The Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Paperback or eBook Original was a category of the Edgar Awards established in 1970.
The award honors the best mystery book that is initially printed as a paperback or eBook without a hardcover edition. EBooks must be published by a reputable publisher, as determined by the Mystery Writers of America. American authors' debut novels are not eligible for the award, though they are eligible for the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best First Novel.
The Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Paperback Original winners are listed below.
Winners 1970s +1970s Best Paperback Original winners Year Author Title Result 1970WinnerAssault on MingShortlist 1971FlashpointWinnerShortlistO.D. at Sweet Claude’sAfter Things Fell ApartGrave DescendMafioso1972For Murder I Charge MoreWinnerShortlistSpace for Hire Nor Spell, Nor Charm And the Deep Blue Sea1973WinnerNot Dead YetShortlistPower Kill1974Death of an InformerWinnerShortlistDeadlocked! Starling Street 1975WinnerWho Killed Mr. Garland’s Mistress? ShortlistJump Cut Flats Fixed-Among Other Things 1976AutopsyWinner and Robin MooreThe Set-Up ShortlistCharlie’s Back in Town 1977Confess, FletchWinnerShortlist and John StanleyFreeze Frame 1978WinnerTime to Murder and Create ShortlistThey’ve Killed Anna1979Deceit and Deadly LiesWinnerStud GameShortlistHeartstone Charnel House
1980s +1980s Best Paperback Original winners Year Author Title Result 1980WinnerShortlistVortex1981Public MurdersWinnerBlood Innocents ShortlistLooking for Ginger North Tough Luck, L.A.1982WinnerDeadlineShortlistPin Dead Heat 1983TriangleWinnerVital SignsShortlistClandestine1984Mrs. WhiteWinnerFalse Prophets ShortlistTrace Hunter 1985 and Warren MurphyGrandmasterWinnerShortlistWords Can Kill Black Knight in Red Square1986Pigs Get FatWinnerPoverty BayShortlistBroken Idols Blue HeronBlack Gravity1987WinnerShortlistHazzardRoninShattered Moon1988Bimbos of the Death SunWinnerShortlistDeadly IntrusionBullshot1989WinnerJudgment by FireShortlistPreacher
1990s +1990s Best Paperback Original winners Year Author Title Result 1990WinnerManhattan Is My BeatShortlistKing of the HustlersHot Wire 1991WinnerComeback ShortlistNot a Creature Was StirringDead in the ScrubSPQR I: The King’s Gambit1992Dark MazeWinnerMurder in the Dog DaysShortlistCracking UpMidtown NorthFine Distinctions 1993WinnerShortlistPrincipal Defense Shallow Graves Night Cruise 1994Dead Folk's BluesWinnerShortlistTony’s JusticeBeyond Saru Everywhere That Mary Went 1995Final AppealWinnerThe Broken-Hearted DetectiveShortlistViper Quarry Power of Attorney Sunrise 1996Tarnished BlueWinnerDeal Breaker ShortlistHigh Desert MaliceCharged With Guilt Hard Frost 1997Fade AwayWinnerSilent Words ShortlistWalking Rain Tribe 1998Charm CityWinnerHome Again, Home Again ShortlistTarnished Icons Sunset and Santiago 1999WinnerAtlanta Graves ShortlistButchers Hill Zen Attitude Murder Manual
2000s +2000s Best Paperback Original winners Year Author Title Result 2000Fulton County BluesWinnerLucky Man ShortlistThe ResurrectionistOutcast In Big Trouble 2001WinnerMurder on St. Mark’s Place ShortlistKilling Kin Pursuit and Persuasion 2002Adios MuchachosWinnerHell’s KitchenShortlistDead of Winter Straw Men 2003Out of SightWinnerBlack Jack PointShortlistTrauma Prison Blues 2004Find Me AgainWinnerCut and RunShortlistWisdom of the Bones Southland 2005WinnerShortlistInto the Web Dead Men Rise Up Never Twelve-Step Fandango 2006Girl in the GlassWinnerHomicide My Own ShortlistKiss Her Goodbye Six Bad Things2007Snakeskin ShamisenWinnerShortlistCity of Tiny Lights2008QueenpinWinnerBlood of Paradise ShortlistCruel PoetryRobbie’s WifeWho Is Conrad Hirst? 2009China LakeWinnerShortlistMoney Shot Enemy Combatant
2010s +2010s Best Paperback Original winners Year Author Title Result 2010Body BlowsWinnerBury Me DeepShortlistHavana Lunar 2011Long Time ComingWinnerShortlistExpiration Date Vienna Secrets Ten Little Herrings2012WinnerShortlistDeath of the MantisVienna Twilight 2013WinnerComplicationShortlistWhiplash River Bloodland Blessed Are the Dead 2014Winner ShortlistAlmost CriminalJoe Victim Joyland Brilliance 2015WinnerStay With MeShortlistWorld of Trouble2016WinnerShortlist What She KnewWoman with a Blue PencilGun Street Girl2017Rain DogsWinnerShot in DetroitShortlistCome Twilight Heart of Stone2018WinnerIn Farleigh Field ShortlistRagged Lake Black Fall Penance2019If I Die TonightWinnerHiroshima Boy ShortlistUnder a Dark Sky Under My Skin
2020s +2020s Best Paperback Original winners Year Author Title Result 2020WinnerDread of WinterShortlistFreedom RoadBlood RelationsFebruary’s Son2021When No One Is WatchingWinnerShortlistUnspeakable ThingsEast of Hounslow2022Bobby March Will Live ForeverWinnerKill all Your DarlingsShortlistStarr Sign2023Or ElseWinnerQuarry’s BloodShortlistOn a Quiet StreetCleopatra’s DaggerA Familiar Stranger2024Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for MurderersWinnerBoomtown ShortlistHide Lowdown Road 2025 The Paris WidowWinnerThe Vacancy in Room 10 ShortlistShell Games A Forgotten KillThe Road to Heaven 2026 Winner Listen Shortlist Broke Road One Death at a Time
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