Edgar Awards 1959: Complete list of winners

The Mystery Writers of America’s prestigious Edgar Awards have long served as the definitive measure of excellence in crime fiction, and the 1959 Edgar Awards winners proved why. That year’s honorees represented the genre at its most vibrant—a moment when hard-boiled detectives and psychological thrillers were pushing the boundaries of what mystery writing could achieve. Stanley Ellin’s The Eighth Circle, which took home the Edgar for Best Novel, exemplified this evolution, offering readers a sophisticated exploration of crime and morality that went far beyond simple whodunit conventions.

The 1959 Edgars, named after the father of the modern detective story Edgar Allan Poe, reflected the awards’ growing cultural influence in post-war America. By this point in the awards’ history, winning an Edgar had become a genuine career milestone, a stamp of approval from fellow mystery writers that carried real weight with both critics and readers. The competition that year was particularly fierce, with the crime fiction community at large turning its attention to which authors would be recognized for pushing the genre forward.

Below you’ll find the complete list of 1959 Edgar Award winners and honorees, including the details of Ellin’s winning novel and the other celebrated works that made that year such a memorable one for mystery enthusiasts.

Best Novel

• The Eighth Circle by Stanley Ellin