Edgar Awards 1970s: A decade of winners

The 1970s was a golden age for paperback mystery and crime fiction, and the Edgar Awards—bestowed annually by the Mystery Writers of America since 1946—reflected this explosive popularity. Throughout the decade, the Best Paperback Original category became a proving ground for writers who understood that genre fiction could be both commercially viable and genuinely innovative. The era captured a particular flavor of American crime writing: grittier than the cozy mysteries of earlier decades, yet more playful and inventive than the hardboiled stalwarts of the 1950s. Gregory MacDonald’s Confess, Fletch (1977 Edgar winner) perfectly embodies this spirit, introducing a detective who could be both clever and funny, launching a franchise that would eventually reach Hollywood. Meanwhile, writers like John R. Feegel with Autopsy (1976) and Mike Jahn with The Quark Maneuver (1978) pushed boundaries by treating paperback originals as legitimate vehicles for serious crime fiction, challenging the old notion that mass-market publications were inherently disposable.

What makes the decade’s Edgar selections particularly striking is how they document the paperback boom at its height—a time when airport bookstalls and drugstore shelves became primary launching pads for mystery writers. The Edgar Awards themselves seemed to recognize that the real innovation in crime fiction was happening not in expensive hardcover debuts, but in the nimble, quick-moving world of paperback originals. From Scott C. S. Stone’s The Dragon’s Eye opening the decade to Frank Bandy’s Deceit and Deadly Lies closing it out, these winners reveal a category that took its mission seriously, honoring writers who understood their readers’ appetites for plot-driven, intelligent suspense.

Discover the complete list of 1970s Edgar Award winners below.