1955 winner:   Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler.
Something about Terry Lennox gets to hard-boiled Philip Marlowe: maybe the scars along his face, maybe the lost quality. When Lennox shows up with a gun, implies his wife lies murdered, and asks to be driven to Mexico, Marlowe doesn’t want too many answers. But the intrigue and layers of deceit are only beginning, and Marlowe must untangle the tightly woven threads. Some violence and some strong language. Philip Marlowe series. RC 42704.

1956 winner:   Beast in View by Margaret Millar.
A terror and suspense mystery set in Hollywood. Who is Evelyn Merrick, and why is she persecuting Helen Clarvoe? Paul Blackshear, Clarvoe's financial advisor, looks for the answers and discovers murder. RC 29436.

1957 winner:   Dram of Poison by Charlotte Armstrong.
A rather shy bachelor of 55, who teaches English at a small college, meets a shy, much younger woman at a funeral and shortly thereafter marries her. When she mysteriously becomes involved in some difficulties, her husband begins to suspect that she secretly desires another man. He begins to contemplate suicide. RC 12685.

1962 winner:   Gideon’s Fire by J.J. Marric.
Commander Gideon of Scotland Yard deals with arson, bank robbery, a fraudulent bond issue, and the rape and murder of a young woman. Gideon series. RC 34718.

1963 winner:   Death and the Joyful Woman by Ellis Peters.
An English crime novel in which the detective's teenage son tries to clear an older woman, age 22, of murder. RC 18135.

1964 winner:   Light of Day by Eric Ambler.
Arthur Simpson, a petty thief and con man, is caught stealing traveler's checks from a hotel room and finds himself with no choice but to follow his "victim's" orders. If he refuses, he may be arrested by the Turkish or Greek police. Either way, he becomes involved in an international conspiracy. Some strong language.  RC 53207.

1965 winner:   Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John Le Carre.
After the last British agent behind the Iron Curtain has been killed by an East German agent, the British send a secret agent, posing as a defector, to trap the East German and destroy him. George Smiley series, book 3. RC 16772, BR 1605. 

1969 winner:   A Case of Need by Jeffery Hudson.
Michael Crichton, writing as Jeffery Hudson, offers a murder mystery and addresses the issue of abortion. Karen Randall, eighteen, daughter of a physician, dies on the operating table, and Dr. Arthur Lee, whom she had recently seen, is accused of her murder. But his close friend, Dr. John Berry, believes Lee is innocent. Berry's search for the truth takes him from Boston society to the drug underground. Some violence and strong language. RC 38123.

1970 winner:   Forfeit by Dick Francis.
A newspaperman, who is trying to take care of his invalid wife, takes on another job of writing for a sports magazine. He soon finds himself involved in a death, a racing scandal, and a new love. Sid Halley series. RC 9819, BR 1022. 

1972 winner:   Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth.
A secret group of French right-wing leaders, plotting to overthrow the government, hires a professional assassin, known as the Jackal, to kill President de Gaulle. The novel concerns the attempts of the police to identify and stop the brilliant criminal who is a master at eluding detection. RC 10894.

1974 winner:   Dance Hall of the Dead by Tony Hillerman.
Navajo police lieutenant Joe Leaphorn faces a mystery and possible murder in the disappearance of a Zuni youth and his Navajo best friend shortly before an important annual Zuni religious ceremony. Set in a background that demonstrates the difference between the Navajo and Zuni cultures. Jim Chee & Joe Leaphorn series, book 2. RC 58053, BR 10352.

1975 winner:   Peter’s Pence by Jon Cleary.
The Irish Republican Army plots carefully to steal Vatican treasures for ransom. But the scheme goes awry, forcing the terrorists to kidnap the Pope. RC 8755.

1976 winner:   Hopscotch by Brian Garfield.
Bitter about his forced retirement from the CIA, former spy Miles Kendig decides to expose the secrets of the major powers by writing a book. He sends a chapter at a time to his publisher, keeping one step ahead of the global manhunt for him. Some strong language.  RC 9772.

1977 winner:   Promised Land by Robert B. Parker.
Private eye Spenser and his companion Susan Silverman are embroiled in a search for a runaway wife in summertime Cape Cod. There, they meet an assortment of villains with extortion, bank robbery, and murder on their minds. Strong language. Spenser series, book 4. RC 10770.

1978 winner:   Catch Me, Kill Me by William H. Hallahan.
When an unimportant, impoverished Russian poet, who has defected to the United States, is kidnapped by Russian diplomats, counsel for the Bureau of Immigration and a tough ex-CIA agent begin their dogged search. They struggle to discover why this poet appears to be the key to world power. Strong language. RC 13326.

1979 winner:   Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett.
His code name is "Die Nadel," The Needle, after his favorite weapon, the stiletto, and he is the only Nazi spy who knows of the phony plans for the D-Day Normandy invasion. As he moves quickly across England, he is tracked down by a former history professor and once retired agent. A murderous duel of ingenuity and endurance results. Some explicit descriptions of sex. Violence. RC 12323.

1980 winner:   Rheingold Route by Arthur Maling.
Ex-United States Treasury agent John Cochran lives in London and is hired to smuggle an English aristocrat's dwindled fortune to Switzerland. En route, he is dogged by a psychopath after the money, and unexpectedly falls in love with a vulnerable American woman. Some strong language.  RC 13561.

1981 winner:   Whip Hand by Dick Francis.
Sid Halley, once a champion steeplechase jockey, has become a private investigator. Because of an injury in a racing accident, he now has an artificial hand. This causes him little difficulty when he is asked to uncover corruption within the Jockey Club and help clear his ex-wife's name when she becomes involved with a notorious phony. Horse Racing series. Some violence. RC 15444.

1982 winner:   Peregrine by William Bayer.
Pretty television newscaster Pamela Barrett becomes the medium's star when she scoops everyone with films of a peregrine falcon dive-bombing and slaying a girl skater at Manhattan's Rockefeller Center. The psychotic master of the bird has trained it to kill people at his command. The madman, also enamored of Pam, lays a trap for her. Some strong language and some descriptions of sex. RC 18920.

1983 winner:   Billingsgate Shoal by Rick Boyer.
When Doc Adams suggests that young diver Allan Hart swim to an apparently stranded boat to see if help is needed, Adams does not expect his friend will turn up dead with a head wound. Guilt drives Adams to try to identify the boat and talk to its owner, but he soon finds himself in danger. Doc Adams series, book 1. Violence and some strong language.  RC 43011.

1985 winner:   LaBrava by Elmore Leonard.
Chilling, funny story of a triple-cross set in South Miami Beach. Detective Joe LaBrava, now working as a freelance photographer, is introduced to a lovely, former movie actress. LaBrava discerns that the actress is an alcoholic and is being pursued by a mad killer. Strong language and some descriptions of sex. RC 20559, BR 6708.

1986 winner:   The Suspect by L.R. Wright.
Eighty-year-old George Wilcox murders his friend in a quiet Canadian coastal village. A strange, deeply felt relationship then builds between Wilcox and a police investigator, both of whom befriend Cassandra, the local librarian. Though George wants to evade the law as best he can, his conscience finally makes him spill his bloody past. Some strong language. RC 24116.

1987 winner:   Dark-Adapted Eye by Barbara Vine.
A crime writer decides to reopen the case of Vera Hillyard, who was hanged for murder thirty years earlier. Hillyard's family is still shattered by events of the past, and Vera's niece, Faith Severn, decides to protect the secrets that enshroud the family by doing some investigating of her own. RC 24899.

1989 winner:   Cold Red Sunrise by Stuart M. Kaminsky.
Inspector Rostnikov has been dispatched to Siberia to resolve a politically sensitive murder. He must learn the truth about the death of Commissar Rutkin, who was investigating the death of little Karla, the beloved daughter of exiled dissident Lev Samsonov. Porfiry Rostnikov series. Some descriptions of sex. RC 29549.  

1990 winner:   Black Cherry Blues by James Lee Burke.
Cajun sleuth and ex-New Orleans cop Dave Robicheaux is putting his life back together. He attends Alcoholics Anonymous meetings regularly, tries not to dream about his wife's brutal slaying, tends his fish and bait business, and cares for his adopted daughter Alafair. When Alafair is threatened and Dave is accused of a murder he did not commit, the two leave for Montana to find the real murderers. Dave Robicheaux series. Violence, strong language, and some descriptions of sex.  RC 31052.

1991 winner:   New Orleans Mourning by Julie Smith.
Chauncey St. Armant, the current Rex, King of Carnival, is shot to death on his float during the Mardi Gras parade. Who wanted Chauncey dead, and who would pull such a stunt with thousands of witnesses? Policewoman Skip Langdon, who has connections with the New Orleans social elite and whose family is not fond of her chosen career, is assigned to head the investigation. Skip uncovers some ancient family secrets while investigating the murder. Skip Langdon series, book 1. Some strong language. RC 32430.

1992 winner:   Dance at the Slaughterhouse by Lawrence Block.
Unlicensed private investigator Matthew Scudder has gained control over his drinking and has a new friend and assistant, call girl Elaine. Scudder is hired by a man who believes his sister was murdered by her husband.  He also investigates a snuff films case.   Scudder soon discovers that the cases are related. Matthew Scudder series. Violence, strong language, and descriptions of sex.  RC 35110.

1993 winner:   Bootlegger’s Daughter by Margaret Maron.
Missing for three days, Janie Whitehead is found murdered in an abandoned mill, her baby Gayle, wet and hungry, beside her. Eighteen years later, Gayle determines to learn why her mother was killed. Deborah Knott, family friend, attorney, and daughter of a notorious former bootlegger, investigates, not realizing how it will jeopardize her campaign for judge. Deborah Knott series, book 1. Strong language and some violence.  RC 37825.

1994 winner:   Sculptress by Minette Walters.
When writer Roz Leigh stops working after a personal tragedy, her publisher gives her an ultimatum: write a book about convicted murderer Olive Martin or lose her job. Initially repulsed by obese Olive, who has admitted to butchering her mother and sister for ignoring her birthday, Roz is soon trying to prove that Olive is lying to protect someone. Some strong language, some violence, and some explicit descriptions of sex.  RC 39574.

1995 winner:   Red Scream by Mary Willis Walker.
A decade after confessing to the murder of Texas socialite Tiny McFarland, serial killer Louie Bronk faces execution. But journalist Molly Cates, who wrote a book on his crime, is beginning to have doubts about his guilt: Tiny's widower's second wife has been murdered, and so has a key player in Bronk's conviction. Now Bronk is changing his story--or is it just his death row red scream? Molly Cates series, book 1. Strong language, violence, and some descriptions of sex. RC 40090.

1996 winner:   Come to Grief by Dick Francis.
Private Investigator Sid Halley has put his friend on trial. It took days of inner turmoil for Sid to act on his findings that Ellis Quint, also a former jockey, was mutilating young horses. But that is just the beginning of Sid's problems. He himself becomes the victim of a smear campaign, and on the day Sid is to testify, Ellis Quint's mother commits suicide and his father attacks Sid. Horse Racing series. Some strong language. RC 41990.

1997 winner:   Chatham School Affair by Thomas H. Cook.
In 1926, free-spirited Elizabeth Channing arrives to teach at the elite Chatham School on Cape Cod. There, she has an affair with a married colleague, provoking scandal, suicide, and a murder that goes unsolved because of one man's deeply held secret. Violence.  RC 43733.

1998 winner:   Cimarron Rose by James Lee Burke.
Texas ranger-turned-attorney Billy Bob Holland agrees to defend teenager Lucas Smothers, who was found unconscious at the murder scene of a female acquaintance and arrested for the crime. Holland has a compelling reason to take the case since Smothers is his illegitimate son. Billy Bob Holland series, book 1. Strong language, violence, and some explicit descriptions of sex.  BR 11339.

1998 winner for Best First Novel category:    Los Alamos by Joseph Kanon.
Toward the end of World War II, the murder of a Manhattan Project security officer calls agent Michael Connolly to a town that does not officially exist. He must penetrate the closed ranks of residents to discover whether the death is related to espionage or to the victim's homosexual lifestyle. Strong language, violence, and descriptions of sex. RC 44930.

1998 winner for Best Fact Crime category:    The Death of Innocents by Richard Firstman.
One at a time, five siblings died in their New York State home over the course of six years. The deaths were considered accidental and attributed to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, SIDS, until twenty years later when a dogged District Attorney revisited the matter and convicted the mother of murdering her children. RC 45751.

1999 winner:   Mr. White’s Confession by Robert Clark.
When two dance hall girls are murdered, the police accuse Herbert White, a lonely, daffy clerk and amateur photographer. But recently widowed police lieutenant Wesley Horner has doubts. When White runs, Horner follows him. Some strong language, some violence, and some descriptions of sex.  BR 12514.

1999 winner for Best Fact Crime category :   To the Last Breath by Carlton Stowers.
Chronicle of an investigation following the death of Annette Goode's toddler daughter, Renee, at the home of Annette's estranged husband, Shane. No evidence surfaces to prove suspicions of murder until a large insurance policy prompts the other women, the district attorney, a detective, and Renee's grandmother, to seek more answers. RC 46781.

2000 winner:   Bones by Jan Burke.
When an edgy, rebellious teenage girl asks reporter Irene Kelly to look for her missing mother, Irene crosses the path of a very dangerous serial killer, Nicholas Parrish. He is a totally anonymous, but enormously gifted and resourceful villain, who kills women who happen to look like Irene (and his abusive mother), and attracts devoted disciples to his grisly cause. Irene Kelly series, book 7. Violence and strong language. RC 50393.

2000 winner for Best Fact Crime category:    Blind Eye by James B. Stewart.
Questions why Doctor Michael Swango was allowed to continue practicing medicine despite clear evidence that he was a serial psychopathic killer and a convicted felon, for poisoning his fellow workers. Criticizes the medical establishment's "code of silence." RC 48832.

2001 winner:   The Bottoms by Joe R. Lansdale.
Young Harry Collins and his sister discover the body of a brutally murdered African American woman in a riverbed. When their father, a constable, investigates a string of killings, local racial tensions hinder him. Strong language and some violence. RC 57393.

2001 winner for Best Fact Crime category:    Black Mass by Dick Lehr.
Investigative journalists expose FBI corruption. In 1975 Boston FBI agent John Connolly began using Irish mobster Jim "Whitey" Bulger as an informant. Though Bulger committed outrageous crimes, the state police and federal drug agents were never able to get a conviction, and authorities became suspicious of a fix. Violence and strong language. RC 55068.

2001 winner for Best First Novel category:    A Conspiracy of Paper by David Liss.
Benjamin Weaver, a Jewish ex-boxer who makes his living as a detective, investigates the death of a businessman. Weaver's father, who had been a stockjobber, was also recently murdered. Eventually, Weaver uncovers a violent cabal of financiers whose actions lead to a stock market crash. Some violence. RC 51312.

2002 winner:   Silent Joe by T. Jefferson Parker.
When Orange County, California, supervisor Will Trona is murdered, his disfigured adopted son, Joe, blames himself. But Joe is also a county cop. While seeking revenge, he learns more about Will and the shady political deals in which he was involved. Violence, strong language, and some explicit descriptions of sex. RC 52111.

2002 winner for Best Fact Crime category:    Son of a Grifter by Kent Walker.
The elder son of Sante Kimes, a con artist and murderess, recalls growing up in a criminal household with a sociopath mother. Sante and the author's half-brother, Kenny, were arrested for the murder of wealthy Irene Silverman. Strong language. RC 53341.

2002 winner for Best First Novel category:    Line of Vision by David Ellis.
Investment banker Marty Kalish is accused of murdering his lover Rachel's husband. Marty devises a defense, changes his story to suit the evidence, and bends the truth. Complications arise, including some from the elegant widow. Strong language and some violence. RC 55596.

2003 winner:   Winter and Night by S.J. Rozan.
Private investigator Bill Smith and his partner Lydia Chin leave Manhattan to help Smith’s fifteen-year old runaway nephew, Gary. Gary’s family lives in the New Jersey suburbs where he is suspected of killing his drug-dealing girlfriend. But Gary’s dad also has a secret. Lydia Chinn-Bill Smith series. Violence and strong language.  BR 14368.

2003 winner for Best Fact Crime category:    Fire Lover by Joseph Wambaugh.
Analyzes the personality and crimes of a Glendale, California, fire investigator who was also a serial arsonist. John Orr's fingerprint on an incendiary device, a novel he wrote, and other circumstantial evidence ultimately convicted him in the deaths of four innocent victims.  Strong language. RC 54668.

2003 winner for Best First Novel category:    The Blue Edge of Midnight by Jonathon King.
Max Freeman stopped being a Philadelphia cop the night he killed a twelve-year-old child in self-defense. Max lives a solitary life near the Florida Everglades and is still haunted by the young boy's face. His peaceful existence is shattered when he uncovers the dead face of another child. Max Freeman series, book 1. Strong language. RC 56676.

2004 winner:   Resurrection Men by Ian Rankin.
When insubordinate Edinburgh detective inspector John Rebus is sent for retraining at the police college, he is also recruited to obtain evidence of crimes by other troublemaking class members. The group researches a cold murder case that becomes entwined with a current investigation embroiling the suspected cops. John Rebus series, book 14. Violence and strong language. RC 57947.

2004 winner for Best Fact Crime Award category:    The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson.
The author traces the crimes of Dr. H.H. Holmes, a serial killer who preyed on young women during the 1893 Chicago World's Fair in the amazing landscape that architect Daniel H. Burnham created in a mere two years. RC 55748.

2004 winner for Best First Novel category:    Death of a Nationalist by Rebecca Pawel.
In war-torn Madrid, where Republicans have surrendered to Nationalists, guardsman Sergeant Tejada investigates the street killing of his best friend. A woman who was near the body is unjustly executed, so her lover demands revenge while Tejada seeks the truth about both deaths. Some strong language. RC 59811.

2005 winner:   California Girl by T. Jefferson Parker.
In 1968 Playboy centerfold Janelle Vonn is murdered in Orange County, California. Her neighbors, the Becker boys--a minister, a reporter, and a detective -- each does his part to bring the killer to justice. Decades later the brothers must face their mistakes. Strong language and some violence. RC 59239.