Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Paperback Original

The Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Paperback or eBook Original was established in 1970.

The award honors the best mystery book that is initially printed as a paperback or eBook without a hardcover edition.^[1] EBooks must be published by a reputable publisher, as determined by the Mystery Writers of America.^[1] American authors' debut novels are not eligible for the award, though they are eligible for the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best First Novel.^[1]

The Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Paperback Original winners are listed below.

Winners

1970s

1970s Best Paperback Original winners^[2]

Year	Author	Title	Result	Ref.
1970	Scott C. S. Stone	The Dragon's Eye	Winner
	Alan Caillou	Assault on Ming	Shortlist
	Elsie Cromwell	The Governess
	Michael Kurland	A Plague of Spies
	Richard Stark	The Sour Lemon Score
1971	Dan J. Marlowe	Flashpoint	Winner
	Jack Ehrlich	The Drowning	Shortlist
	Matt Gattzden	O.D. at Sweet Claude’s
	Ron Goulart	After Things Fell Apart
	John Lange	Grave Descend
	Peter McCurtin	Mafioso
1972	Frank McAuliffe	For Murder I Charge More	Winner
	Philip Atlee	The White Wolverine Contract	Shortlist
	William F. Nolan	Space for Hire
	Alicen White	Nor Spell, Nor Charm
	Charles Williams	And the Deep Blue Sea
1973	Richard Wormser	The Invader	Winner
	Daniel Banko	Not Dead Yet	Shortlist
	Richard Neely	The Smith Conspiracy
	Charles Runyon	Power Kill
1974	Will Perry	Death of an Informer	Winner
	Clive Cussler	The Mediterranean Caper	Shortlist
	Leo P. Kelley	Deadlocked!
	Dinah Palmtag	Starling Street
	Roger L. Simon	The Big Fix
1975	Roy Winsor	The Corpse That Walked	Winner
	Richard Forrest	Who Killed Mr. Garland’s Mistress?	Shortlist
	R. R. Irvine	Jump Cut
	Curtis Stevens	The Gravy Train Hit
	Don Tracy	Flats Fixed-Among Other Things
1976	John R. Feegel	Autopsy	Winner
	Milt Machlin and Robin Moore	The Set-Up	Shortlist
	Jacqueline Park	Charlie’s Back in Town
	Simon Quinn	The Midas Coffin
	David Vowell	The Assassinator
1977	Gregory Mcdonald	Confess, Fletch	Winner
	Daniel da Cruz	The Captive City	Shortlist
	Kenn Davis and John Stanley	The Dark Side
	Donald Hamilton	The Retaliators
	R. R. Irvine	Freeze Frame
1978	Mike Jahn	The Quark Maneuver	Winner
	Lawrence Block	Time to Murder and Create	Shortlist
	Donald Hamilton	The Terrorizers
	Marc Olden	They’ve Killed Anna
1979	Frank Bandy	Deceit and Deadly Lies	Winner
	David Anthony	Stud Game	Shortlist
	Elmore Leonard	The Switch
	Phillip Margolin	Heartstone
	Graham Masterton	Charnel House

1980s

1980s Best Paperback Original winners^[2]

Year	Author	Title	Result	Ref.
1980	William L. DeAndrea	The Hog Murders	Winner
	Sean Flannery	The Kremlin Conspiracy	Shortlist
	David Heller	Vortex
	Glenn Kezer	The Queen Is Dead
	Michael Kurland	The Infernal Device
1981	Bill Granger	Public Murders	Winner
	Thomas H. Cook	Blood Innocents	Shortlist
	John Dunning	Looking for Ginger North
	Murray Sinclair	Tough Luck, L.A.
1982	L. A. Morse	The Old Dick	Winner
	John Dunning	Deadline	Shortlist
	Patricia MacDonald	The Unforgiven
	Andrew Neiderman	Pin
	Ray Obstfeld	Dead Heat
1983	Teri White	Triangle	Winner
	Ralph Burrows	Vital Signs	Shortlist
	James Ellroy	Clandestine
	Jack Lynch	The Missing and the Dead
1984	Margaret Tracy	Mrs. White	Winner
	Sean Flannery	False Prophets	Shortlist
	Richard Harper	The Kill Factor
	Warren Murphy	Trace
	Eric Sauter	Hunter
1985	Molly Cochran and Warren Murphy	Grandmaster	Winner
	Eric Blau	The Keys to Billy Tillio	Shortlist
	Roland Cutler	The Seventh Sacrament
	Kenn Davis	Words Can Kill
	Stuart M. Kaminsky	Black Knight in Red Square
1986	Warren Murphy	Pigs Get Fat	Winner
	Earl Emerson	Poverty Bay	Shortlist
	Sean Flannery	Broken Idols
	Philip Ross	Blue Heron
	Conall Ryan	Black Gravity
1987	Robert Wright Campbell	The Junkyard Dog	Winner
	Lilian Jackson Braun	The Cat Who Saw Red	Shortlist
	R. D. Brown	Hazzard
	Nick Christian	Ronin
	Kate Green	Shattered Moon
1988	Sharyn McCrumb	Bimbos of the Death Sun	Winner
	Robert Crais	The Monkey's Raincoat	Shortlist
	Walter Dillon	Deadly Intrusion
	James N. Frey	The Long Way to Die
	Gabrielle Kraft	Bullshot
1989	Timothy Findley	The Telling of Lies	Winner
	Fredrick D. Huebner	Judgment by Fire	Shortlist
	Lia Matera	A Radical Departure
	Keith Peterson	The Trapdoor
	Ted Thackrey, Jr.	Preacher

1990s

1990s Best Paperback Original winners^[2]

Year	Author	Title	Result	Ref.
1990	Keith Peterson	The Rain	Winner
	Jeffery Deaver	Manhattan Is My Beat	Shortlist
	Eugene Izzi	King of the Hustlers
	Randy Russell	Hot Wire
	Deborah Valentine	A Collector of Photographs
1991	David Handler	The Man Who Would Be F. Scott Fitzgerald	Winner
	L. L Enger	Comeback	Shortlist
	Jane Haddam	Not a Creature Was Stirring
	B. J. Oliphant	Dead in the Scrub
	John Maddox Roberts	SPQR I: The King’s Gambit
1992	Thomas Adcock	Dark Maze	Winner
	P. M. Carlson	Murder in the Dog Days	Shortlist
	Ed Naha	Cracking Up
	Christopher Newman	Midtown North
	Deborah Valentine	Fine Distinctions
1993	Dana Stabenow	A Cold Day for Murder	Winner
	Lee Harris	The Good Friday Murder	Shortlist
	Gini Hartzmark	Principal Defense
	William Jefferies	Shallow Graves
	Billie Sue Mosiman	Night Cruise
1994	Steven Womack	Dead Folk's Blues	Winner
	Margaret Frazer	The Servant’s Tale	Shortlist
	Eugene Izzi	Tony’s Justice
	Thomas A. Roberts	Beyond Saru
	Lisa Scottoline	Everywhere That Mary Went
1995	Lisa Scottoline	Final Appeal	Winner
	Milton Bass	The Broken-Hearted Detective	Shortlist
	Dean Feldmeyer	Viper Quarry
	Walter Sorrells	Power of Attorney
	Chassie West	Sunrise
1996	William Heffernan	Tarnished Blue	Winner
	Harlan Coben	Deal Breaker	Shortlist
	Kirk Mitchell	High Desert Malice
	Gloria White	Charged With Guilt
	R. D. Wingfield	Hard Frost
1997	Harlan Coben	Fade Away	Winner
	Joan M. Drury	Silent Words	Shortlist
	Teri Holbrook	The Grass Widow
	Susan Wade	Walking Rain
	R. D. Zimmerman	Tribe
1998	Laura Lippman	Charm City	Winner
	Susan Rogers Cooper	Home Again, Home Again	Shortlist
	Margaret Frazer	The Prioress’ Tale
	Stuart M. Kaminsky	Tarnished Icons
	Gloria White	Sunset and Santiago
1999	Rick Riordan	The Widower's Two-Step	Winner
	Ruth Birmingham	Atlanta Graves	Shortlist
	Laura Lippman	Butchers Hill
	Sujata Massey	Zen Attitude
	Steven Womack	Murder Manual

2000s

2000s Best Paperback Original winners^[2]

Year	Author	Title	Result	Ref.
2000	Ruth Birmingham	Fulton County Blues	Winner
	Tony Dunbar	Lucky Man	Shortlist
	Mark Graham	The Resurrectionist
	José Latour	Outcast
	Laura Lippman	In Big Trouble
2001	Mark Graham	The Black Maria	Winner
	Victoria Thompson	Murder on St. Mark’s Place	Shortlist
	Chassie West	Killing Kin
	Eric Wright	The Kidnapping of Rosie Dawn
	Sally Wright	Pursuit and Persuasion
2002	Daniel Chavarria	Adios Muchachos	Winner
	Jeffery Deaver	Hell’s Kitchen	Shortlist
	Teri Holbrook	The Mother Tongue
	P. J. Parrish	Dead of Winter
	Martin J. Smith	Straw Men
2003	T. J. MacGregor	Out of Sight	Winner
	Jeff Abbott	Black Jack Point	Shortlist
	John Lutz	The Night Watcher
	Graham Masterton	Trauma
	Anna Salter	Prison Blues
2004	Sylvia Maultash Warsh	Find Me Again	Winner
	Jeff Abbott	Cut and Run	Shortlist
	Joel Goldman	The Last Witness
	Christopher Hyde	Wisdom of the Bones
	Nina Revoyr	Southland
2005	Domenic Stansberry	The Confession	Winner
	Larry Beinhart	The Librarian	Shortlist
	Thomas H. Cook	Into the Web
	Ron Faust	Dead Men Rise Up Never
	Chris Haslam	Twelve-Step Fandango
2006	Jeffrey Ford	Girl in the Glass	Winner
	Anne Argula	Homicide My Own	Shortlist
	Reed Farrel Coleman	The James Deans
	Allan Guthrie	Kiss Her Goodbye
	Charlie Huston	Six Bad Things
2007	Naomi Hirahara	Snakeskin Shamisen	Winner
	Massimo Carlotto	The Goodbye Kiss	Shortlist
	Brian Evenson	The Open Curtain
	Paul Levine	The Deep Blue Alibi
	Patrick Neate	City of Tiny Lights
2008	Megan Abbott	Queenpin	Winner	[3][4]
	David Corbett	Blood of Paradise	Shortlist
	Vicki Hendricks	Cruel Poetry
	Russell Hill	Robbie’s Wife
	Kevin Wignall	Who Is Conrad Hirst?
2009	Meg Gardiner	China Lake	Winner	[5]
	Alex Carr	The Prince of Bagram Prison	Shortlist
	Christa Faust	Money Shot
	Ed Gaffney	Enemy Combatant
	Tom Piccirilli	The Cold Spot

2010s

2010s Best Paperback Original winners^[2]

Year	Author	Title	Result	Ref.
2010	Marc Strange	Body Blows	Winner
	Megan Abbott	Bury Me Deep	Shortlist
	Robert Arellano	Havana Lunar
	Russell Hill	The Lord God Bird
	L. C. Tyler	The Herring Seller’s Apprentice
2011	Robert Goddard	Long Time Coming	Winner
	Catherine O'Flynn	The News Where You Are	Shortlist
	Duane Swierczynski	Expiration Date
	Frank Tallis	Vienna Secrets
	L. C. Tyler	Ten Little Herrings
2012	Robert Jackson Bennett	The Company Man	Winner	[6][7]
	Lucretia Grindle	The Faces of Angels	Shortlist	[7]
	Russell Hill	The Dog Sox
	Michael Stanley	Death of the Mantis
	Frank Tallis	Vienna Twilight
2013	Ben H. Winters	The Last Policeman	Winner	[8]
	Isaac Adamson	Complication	Shortlist
	Lou Berney	Whiplash River
	Alan Glynn	Bloodland
	Malla Nunn	Blessed Are the Dead
2014	Alex Marwood	The Wicked Girls	Winner	[9]
	Lisa Ballantyne	The Guilty One	Shortlist	[10]
	E. R. Brown	Almost Criminal
	Paul Cleave	Joe Victim
	Stephen King	Joyland
	Marcus Sakey	Brilliance
2015	Chris Abani	The Secret History of Las Vegas	Winner	[11][12]
	Alison Gaylin	Stay With Me	Shortlist	[13]
	William Lashner	The Barkeep
	Catriona McPherson	The Day She Died
	Lisa Turner	The Gone Dead Train
	Ben H. Winters	World of Trouble
2016	Lou Berney	The Long and Faraway Gone	Winner	[14][15]
	Malcolm MacKay	The Necessary Death of Lewis Winter	Shortlist	[14]
	Gilly Macmillan	What She Knew
	Gordon McAlpine	Woman with a Blue Pencil
	Adrian McKinty	Gun Street Girl
	Jane Shemilt	The Daughter
2017	Adrian McKinty	Rain Dogs	Winner	[16]
	Patricia Abbott	Shot in Detroit	Shortlist
	Tyler Dilts	Come Twilight
	Robert Dugoni	The 7th Canon
	Robin Yocum	A Brilliant Death
	James W. Ziskin	Heart of Stone
2018	Anna Mazzola	The Unseeing	Winner	[17]
	Rhys Bowen	In Farleigh Field	Shortlist
	Ron Corbett	Ragged Lake
	Andrew Mayne	Black Fall
	Kanae Minato	Penance
	Jock Serong	The Rules of Backyard Cricket
2019	Alison Gaylin	If I Die Tonight	Winner	[18]
	Naomi Hirahara	Hiroshima Boy	Shortlist
	Lori Rader-Day	Under a Dark Sky
	Leila Slimani	The Perfect Nanny
	Lisa Unger	Under My Skin

2020s

2020s Best Paperback Original winners^[2]

Year	Author	Title	Result	Ref.
2020	Adam O'Fallon Price	The Hotel Neversink	Winner	[19][20]
	Susan Alice Bickford	Dread of Winter	Shortlist	[21]
	William Lashner	Freedom Road
	Jonathan Moore	Blood Relations
	Alan Parks	February’s Son
	Lisa Sandlin	The Bird Boys
2021	Alyssa Cole	When No One Is Watching	Winner	[22]
	Brian Freeman	The Deep, Deep Snow	Shortlist	[23]
	Jess Lourey	Unspeakable Things
	Jessica Moor	The Keeper
	Khurrum Rahman	East of Hounslow
2022	Alan Parks	Bobby March Will Live Forever	Winner	[24]
	David Bell	Kill all Your Darlings	Shortlist	[25]
	C.J. Cooke	The Lighthouse Witches
	Daryl Gregory	The Album of Dr. Moreau
	C.S. O'Cinneide	Starr Sign
	Laura Purcell	The Shape of Darkness
2023	Joe Hart	Or Else	Winner	[26]
	Max Allan Collins	Quarry’s Blood	Shortlist	[27]
	Seraphina Nova Glass	On a Quiet Street
	Carol Lawrence	Cleopatra’s Dagger
	A.R. Torre	A Familiar Stranger
2024	Jesse Q. Sutanto	Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers	Winner	[28][29]
	A.F. Carter	Boomtown	Shortlist	[30]
	Tracy Clark	Hide
	Jess Lourey	The Taken Ones
	Scott Von Doviak	Lowdown Road

References

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