The Dove Award, established in 1986 and named after George N. Dove, past President of the PCA and author of numerous articles and books on detective fiction, is presented each year by the PCA Mystery and Detective Fiction Area for outstanding contributions to the serious study of mystery/detective/crime fiction. Past recipients are listed below.

2024 Barry Forshaw (crime fiction and film scholar, essayist, commentator, editor)

2023 Martin Edwards (crime fiction scholar, crime novelist, and lawyer)

2022 Phyllis M. Betz

2021 Rosemary Erickson Johnsen

2020 J. C. Bernthal

2019 Marla Arbach (for her work on the PCA/ACA Mystery and Detective Fiction Reading List)

2018 Stephen Knight

2017 David Schmid (academic, author, blogger, and creator of the listserv ENG-CRIMEFICTION-LIST@LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU)

2016 Janet Rudolph (founder of Mystery Readers International and Left Coast Crime)

2015 J. K. (Kenneth) Van Dover

2014 Christine A. Jackson

2013 Maureen Reddy

2012  Kate Charles and Eileen Roberts (St. Hilda’s Crime and Mystery Conference)

2011  P.D. James; Catherine Ross Nickerson

2010  Frankie Y. Bailey; Special Award to Don Wall

2009  Nancy Ellen Talburt and Juana Young (for Clues abstracting project)

2008  *No award*

2007  Douglas G. Greene; Special Award to Sisters in Crime (20thAnniversary)

2006  Elizabeth Foxwell and Margaret Kinsman (for resurrecting Clues)?

2000  Don Wall

1999  Otto Penzler

1996  Mary Jean DeMarr

1995  H. R. F. Keating, Julian Symons

1994 (?) Robin Winks

1995 Kathleen G. Klein

1992 (?) Leo Panek

1990  Allen J. Hubin (editor of The Armchair Detective)

1989  John Marsden “Tim” Reilly (for 20th Century Crime and Mystery Writers)

1988  Jane Bakerman

1987 Pat Browne (for Clues), Earl Bargainnier (posthumously)

1986  George Dove