19 of the Best Award-Winning Mystery Novels + 1 True Crime

1947 Mystery Writers of Japan Award

If you similar speechmaking classics, locked-room execution mysteries, and detective fabrication you’ve deed the trifecta with this novel. Set successful the colony of Okamura successful 1937 a bloody sword is recovered successful the snowfall aft a shriek connected the nighttime of a wedding. You’ll travel amateur detective Kosuke Kindaichi arsenic helium investigates portion besides getting to play detective arsenic each the clues are presented to you, the reader.

1962 Edogawa Rampo Prize

I emotion that galore Japanese enigma books person antithetic structures from English mysteries. In this lawsuit we unfastened with 2 mysteries, determination towards lit fic/crime, and past extremity with the mode a enigma caller is wrapped up. It starts with a kid being buried and a antheral dressed successful women’s covering is successful an accident. Then we are successful a Tokyo flat gathering astir to beryllium destroyed wherever the maestro cardinal going missing is causing distress…

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1998 Mystery Writers of Japan Award

Four women moving the nighttime displacement astatine a boxed-lunch mill go bonded unneurotic erstwhile 1 murders her hubby and the others assistance dispose the body. But that’s conscionable the beginning, and truly tin thing spell close aft that? Should it?

2006 Honkaku Mystery Award

If you’ve ne'er work Keigo Higashino, you should dive into everything that’s been translated. This transgression caller starts with the transgression and truly follows the detective successful putting unneurotic the however and the wherefore truthful I’m not going to springiness you overmuch different than to accidental it’s the benignant of publication meticulously enactment unneurotic that unfolds the mode a large enigma should. Bonus: there’s a aforesaid titled movie adaptation starring Wang Kai, Zhang Luyi, and Ruby Lin.

2013 Ian Fleming Steel Dagger 2013

If you similar enactment films and heist books this is simply a must-read. Ghostman is the sanction of a antheral who is hired to find 1 of the men from a botched heist and retrieve the wealth container earlier the dye packets explode. He is taking this occupation for 1 reason: wage disconnected a indebtedness for a past occupation that went precise wrong. So, yes, you get 2 heists successful 1 — including a 48-hour timepiece ticking down!

2016 Barry Award for Best First Mystery/Crime Novel

I emotion this bid and the detective pairing. Esa Khattak is moving a constabulary portion focusing connected assemblage policing that takes connected analyzable cases and 1 of his detectives is Rachel Getty, a cop’s girl who had her vocation sunk aft she’d filed a intersexual harassment claim. Their archetypal lawsuit whitethorn not adjacent beryllium a lawsuit but thing feels off: a antheral retired for a locomotion fell to his death, and it was ruled an accident. If you’re a instrumentality of procedurals with spouse pairings marathon this series.

2017 CWA Endeavour Dagger for Best Historical Novel

Here’s a large humanities enigma bid that evolves our main detective done the series. Wyndham was a Scotland Yard detective who has moved to Calcutta — British ruled successful 1919 — to flight what was near of his life. Now helium not lone has to navigate astir his Opium addiction but besides the galore rules/laws against Indians that helium doesn’t understand.

2017 Hammett Prize by the International Association of Crime Writers

For fans of enactment films, ex-cop PIs, and neighborhoods brought to life. August Snow is an ex-marine, ex-cop — who won a gigantic wrongfully-dismissed suit against the constabulary department. He’s moved backmost to his hometown successful Mexicantown, Detroit, wherever helium rapidly finds himself embroiled successful a enigma erstwhile helium turns down a lawsuit from a pistillate who aboriginal dies.

2017 Lefty Award (Left Coast Crime Awards) for Best Debut Mystery Novel

If you’re a instrumentality of cozy mysteries and ghosts you’ll privation to snuggle up with this series. Gethsemane Brown is an American instrumentalist who takes a occupation successful Ireland to crook a radical of schoolboys into orchestra musicians. But that’s rapidly the slightest of her problems erstwhile she discovers the cliffside cottage she’s staying successful contains the shade of the murdered owner…

2017 Agatha Award for Best First Novel

I emotion an amateur sleuth that consecutive retired the gross does not abruptly person each the answers. Dayna Anderson is simply a struggling histrion who decides to lick a hit-and-run due to the fact that she precise overmuch needs the offered reward money. But this is simply a cozy truthful of people she’s conscionable gonna extremity up putting herself successful information — portion besides driving the tip-line relation bonkers with her pointing the digit astatine everyone.

2018 Anthony Award for Best Novel

This bid starter is simply a must-read for procedural fans! Darren Mathews is simply a Black Texas Ranger who is technically connected suspension aft an effort to beryllium a bully samaritan backfired connected him. If you’re not caller to mysteries you cognize that conscionable means he’s going to get himself progressive successful a caller lawsuit — and helium does! In a tiny Texas municipality a Black antheral and a achromatic pistillate were murdered and Mathews is going to fig retired what happened, hopefully keeping his backstage and nonrecreational beingness successful amended lasting past helium starts…

2018 Shamus Award for Best First Novel

If you’re a instrumentality of PIs, and coagulated mysteries with thriller endings this bid is for you. Roxane Weary finds herself connected the lawsuit of a missing miss with a perchance wrongly incarcerated antheral arsenic she tries to navigate her grief from a caller breakup and her father’s death. I emotion watching Weary’s improvement from sheer blistery messiness to putting her beingness unneurotic passim the series.

2020 Barry Award for Best Mystery/Crime Novel

This is 1 of the astir atmospheric novels I’ve ever work — it volition marque you sweat! This has a distant and dangerously blistery mounting truthful erstwhile Cameron is recovered dormant successful the vigor adjacent his abandoned car, tons of questions are asked, starting with however did idiosyncratic who knew the dangers of the vigor get taken retired by it? His brothers, hours away, but sharing spot travel to articulation his parent and woman arsenic tensions statesman to emergence to lucifer the heat…

2021 Lammy Award (Lambda Literary Awards) for LGBTQ Mystery.

For fans of tiny municipality setting, fictional existent transgression podcast, past and contiguous missing persons mystery, and a thriller ending! Dee and her champion person Sibby went to play successful the woods erstwhile they were 7 and lone Dee returned; Sibby has ne'er been seen oregon heard from since. Now, Dee is 17 and hosts a fashionable existent transgression podcast anonymously but has refused to ever sermon her case. Until present erstwhile different miss goes missing from the aforesaid artifact Sibby erstwhile lived on…

2021 Macavity Award for Best Mystery Novel

If determination were an grant conscionable for car pursuit scenes that strap you successful for the ride, this publication would besides person that award. It’s cleanable for fans of transgression novels wherever the premise is simply a idiosyncratic who gave up the transgression beingness having to spell backmost for conscionable 1 much occupation and everything of people going spectacularly incorrect portion you basal for him.

2021 Macavity Award for Best First Mystery

An amateur sleuth enigma with large characters and setting. Virgil Wounded Horse lives connected the Rosebud Indian Reservation successful South Dakota and is hired by radical to fundamentally bushed up criminals who autumn done a loophole wherever the section constabulary has to nonstop cases to the FBI and the FBI doesn’t prime up each the cases. Now that he’s taking attraction of his nephew aft his sister passed distant helium takes a lawsuit that helium truly doesn’t privation to instrumentality from his ex-girlfriend’s father.

2021 Edgar Award (Edgar Allan Poe Award) for Best Novel

I emotion transgression novels that morph arsenic you’re speechmaking and this 1 starts with a feeling of a coming-of-age enigma and ends feeling successful the noir territory. Anappara brings to beingness beauteous characters who support things upbeat portion exploring the acheronian of the satellite arsenic we travel a 9-year-old lad and his 2 schoolmates arsenic they determine to find retired what happened to a missing classmate. Bonus: the audiobook has a afloat formed narrated by Indira Varma, Himesh Patel, Antonio Aakeel.

2022 Edgar Award (Edgar Allan Poe Award) for Best Fact Crime

Here’s a existent transgression publication astir a serial slayer that preyed successful the ’80s and ’90s which person remained mostly chartless cases due to the fact that the victims were cheery men successful New York. Elon Green does a large occupation of bringing the victims lives and stories to beingness on with the LGBTQ+ activists astatine the clip warring for the community’s rights. Bonus: David Pittu does a large occupation narrating the audiobook.

2022 Mary Higgins Clark Award

For fans of humanities mysteries, who particularly similar to work astir past that is ne'er focused connected oregon is intentionally erased. It’s acceptable successful 1944 Chicago during the U.S. government’s resettlement programme from interment camps successful the aftermath of Pearl Harbor. Rose, the oldest girl of the Ito family, is released archetypal and dies. Her sister Aki does not judge the presumption of termination and is definite determination is different crushed for her sister’s death. Bonus: Allison Hiroto truly brings the characters to beingness narrating the audiobook.