EDGAR ALLAN POE AWARD FOR BEST FIRST MYSTERY NOVEL 1946-2003
Founded in 1945, the Mystery Writers of America is the preeminent American organization of mystery writers. Each April, the MWA bestows the coveted Edgar Allan Poe Awards for achievement in various categories. The award for Best First Mystery Novel by an American Author was inaugurated in 1946.
 The Blue Edge of Midnight | Jonathon King | 2003 |
| Line of Vision | David Ellis | 2002 |
| A Conspiracy of Paper | David Liss | 2001 |
| The Skull Mantra | Eliot Patterson | 2000 |
| A Cold Day in Paradise | Steve Hamilton | 1999 |
| Los Alamos | Joseph Kanon | 1998 |
| Simple Justice | John Morgan Wilson | 1997 |
| Penance | David Housewright | 1996 |
| The Caveman's Valentine | George Dawes Green | 1995 |
| A Grave Talent | Laurie King | 1994 |
| Black Echo | Michael Connelly | 1993 |
| Slow Motion | Peter Blauner | 1992 |
| Post Mortem | Patricia Cornwell | 1991 |
| The Last Billable Hour | Susan Wolfe | 1990 |
| Carolina Skeletons | David Stout | 1989 |
| Death Among the Strangers | Deidre S. Laiken | 1988 |
| No One Rides for Free | Larry Beinhart | 1987 |
| When the Bough Breaks | Jonathan Kellerman | 1986 |
| Strike Three, Your'e Dead | R. D. Rosen | 1985 |
| The Bay Psalm Book Murder | Will Harriss | 1984 |
| The Butcher's Boy | Thomas Perry | 1983 |
| Chiefs | Stuart Woods | 1982 |
| The Watcher | Kay Nolte Smith | 1981 |
| The Lasko Tangent | Richaed North Patterson | 1980 |
| Killed in the Ratings | William L. DeAndrea | 1979 |
| A French Finish | Robert Ross | 1978 |
| The Thomas Berryman Number | James Patterson | 1977 |
| The Alvarez Journal | Rex Burns | 1976 |
| Fletch | Gregory McDonald | 1975 |
| The Billion Dollar Sure Thing | Paul E. Erdman | 1974 |
| Squaw Point | R. H. Shimer | 1973 |
| Finding Maubee | A. H. Z. Carr | 1972 |
| The Anderson Tapes | Lawrence Sanders | 1971 |
| A Time for Predators | Joe Gores | 1970 |
| Silver Street | E. Richard Johnson | 1969 |
| Act of Fear | Michael Collins | 1968 |
| The Cold War Swap | Ross Thomas | 1967 |
| In the Heat of the Night | John Ball | 1966 |
| Friday the Rabbi Slept Late | Harry Kellerman | 1965 |
| The Florentine Finish | Cornelius Hirschberg | 1964 |
| The Fugitive | Robert L. Fish | 1963 |
| The Green Stone | Suzanne Blanc | 1962 |
| The Man in the Cage | John Holbrooke | 1961 |
| The Grey Flannel Shroud | Henry Slesar | 1960 |
| The Bright Road to Fear | Richard Martin Stern | 1959 |
| Knock and wait a While | William Rawle Weeks | 1958 |
| Rebecca's Pride | Donald McNutt | 1957 |
| The Perfectionist | Lane Kauffman | 1956 |
| Go, Lovely Rose | Jean Potts | 1955 |
| A Kiss Before Dying | Ira Levin | 1954 |
| Don't Cry for Me | William Campbell Gault | 1953 |
| Strange Hold | Mary McMullen | 1952 |
| Nightmare in Manhattan | Thomas Walsh | 1951 |
| What a Body | Alan Green | 1950 |
| The Room Upstairs | Mildred davis | 1949 |
| The Fabulous Clipjoint | Fredric Brown | 1948 |
| The Horizontal Man | Helen Eustis | 1947 |
| Watchful at Night | Julius Fast | 1946 |