1985 winner: A Creative Kind of Killer by Jack Early.
The body of a pretty teenager, Jennifer Baker, is found in the window of a punk-clothing boutique in New York’s arty SoHo district. Fortune Fanelli, ex-cop and now a private eye, is hired by Jennifer Baker’s homosexual uncle to find the killer and her runaway brother. The grisly trail leads Fanelli to the lofts, shops, and galleries of SoHo and another murder. Some strong language. Selected as Best First Novel. RC 20847.

1986 winner: B Is for Burglar by Sue Grafton.
Spunky young female cop-turned-private-detective Kinsey Millhone is visited by wealthy Beverly Danziger who wants help in locating her sister, Elaine Boldt. It appears that Elaine’s signature is needed on some legal papers, and it is presumed she left her local condominium for one in Florida. Kinsey flies to Boca Raton seeking the missing woman, knowing full well she may not be alive. Strong language. Selected as Best Novel. Kinsey Millhone series, book 2. RC 23778, BR 8802.

1987 winner: Jersey Tomatoes by J.W. Rider.
Atheist Charisma Kelly is certain her mother did not kill herself and Cooper Jarrett is just as sure someone is out to kill him. Now they are both caught up in a growing circle of fear that soon rings Jersey City, where America's hottest real estate war is being waged. Violence and strong language. Selected as Best First Novel. WOD 455.

1988 winner: Death on the Rocks by Michael Allegretto.
Michael Allegretto bases this detective tale on his father's experiences as a Denver detective. When Phillip Townsend dies, the police think it's alcohol-related, but his wife suspects foul play and so hires Jacob Lomax to investigate the murder. Selected as Best First Novel. WOD 450.

1988 winner: A Tax in Blood by Benjamin M. Schutz.
Washington private eye Leo Haggerty is hired to prove, for insurance reasons, that State Department attache Malcolm Donnelly, found dead in a hotel room from a combination of medication and booze, did not commit suicide. Haggerty sets out to reconstruct the dead man's final hours. Strong language and some descriptions of sex. Selected as Best Novel. RC 28321.

1989 winner: Fear of the Dark by Gar A. Haywood.
When Aaron Gunner becomes disillusioned with the private detective business, he turns to construction. But since there are no other black private investigators around, Gunner's name comes up when a black murder victim's sister wants to find the white man who killed her brother. Reluctant acceptance of the case leads Gunner into a potential race war between white supremacists and black militants. Aaron Gunner series. Violence, strong language, and explicit descriptions of sex. Selected as Best First Novel.
RC 33828. 

1989 winner: Kiss by John Lutz.
Greedy relatives are hiring a special kind of hit man who speeds up the inevitable for certain wealthy residents of Sunhaven Retirement Home and then takes a cut from the settled estate. Disabled ex-cop Fred Carver, with some help from a teenage runaway working as a receptionist at the home, finds plenty of suspects. Fred Carver series. Some strong language. Selected as Best Novel. RC 28564.

1990 winner: Katwalk by Karen Kijewski.
Charity Collins, advice columnist, hires her friend Kat Colorado, private investigator, to recoup a small fortune Charity's ex-husband stole. Kat travels to Las Vegas and soon follows the money trail left by Sam Collins. Before she can get her hands on any of the money, however, Sam is dead. Still, Kat does not want to come home empty-handed. Kat Colorado series, book 2. Some strong language, some violence, and some descriptions of sex. Selected as Best First Novel. RC 45431.

1991 winner: Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley.
Los Angeles, 1948. Easy Rawlins, a black war veteran, is out of work and in need of enough money to pay his mortgage. He agrees to help a shady white mobster find a mysterious white woman dressed in blue. Finding the woman is easy since she frequents black jazz clubs, but the information Rawlins uncovers in his search puts his life in jeopardy. Easy Rawlins series, book 1. Some descriptions of sex. Selected as Best First Novel. RC 32935.

1991 winner: G Is for Gumshoe by Sue Grafton.
Kinsey Millhone has just taken the job of locating Irene Gersh's mother, Agnes, who has not been heard from for six months. Then, Kinsey is notified that there is a contract out on her life. As she pursues Agnes, a search that will unveil a violent family history, Kinsey works under the watchful and romantically interested eye of security expert Robert Dietz, trying to stay one step ahead of her hired killer. Kinsey Millhone series, book 7. Strong language. Selected as Best Novel. RC 31982, BR 10854.

1992 winner: Stolen Away by Max Allan Collins.
Hard-boiled detective Nate Heller enters the Lindbergh kidnapping case after accidentally aborting another kidnapping. Even though a child's body is found and identified as Lindbergh's, Heller doubts the man accused is guilty. Four years later, Heller, learning of a mobster conspiracy, discovers the child may still be alive. Nate Heller series, book 5. Violence, strong language, and explicit descriptions of sex. Selected as Best Novel. RC 34656.

1992 winner: Suffer Little Children by Thomas Davis.
Two years ago, private investigator Dave Strickland lost his baby to crib death and his wife to suicide. Now he has been hired to find Billy, the missing five-year-old son of a small-town minister. Billy shocked his mother and the congregation with outbursts of profanity due to Tourette's syndrome, and his babysitter thinks he was depressed enough to kill himself. But a ransom note spells kidnapping. Strong language and some violence. Selected as Best First Novel. BR 9959.

1993 winner: The Man Who Was Taller Than God by Harold Adams.
South Dakota, 1930s. Itinerant painter Carl Wilcox is hired by the mayor of a small town to investigate the murder of Felton Edwards, a womanizing schemer who had returned to his home town unexpectedly. Wilcox encounters nubile housewives and another murder before he finds his suspects. Carl Wilcox series. Some violence. Selected as Best Novel. RC 51037.

1994 winner: The Devil Knows You're Dead by Lawrence Block.
Glenn Holtzmann, a lawyer who Scudder does not like, has been gunned down. George Sadecki, a mentally disturbed Vietnam veteran, is accused of the murder. After all, he had the casings for the fired bullets in his pocket. But neither George's brother nor Scudder believe he is guilty. As Scudder investigates the murder, he and his girlfriend Elaine begin to develop a deeper relationship. Matthew Scudder series. Strong language and some violence. Selected as Best Novel. RC 38306.

1995 winner: A Drink before the War by Dennis Lehane.
Boston private investigators Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro are hired by two senators to investigate missing government files taken by their African American cleaning lady. They soon discover that the stolen goods are more racy than office work, and the cleaning lady turns up dead. Kenzie and Gennaro series, book 1. Violence and strong language. Selected as Best First Novel.
RC 50609.

1995 winner: K Is for Killer by Sue Grafton.
Private Investigator Kinsey Millhone is hired by Janice Kepler to investigate the death of her daughter Lorna after the police all but give up on the baffling case. The body is so badly decomposed that it is impossible to determine if Lorna has been murdered. Kinsey shifts to night hours to find a motive when she learns that Lorna's part-time job and crude cabin belied a high-dollar hooking career and large savings account. Kinsey Millhone series, book 11. Some strong language. Selected as Best Novel.  RC 39664,
BR 9880.

1997 winner: Sunset Express by Robert Crais.
LAPD detective Angela Rossi says she recovered the murder weapon from the garden of the victim’s husband. But since Rossi was once accused of planting evidence, Elvis Cole is hired to find holes in her story. He follows another trail of clues that draws him deeper into intrigue and danger. Elvis Cole series, book 6. Strong language. Selected as Best Novel. RC 43514.

1998 winner: Big Red Tequila by Rick Riordan.
Jackson "Tres" Navarre and his enchilada-eating cat, Robert Johnson, pull into San Antonio and find nothing waiting but trouble. Ten years ago Navarre left town and the memory of his father's murder behind him. Now he is back, looking for answers. Yet the more Tres digs, trying to put his suspicions to rest, the fresher the decade-old crime looks: Mafia connections, construction site payoffs, and slick politicians' games all conspire to ruin his homecoming. Tres Navarre series, book 1. Strong language and violence. Selected as Best First Novel. WOD 454.

2000 winner: California Fire and Life by Don Winslow.
Surfer Jack Wade became a claims adjuster for California Fire and Life after being kicked out of the fire department. Now, he suspects arson in the fire that killed wealthy Nicky Vale's estranged wife and destroyed heavily insured antiques. Strong language, violence, and some explicit descriptions of sex. Selected as Best Novel. RC 49211.

2000 winner: Every Dead Thing by John Connolly.
Haunted by his wife's and daughter's grisly unsolved murders, detective Charlie Parker left the NYPD. Working unofficially as a private investigator, he follows a missing young woman's trail to New Orleans and, he hopes, to his family's killer. Charlie Parker series, book 1. Violence, strong language, and some explicit descriptions of sex. RC 58055.

2001 winner: Havana Heat by Carolina Garcia-Aguilera.
Miami private investigator Lupe Solano is hired by two fellow Cubans to recover invaluable art works from Havana. Her clients want to retrieve property from their family home before Fidel Castro sells it. Lupe soon becomes involved in art forgery, smuggling, and murder. Lupe Solano series, book 5.  Some violence and some strong language. Selected as Best Novel in 2001. RC 52070.

2002 winner: Reflecting The Sky by S.J. Rozan.
Private investigator Lydia Chin and her partner, Bill Smith, are hired by a New York City Chinatown elder to travel to Hong Kong to deliver an old friend's ashes, a letter to the dead man's brother, and a keepsake to his grandson. They find the apartment ransacked and the youngster kidnapped. Lydia Chin and Bill Smith series. BR 14972.