Martin Edwards is widely recognised as a leading authority on the crime fiction genre. He is the author of "The Golden Age of Murder", a widely acclaimed study of the genre between the two world wars. The book won an Edgar award from the Mystery Writers of America, an Agatha award at Malice Domestic 28, and the Macavity award from Mystery Readers International; in the UK, it won an H.R.F. Keating award at Crimefest. The book was also shortlisted for an Anthony award by Bouchercon 2016, and the CWA Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction. Marcel Berlins said in "The Times": ‘Few, if any books about crime fiction have provided so much information and insight so enthusiastically and, for the reader, so enjoyably. No other work mixes genre history, literary analysis and fascinating author biographies with such relish’. For "The Guardian", Mark Lawson said it was ‘a book of impressive cultural omniscience...superbly compendious and entertaining’. Michael Dirda said in "The Washington Post" that ‘Anyone who loves classic English mysteries from the 1920s through the ’40s will revel in the highly anecdotal "The Golden Age of Murder".’