Anthony Award for Best Mystery Novel, 1986-2002
This award for the Best Novel of the Year is named for Anthony Boucher, a writer, critic, and fan of the mystery genre. The Anthony is presented each year during the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention for a novel published in the previous year.
 Mystic River | Dennis Lehane | 2002 |
| A Place of Execution | Val McDermid | 2001 |
| In a Dry Season | Peter Robinson | 2000 |
| Blood Work | Michael Connelly | 1999 |
| No Colder Place | S. J. Rozan | 1998 |
| The Poet | Michael Connelly | 1997 |
| Under the Beetle's Collar | Mary Willis Walker | 1996 |
| She Walks These Hills | Sharon McCrumb | 1995 |
| Wolf in the Shadows | Marcia Muller | 1994 |
| Bootlegger's Daughter | Margaret Maron | 1993 |
| The Last Detective | Peter Lovesey | 1992 |
| G is for Gumshoe | Sue Grafton | 1991 |
| The Sirens Sing of Murder | Sarah Caudwell | 1990 |
| The Silence of the Lambs | Thomas Harris | 1989 |
| Skinwalkers | Tony Hillerman | 1988 |
| C is for Corpse | Sue Grafton | 1987 |
| B is for Burglar | Sue Grafton | 1986 |