| 2003 |
Minette Walters |
Fox Evil |
| 2002 |
Jose Carlos Somoza |
The Athenian Murders |
| 2001 |
Henning Menkell |
Sidetracked |
| 2000 |
Jonathan Lethem |
Motherless Brooklyn |
| 1999 |
Robert Wilson |
A Small Death in Lisbon |
| 1998 |
James Lee Burke |
Sunset Limited |
| 1997 |
Ian Rankin |
Black & Blue |
| 1996 |
Ben Elton |
Popcorn |
| 1995 |
Val McDermid |
The Mermaids Singing |
| 1994 |
Minette Walters |
The Scold's Bride |
| 1993 |
Patricia D. Cornwell |
Cruel and Unusual |
| 1992 |
Colin Dexter |
The Way Through the Woods |
| 1991 |
Barbara Vine |
King Solomon's Carpet |
| 1990 |
Reginald Hill |
Bones and Silence |
| 1989 |
Colin Dexter |
The Wench Is Dead |
| 1988 |
Michael Dibdin |
Ratking |
| 1987 |
Barbara Vine |
A Fatal Inversion |
| 1986 |
Ruth Rendell |
Live Flesh |
| 1985 |
Paula Gosling |
Monkey Puzzle |
| 1984 |
B.M. Gill |
The Twelfth Juror |
| 1983 |
John Hutton |
Accidental Crimes |
| 1982 |
Peter Lovesey |
The False Inspector Dew |
| 1981 |
Martin Cruz Smith |
Gorky Park |
| 1980 |
H.R.F. Keating |
The Murder of the Maharajah |
| 1979 |
Dick Francis |
Whip Hand |
| 1978 |
Lionel Davidson |
The Chelsea Murders |
| 1977 |
John Le Carre |
The Honourable Schoolboy |
| 1976 |
Ruth Rendell |
A Demon in My View |
| 1975 |
Nicholas Meyer |
The Seven Percent Solution |
| 1974 |
Anthony Price |
Other Paths to Glory |
| 1973 |
Robert Littell |
The Defection of A.J. Lewinter |
| 1972 |
Eric Ambler |
The Levanter |
| 1971 |
James McClure |
The Steam Pig |
| 1970 |
Joan Fleming |
Young Man, I Think You're Dying |
| 1969 |
Peter Dickinson |
A Pride of Heroes |
| 1968 |
Peter Dickinson |
Skin Deep |
| 1967 |
Emma Lathen |
Murder Against the Grain |
| 1966 |
Lionel Davidson |
A Long Way to Shiloh |
| 1965 |
Ross Macdonald |
The Far Side of the Dollar |
| 1964 |
H.R.F. Keating |
The Perfect Murder |
| 1963 |
John Le Carre |
The Spy Who Came In From the Cold |
| 1962 |
Joan Fleming |
When I Grow Rich |
| 1961 |
Mary Kelly |
The Spoilt Kill |
| 1960 |
Lionel Davidson |
The Night of Wenceslas |
| 1959 |
Eric Ambler |
Passage of Arms |
| 1958 |
Margot Bennett |
Someone From the Past |
| 1957 |
Julian Symons |
The Colour of Murder |
| 1956 |
Edward Grierson |
The Second Man |
| 1955 |
Winston Graham |
The Little Walls |
