finalist |
| 1965 | Harry Kemelman | Friday the Rabbi Slept Late | Winner |
| 1965 | Amanda Cross | In the Last Analysis | Finalist |
| 1965 | Rubin Weber | The Grave-Maker’s House | Finalist |
| 1966 | John Ball | In the Heat of the Night | Winner |
| 1966 | Jack D. Hunter | The Expendable Spy | Finalist |
| 1966 | Vincent McConnor | The French Doll | Finalist |
| 1966 | Alexandra Roudybush | Before the Ball Was Over | Finalist |
| 1967 | Ross Thomas | The Cold War Swap | Winner |
| 1967 | Babs Deal | Fancy’s Knell | Finalist |
| 1967 | Robert Elegant | A Kind of Treason | Finalist |
| 1967 | George Lanning | The Pedestal | Finalist |
| 1968 | Michael Collins | Act of Fear | Winner |
| 1968 | James Dawson | Hell Gate | Finalist |
| 1968 | P. E. H. Dunston | Mortissimo | Finalist |
| 1968 | Charles Early | The Tigers Are Hungry | Finalist |
| 1968 | John Redgate | The Killing Season | Finalist |
| 1969 | E. Richard Johnson | Tie: Silver Street | Winner |
| 1969 | Dorothy Uhnak | The Bait | Winner |
| 1969 | Lawrence Kamarck | The Dinosaur | Finalist |

### 1970s

1970s Best First Novel winners :
| Year | Author | Title | Result |
| 1970 | Joe Gores | A Time of Predators | Winner |
| 1970 | Naomi Hintze | You’ll Like My Mother | Finalist |
| 1970 | Myrick Land | Quicksand | Finalist |
| 1971 | Lawrence Sanders | The Anderson Tapes | Winner |
| 1971 | J. E. Brown | Incident at 125th Street | Finalist |
| 1971 | Stanley Cohen | Taking Gary Feldman | Finalist |
| 1971 | Tony Hillerman | The Blessing Way | Finalist |
| 1971 | Sidney Sheldon | The Naked Face | Finalist |
| 1972 | A. H. Z. Carr | Finding Maubee | Winner |
| 1972 | Hildegarde Dolson | To Spite Her Face | Finalist |
| 1972 | Michael Lewin | Ask the Right Question | Finalist |
| 1972 | Bill Pronzini | The Stalker | Finalist |
| 1972 | Martin Cruz Smith | Gypsy in Amber | Finalist |
| 1973 | R. H. Shimer | Squaw Point | Winner |
| 1973 | Arthur Goldstein | A Person Shouldn’t Die Like That | Finalist |
| 1973 | William H. Hallahan | The Dead of Winter | Finalist |
| 1973 | Frank Leonard | Box 100 | Finalist |
| 1973 | Thomas A. Roberts | The Heart of the Dog | Finalist |
| 1974 | Paul Erdman | The Billion Dollar Sure Thing | Winner |
| 1974 | Clarence Jackson | Kicked to Death by a Camel | Finalist |
| 1974 | Charles Larson | Someone’s Death | Finalist |
| 1974 | Justin Scott | Many Happy Returns | Finalist |
| 1974 | Michael Wolfe | Man on a String | Finalist |
| 1975 | Gregory Mcdonald | Fletch | Winner |
| 1975 | Dominic Koski and Virgil Scott | The Kreutzman Formula | Finalist |
| 1975 | Brown Meggs | Saturday Games | Finalist |
| 1975 | Nicholas Meyer | Target Practice | Finalist |
| 1975 | Vern E. Smith | The Jones Man | Finalist |
| 1976 | Rex Burns | The Alvarez Journal | Winner |
| 1976 | Max Crawford | Waltz Across Texas | Finalist |
| 1976 | Thomas Klop | Harmattan | Finalist |
| 1976 | Lynn Meyer | Paperback Thriller | Finalist |
| 1976 | A. J. Russell | The Devalino Caper | Finalist |
| 1977 | James Patterson | The Thomas Berryman Number | Winner |
| 1977 | Alan Furst | Your Day in the Barrel | Finalist |
| 1977 | Steve Knickmeyer | Straight | Finalist |
| 1977 | Janice Law | The Big Payoff | Finalist |
| 1977 | Marie R. Reno | Final Proof | Finalist |
| 1978 | Robert Ross | A French Finish | Winner |
| 1978 | Charles A. Goodrum | Dewey Decimated | Finalist |
| 1978 | Bob Randall | The Fan | Finalist |
| 1979 | William L. DeAndrea | Killed in the Ratings | Winner |
| 1979 | Thomas L. Dunne | The Scourge | Finalist |
| 1979 | William Hjortsberg | Falling Angel | Finalist |
| 1979 | Craig Jones | Blood Secrets | Finalist |
| 1979 | Donald A. Stanwood | The Memory of Eva Ryker | Finalist |

### 1980s

1980s Best First Novel winners :
| Year | Author | Title | Result |
| 1980 | Richard North Patterson | The Lasko Tangent | Winner |
| 1980 | Peter Heath Fine | Night Trains | Finalist |
| 1980 | John Logue | Follow the Leader | Finalist |
| 1981 | K. Nolte Smith | The Watcher | Winner |
| 1981 | Betsy Aswad | Winds of the Old Days | Finalist |
| 1981 | Oliver Banks | The Rembrandt Panel | Finalist |
| 1981 | David Carkeet | Double Negative | Finalist |
| 1981 | Susanne Jaffe | The Other Ann Fletcher | Finalist |
| 1982 | Stuart Woods | Chiefs | Winner |
| 1982 | Tom Hyman | Giant Killer | Finalist |
| 1982 | Ernest Larsen | Not a Through Street | Finalist |
| 1982 | Geoffrey Miller | The Black Glove | Finalist |
| 1982 | Anthony Olcott | Murder at the Red October | Finalist |
| 1983 | Thomas Perry | The Butcher's Boy | Winner |
| 1983 | S. F. X. Dean | By Frequent Anguish | Finalist |
| 1983 | Richard Hughes | Unholy Communion | Finalist |
| 1983 | John Katzenbach | In the Heat of the Summer | Finalist |
| 1983 | Ernest Savage | Two If By Sea | Finalist |
| 1984 | Will Harriss | The Bay Psalm Book Murder | Winner |
| 1984 | Herbert Resnicow | The Gold Solution | Finalist |
| 1984 | Mark Schorr | Red Diamond, Private Eye | Finalist |
| 1984 | Andrew Taylor | Caroline Minuscule | Finalist |
| 1984 | Carolyn Wheat | Dead Man’s Thoughts | Finalist |
| 1985 | R. D. Rosen | Strike Three, You're Dead | Winner |
| 1985 | Jack Early | A Creative Kind of Killer | Finalist |
| 1985 | Doug Hornig | Foul Shot | Finalist |
| 1985 | Orania Papazoglou | Sweet, Savage Death | Finalist |
| 1985 | Alison Smith | Someone Else’s Grave | Finalist |
| 1986 | Jonathan Kellerman | When the Bough Breaks | Winner |
| 1986 | Tony Fennelly | The Glory Hole Murders | Finalist |
| 1986 | Dick Lochte | Sleeping Dog | Finalist |
| 1986 | Daniel Stashower | The Adventure of the Ectoplasmic Man | Finalist |
| 1987 | Larry Beinhart | No One Rides for Free | Winner |
| 1987 | Gary Devon | Lost | Finalist |
| 1987 | Richard Hyer | Riceburner | Finalist |
| 1987 | Joseph Koenig | Floater | Finalist |
| 1987 | Mike Lupica | Dead Air | Finalist |
| 1988 | Deidre S. Laiken | Death Among Strangers | Winner |
| 1988 | Parnell Hall | Detective | Finalist |
| 1988 | John Lantigua | Heat Lightning | Finalist |
| 1988 | Dallas Murphy | Lover Man | Finalist |
| 1988 | Domenic Stansberry | The Spoiler | Finalist |
| 1989 | David Stout | Carolina Skeletons | Winner |
| 1989 | Mary Lou Bennett | Murder Once Done | Finalist |
| 1989 | J. Madison Davis | The Murder of Frau Schutz | Finalist |
| 1989 | Elizabeth George | A Great Deliverance | Finalist |
| 1989 | Shelly Reuben | Julian Solo | Finalist |

### 1990s

1990s Best First Novel winners :
| Year | Author | Title | Result |
| 1990 | Susan Wolfe | The Last Billable Hour | Winner |
| 1990 | Barry Berg | Hide and Seek | Finalist |
| 1990 | Susan Taylor Chehak | The Story of Annie D. | Finalist |
| 1990 | Melodie Johnson Howe | The Mother Shadow | Finalist |
| 1990 | Bruce Zimmerman | Blood Under the Bridge | Finalist |
| 1991 | Patricia Cornwell | Postmortem | Winner |
| 1991 | Gary Amo | Come Nightfall | Finalist |
| 1991 | W. Edward Blain | Passion Play | Finalist |
| 1991 | Edna Buchanan | Nobody Lives Forever | Finalist |
| 1991 | Walter Mosley | Devil in a Blue Dress | Finalist |
| 1992 | Peter Blauner | Slow Motion Riot | Winner |
| 1992 | Terence Faherty | Deadstick | Finalist |
| 1992 | Marcy Heidish | Deadline | Finalist |
| 1992 | Mary Willis Walker | Zero at the Bone | Finalist |
| 1992 | Don Winslow | A Cool Breeze on the Underground | Finalist |
| 1993 | Michael Connelly | The Black Echo | Winner |
| 1993 | Christine Andreae | Trail of Murder | Finalist |
| 1993 | Jane Stanton Hitchcock | Trick of the Eye | Finalist |
| 1993 | Craig Smith | Ladystinger | Finalist |
| 1994 | Laurie R. King | A Grave Talent | Winner |
| 1994 | Mark Frost | The List of Seven | Finalist |
| 1994 | Darian North | Criminal Seduction | Finalist |
| 1994 | Manuel Ramos | The Ballad of Rocky Ruiz | Finalist |
| 1994 | David Rosenbaum | Zaddik | Finalist |
| 1995 | George Dawes Green | The Caveman's Valentine | Winner |
| 1995 | Janet Evanovich | One for the Money | Finalist |
| 1995 | Carol O'Connell | Mallory’s Oracle | Finalist |
| 1995 | Barbara Parker | Suspicion of Innocence | Finalist |
| 1995 | Doug J. Swanson | Big Town | Finalist |
| 1996 | David Housewright | Penance | Winner |
| 1996 | Kevin Allman | Tight Shot | Finalist |
| 1996 | Martha C. Lawrence | Murder in Scorpio | Finalist |
| 1996 | Allan Pedrazas | The Harry Chronicles | Finalist |
| 1996 | David J. Walker | Fixed in His Folly | Finalist |
| 1997 | John Morgan Wilson | Simple Justice | Winner |
| 1997 | Margaret Moseley | Bonita Faye | Finalist |
| 1997 | Sharon Kay Penman | The Queen’s Man | Finalist |
| 1997 | Charles Todd | A Test of Wills | Finalist |
| 1997 | Michael C. White | A Brother’s Blood | Finalist |
| 1998 | Joseph Kanon | Los Alamos | Winner |
| 1998 | Suzanne Berne | A Crime in the Neighborhood | Finalist |
| 1998 | Philip Reed | Bird Dog | Finalist |
| 1998 | Lisa See | Flower Net | Finalist |
| 1998 | K. J. A. Wishnia | 23 Shades of Black | Finalist |
| 1999 | Steve Hamilton | A Cold Day in Paradise | Winner |
| 1999 | Ira Genberg | Reckless Homicide | Finalist |
| 1999 | Christopher Reich | Numbered Account | Finalist |
| 1999 | Jen Sacks | Nice | Finalist |
| 1999 | D. R. Schanker | A Criminal Appeal | Finalist |

### 2000s

2000s Best First Novel winners :
| Year | Author | Title | Result |
| 2000 | Eliot Pattison | The Skull Mantra | Winner |
| 2000 | Arthur W. Bahr | Certifiably Insane | Finalist |
| 2000 | Dave Barry | Big Trouble | Finalist |
| 2000 | Boston Teran | God Is a Bullet | Finalist |
| 2000 | Paula L. Woods | Inner City Blues | Finalist |
| 2001 | David Liss | A Conspiracy of Paper | Winner |
| 2001 | Scott Phillips | The Ice Harvest | Finalist |
| 2001 | Qiu Xiaolong | Death of a Red Heroine | Finalist |
| 2001 | Marcia Simpson | Crow in Stolen Colors | Finalist |
| 2001 | Peter Moore Smith | Raveling | Finalist |
| 2002 | David Ellis | Line of Vision | Winner |
| 2002 | C. J. Box | Open Season | Finalist |
| 2002 | Gabriel Cohen | Red Hook | Finalist |
| 2002 | Victor Gischler | Gun Monkeys | Finalist |
| 2002 | Denise Hamilton | The Jasmine Trade | Finalist |
| 2003 | Jonathon King | The Blue Edge of Midnight | Winner |
| 2003 | Stephen J. Clark | Southern Latitudes | Finalist |
| 2003 | Kam Majd | High Wire | Finalist |
| 2003 | Ben Rehder | Buck Fever | Finalist |
| 2003 | David Rosenfelt | Open and Shut | Finalist |
| 2004 | Rebecca Pawel | Death of a Nationalist | Winner |
| 2004 | Martha Conway | 12 Bliss Street | Finalist |
| 2004 | Robert Heilbrun | Offer of Proof | Finalist |
| 2004 | James Hime | The Night of the Dance | Finalist |
| 2004 | Olen Steinhauer | The Bridge of Sighs | Finalist |
| 2005 | Don Lee | Country of Origin | Winner |
| 2005 | Richard Aleas | Little Girl Lost | Finalist |
| 2005 | Charles Benoit | Relative Danger | Finalist |
| 2005 | Liam Callanan | The Cloud Atlas | Finalist |
| 2005 | Michael Koryta | Tonight I Said Goodbye | Finalist |
| 2005 | Bob Morris | Bahamarama | Finalist |
| 2006 | Theresa Schwegel | Officer Down | Winner |
| 2006 | Megan Abbott | Die a Little | Finalist |
| 2006 | Brian Freeman | Immoral | Finalist |
| 2006 | Scott Frost | Run the Risk | Finalist |
| 2006 | Alison Gaylin | Hide Your Eyes | Finalist |
| 2007 | Alex Berenson | The Faithful Spy | Winner |
| 2007 | Gillian Flynn | Sharp Objects | Finalist |
| 2007 | John Hart | King of Lies | Finalist |
| 2007 | Steve Hockensmith | Holmes on the Range | Finalist |
| 2007 | Cornelia Read | A Field of Darkness | Finalist |
| 2008 | Tana French | In the Woods | Winner |
| 2008 | Gordon Campbell | Missing Witness | Finalist |
| 2008 | Christopher Goffard | Snitch Jacket | Finalist |
| 2008 | Craig McDonald | Head Games | Finalist |
| 2008 | Derek Nikitas | Pyres | Finalist |
| 2009 | Francie Lin | The Foreigner | Winner |
| 2009 | Tom Epperson | The Kind One | Finalist |
| 2009 | David Fuller | Sweetsmoke | Finalist |
| 2009 | Charlie Newton | Calumet City | Finalist |
| 2009 | Justin Peacock | A Cure for Night | Finalist |

### 2010s

2010s Best First Novel winners and finalists :
| Year | Author | Title | Result |
| 2010 | Stefanie Pintoff | In the Shadow of Gotham | Winner |
| 2010 | David Cristofano | The Girl She Used To Be | Shortlist |
| 2010 | Bryan Gruley | Starvation Lake | Shortlist |
| 2010 | Heather Gudenkauf | The Weight of Silence | Shortlist |
| 2010 | Sophie Littlefield | A Bad Day for Sorry | Shortlist |
| 2010 | Attica Locke | Black Water Rising | Shortlist |
| 2011 | Bruce DeSilva | Rogue Island | Winner |
| 2011 | Paul Doiron | The Poacher’s Son | Shortlist |
| 2011 | David Gordon | The Serialist | Shortlist |
| 2011 | Nic Pizzolatto | Galveston | Shortlist |
| 2011 | James Thompson | Snow Angels | Shortlist |
| 2012 | Lori Roy | Bent Road | Winner |
| 2012 | Edward Conlon | Red on Red | Shortlist |
| 2012 | David Duffy | Last to Fold | Shortlist |
| 2012 | Leonard Rosen | All Cry Chaos | Shortlist |
| 2012 | Steve Ulfelder | Purgatory Chasm | Shortlist |
| 2013 | Chris Pavone | The Expats | Winner |
| 2013 | Kim Fay | The Map of Lost Memories | Shortlist |
| 2013 | Daniel Friedman | Don’t Ever Get Old | Shortlist |
| 2013 | Susan Elia MacNeal | Mr. Churchill’s Secretary | Shortlist |
| 2013 | Matthew Quirk | The 500 | Shortlist |
| 2013 | Michael Sears | Black Fridays | Shortlist |
| 2014 | Jason Matthews | Red Sparrow | Winner |
| 2014 | Matthew Guinn | The Resurrectionist | Shortlist |
| 2014 | Roger Hobbs | Ghostman | Shortlist |
| 2014 | Becky Masterman | Rage Against the Dying | Shortlist |
| 2014 | Kimberly McCreight | Reconstructing Amelia | Shortlist |
| 2015 | Tom Bouman | Dry Bones in the Valley | Winner |
| 2015 | Julia Dahl | Invisible City | Shortlist |
| 2015 | Allen Eskens | The Life We Bury | Shortlist |
| 2015 | C. B. McKenzie | Bad Country | Shortlist |
| 2015 | Adam Sternbergh | Shovel Ready | Shortlist |
| 2015 | Ashley Weaver | Murder at the Brightwell | Shortlist |
| 2016 | Viet Thanh Nguyen | The Sympathizer | Winner |
| 2016 | Glen Erik Hamilton | Past Crimes | Shortlist |
| 2016 | David Joy | Where All Light Tends to Go | Shortlist |
| 2016 | Jessica Knoll | Luckiest Girl Alive | Shortlist |
| 2016 | Rebecca Scherm | Unbecoming | Shortlist |
| 2017 | Flynn Berry | Under the Harrow | Winner |
| 2017 | Bill Beverly | Dodgers | Shortlist |
| 2017 | Joe Ide | IQ | Shortlist |
| 2017 | Nicholas Petrie | The Drifter | Shortlist |
| 2017 | Lili Wright | Dancing with the Tiger | Shortlist |
| 2017 | Heather Young | The Lost Girls | Shortlist |
| 2018 | Jordan Harper | She Rides Shotgun | Winner |
| 2018 | Deborah E. Kennedy | Tornado Weather | Shortlist |
| 2018 | Winnie M Li | Dark Chapter | Shortlist |
| 2018 | Melissa Scrivner Love | Lola | Shortlist |
| 2018 | Emily Ruskovich | Idaho | Shortlist |
| 2019 | James A. McLaughlin | Bearskin | Winner |
| 2019 | Bradley Harper | A Knife in the Fog | Shortlist |
| 2019 | Debra Jo Immergut | The Captives | Shortlist |
| 2019 | Nova Jacobs | The Last Equation of Isaac Severy | Shortlist |
| 2019 | Delia Owens | Where the Crawdads Sing | Shortlist |

### 2020s

2020s Best First Novel winners and finalists :
| Year | Author | Title | Result |
| 2020 | Angie Kim | Miracle Creek | Winner |
| 2020 | Samantha Downing | My Lovely Wife | Shortlist |
| 2020 | John McMahon | The Good Detective | Shortlist |
| 2020 | Lara Prescott | The Secrets We Kept | Shortlist |
| 2020 | John Vercher | Three-Fifths | Shortlist |
| 2020 | Lauren Wilkinson | American Spy | Shortlist |
| 2021 | Caitlin Mullen | Please See Us | Winner |
| 2021 | Nev March | Murder in Old Bombay | Shortlist |
| 2021 | Elisabeth Thomas | Catherine House | Shortlist |
| 2021 | David Heska Wanbli Weiden | Winter Counts | Shortlist |
| 2021 | Stephanie Wrobel | Darling Rose Gold | Shortlist |
| 2022 | Erin Flanigan | Deer Season | Winner |
| 2022 | Vera Kurian | Never Saw Me Coming | Shortlist |
| 2022 | Fabian Nicieza | Suburban Dicks | Shortlist |
| 2022 | JoAnne Tompkins | What Comes After | Shortlist |
| 2022 | Caitlin Wahrer | The Damage | Shortlist |
| 2023 | Eli Cranor | Don’t Know Tough | Winner |
| 2023 | Erin E. Adams | Jackal | Shortlist |
| 2023 | Ramona Emerson | Shutter | Shortlist |
| 2023 | Katie Gutierrez | More Than You’ll Ever Know | Shortlist |
| 2023 | Grace D. Li | Portrait of a Thief | Shortlist |
| 2024 | I.S. Berry | The Peacock and the Sparrow | Winner |
| 2024 | Amy Chua | The Golden Gate | Shortlist |
| 2024 | Ken Jaworowski | Small Town Sins | Shortlist |
| 2024 | Kristen Loesch | The Last Russian Doll | Shortlist |
| 2024 | Ritu Mukerji | Murder by Degrees | Shortlist |