It’s a Shamus, Alright

This week is turning out to be something of a Ken Bruen lovefest. First, the Irish novelist’s latest book, Priest, picked up a Barry Award in the category of “Best British Novel.” And now the 2006 U.S. edition of The Dramatist has received top honors in the Private Eye Writers of America’s (PWA) 2007 Shamus Awards competition. Here’s the complete rundown of Shamus winners:

Best Hardcover: The Dramatist, by Ken Bruen (St. Martin’s Minotaur)

Also nominated: The Darkest Place, by Daniel Judson (St. Martin’s Minotaur); The Do-Rei-Me, by Ken Kuhlken (Poisoned Pen Press); Vanishing Point, by Marcia Muller (Mysterious Press); and Days of Rage, by Kris Nelscott (St. Martin’s Minotaur)

Best Paperback Original: An Unquiet Grave, by P.J. Parrish (Pinnacle)

Also nominated: Hallowed Ground, by Lori G. Armstrong (Medallion Press); The Prop, by Pete Hautman (Simon & Schuster); The Uncomfortable Dead, by Paco Ignacio Taibo II and Subcomandante Marcos, and translated by Carlos Lopez (Akashic Books); and Crooked, by Brian M. Wiprud (Dell)

Best First Novel: The Wrong Kind of Blood, by Declan Hughes (Morrow)

Also nominated: Lost Angel, by Mike Doogan (Putnam); A Safe Place for Dying, by Jack Fredrickson (St. Martin’s Minotaur); Holmes on the Range, by Steve Hockensmith (St. Martin’s Minotaur); and 18 Seconds, by George D. Shuman (Simon & Schuster)

Best Short Story: “The Heart Has Reasons,” by O’Neil De Noux (Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine [AHMM], September 2006)

Also nominated: “Sudden Stop,” by Mitch Alderman (AHMM, November 2006); “Square One,” by Loren D. Estleman (AHMM, November 2006); “Devil’s Brew,” by Bill Pronzini (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, December 2006); and “Smoke Got in My Eyes,” by Bruce Rubenstein (from Twin Cities Noir, edited by Julie Schaper; Akashic Books)

In addition, “The Eye,” a commendation that recognizes a lifetime’s achievement, has been given to Florida author Stuart M. Kaminsky. He is of course the creator of 1940s Hollywood private eye Toby Peters, who first appeared in 1977’s Bullet for a Star and was most recently seen in 2004’s Now You See Him.

And “The Hammer,” a new annual PWA prize celebrating a memorable private eye character or a series, has gone to Hollywood gumshoe Shell Scott, who was introduced in Richard S. Prather’s 1950 novel, Case of the Vanishing Beauty, and went on to appear in almost three dozen more books. Prather died earlier this year at age 85.

Finally, Keith Gilman, a cop whose stories have appeared in Demolition Magazine, ThugLit, Mouth Full of Bullets, and other online publications, has won the 2007 St. Martin’s/PWA contest.

This year’s Shamus Awards were presented in the course of last evening’s PWA banquet, held in Anchorage, Alaska, during the Bouchercon convention. For more information, click over to Robert J. Randisi’s PWA News and Views blog.