Now with Shamuses in Hand

Shamus Award winners Michael Wiley and Duane Swierczynski
(© 2012 Ali Karim).

Thanks to Ali Karim, who is on hand for this year’s Bouchercon in Cleveland, Ohio, we now have the winners of the 2012 Shamus Awards. These prizes were presented by the Private Eye Writers of America during a riverboat ceremony held earlier this evening.

Best Hardcover P.I. Novel:
A Bad Night’s Sleep, by Michael Wiley (Minotaur)

Also nominated: Bye Bye, Baby, by Max Allan Collins (Forge); 1222, by Anne Holt (Scribner); When the Thrill Is Gone, by Walter Mosley (Riverhead); and The Highly Effective Detective Crosses the Line, by Richard Yancey (Minotaur)

Best First P.I. Novel:
The Shortcut Man, by P.G. Sturges (Scribner)

Also nominated: The Plot Against Hip Hop, by Nelson George (Akashic); Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead, by Sara Gran (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt); The Ocean Forest, by Troy D. Nooe (Ingalls); and The Stranger You Seek, by Amanda Kyle Williams
(Bantam Press)

Best Paperback Original P.I. Novel:
Fun & Games, by Duane Swierczynski (Mulholland)

Also nominated: Quarry’s Ex, by Max Allan Collins (Hard Case Crime); Threat Warning, by John Gilstrap (Kensington); Serial, by John Lutz (Kensington); and Long Pig, by James L. Ross (Perfect Crime)

Best P.I. Short Story:
“Who I Am,” by Michael Z. Lewin (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, December 2011)

Also nominated: “A Bullet from Yesterday,” by Terence Faherty (EQMM, January 2011); “Mr. Monk & the Sunday Paper,” by Lee Goldberg (EQMM, July 2011); “Vampire Slayer Murdered in Key West,” by Michael West (EQMM, September/October 2011); and “Dancer in a Storm,” by L.A. Wilson (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, January/February 2011)

In addition, The Hammer--a commendation celebrating a memorable private-eye character or series, and named after Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer--was presented to Nate Heller, Max Allan Collins’ tough historical protagonist (who will make his next appearance in Target Lancer, due out in November).

Congratulations to all of the winners, as well as everyone else lucky enough to have participated in this year’s PWA awards banquet.

READ MORE: “Cleveland Bouchercon Day 3,” by Jeri Westerson (Getting Medieval); “Bouchercon Cleveland--An Intro,” by J.F. Norris (Pretty Sinister Books).