His first novel, "All the Lonely People", introduced Liverpool lawyer Harry Devlin and was published in 1991, earning a nomination for the John Creasey Memorial Dagger for best first crime novel of the year. In 2012 the book was republished by Arcturus in its series of Crime Classics, while "Yesterday's Papers" was reissued as an Arcturus Crime Classic in 2013. To date, Edwards has written eight novels about Devlin; the most recent is "Waterloo Sunset". "The Coffin Trail" was the first of seven books set in the Lake District (The Lake District Mysteries) featuring Detective Chief Inspector Hannah Scarlett and historian Daniel Kind; it was short-listed for the Theakston's Old Peculier Award for best crime novel of 2006. "The Arsenic Labyrinth" was short-listed for the Lakeland Book of the Year Award in 2008. Edwards has also written a stand-alone novel of psychological suspense, "Take My Breath Away", and completed "The Lazarus Widow" by the late Bill Knox. 2008 also saw the publication of his first historical novel, "Dancing for the Hangman", a fictional account of the life and misadventures of Hawley Harvey Crippen. Writing in "Historical Noir", Barry Forshaw said it was “a book to make readers wish that the versatile Edwards might tackle the historical crime genre more often.”