Shamus Awards 2011

During a banquet at Bouchercon in St. Louis, the Private Eye Writers of America (PWA) tonight announced the winners of its 2011 Shamus Awards, “given annually to recognize outstanding achievement in private eye fiction.” Here are the winners.

Best Hardcover P.I. Novel: No Mercy, by Lori Armstrong (Touchstone)

Also nominated: The First Rule, by Robert Crais (Putnam); Voyeur, by Daniel Judson Minotaur); If the Dead Rise Not, by Philip Kerr (Putnam); and Naked Moon, by Domenic Stansberry (Minotaur)

Best First P.I. Novel: In Search of Mercy, by Michael Ayoob (Minotaur)

Also nominated: One Man’s Paradise, by Douglas Corleone (Minotaur); Rogue Island, by Bruce DeSilva (Forge); Random Violence, by Jassy MacKenzie (Soho); and City of Dragons, by Kelli Stanley (Minotaur)

Best Paperback Original P.I. Novel: Asia Hand, by Christopher G. Moore (Grove/Atlantic)

Also nominated: Hostage Zero, by John Gilstrap (Kensington); Nightshade, by Tom Henighan (Dundurn Press); Mister X, by John Lutz (Pinnacle); The Panic Zone, by Rick Mofina (Mira); and The Little Death, by P.J. Parrish (Pocket Star)

Best P.I. Short Story: “The Lamb Was Sure to Go,” by Gar Anthony Haywood (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, November 2010)

Also nominated: “The God of Right and Wrong,” by Steven Gore (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, January/February 2010); “The Girl in the Golden Gown,” by Robert S. Levinson (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, March/April 2010); “Phelan’s First Case.” by Lisa Sandlin (Lone Star Noir, edited by Bobby Byrd and Johnny Byrd; Akashic Books); “A Long Time Dead,” by Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins (The Strand Magazine, June-September 2010)

The Hammer Award (Best P.I. Series Character): Sara Paretsky for
V.I. Warshawski

The Eye (Lifetime Achievement Award): Ed Gorman