P.I.s on Parade

Since I am not among the attendees at this week’s Bouchercon in St. Petersburg, Florida, and therefore was absent from last night’s presentation of the 2018 Shamus Awards, I’ve had some difficulty in collecting the results. But here, finally, are the winners.

Best Private Eye Novel:
The Room of White Fire, by T. Jefferson Parker (Putnam)

Also nominated: Dark Water, by Parker Bilal (Bloomsbury USA); Blood Truth, by Matt Coyle (Oceanview); Y Is for Yesterday, by Sue Grafton (Marian Wood/Putnam); and Monument Road, by Michael Wiley
(Severn House)

Best First Private Eye Novel:
The Last Place You Look, by Kristen Lepionka (Minotaur)

Also nominated: Under Water, by Casey Barrett (Kensington); A Negro and an Ofay, by Danny Gardner (Down & Out); Gone to Dust, by Matt Goldman (Forge); and August Snow, by Stephen Mack Jones
(Soho Crime)

Best Original Private Eye Paperback:
Lights Out Summer, by Rich Zahradnik (Camel Press)

Also nominated: Play a Cold Hand, by Terence Faherty (Perfect Crime); The Strange Disappearance of a Bollywood Star, by Vaseem Khan (Redhook); Dames Fight Harder, by M. Ruth Myers (CreateSpace); and The Painted Gun, by Bradley Spinelli (Akashic)

Best P.I. Short Story: “Rosalie Marx is Missing,” by Robert S. Levinson (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, May/June 2017)

Also nominated: “Out of Business,” by Eric Beetner (Down & Out: The Magazine, Volume 1/Issue 1); “Breakage,” by Reed Farrel Coleman (Down & Out: The Magazine, Volume 1/Issue 1); “Random,” by Brendan Dubois (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, January/February 2017); and “Windward,” by Paul D. Marks (from Coast to Coast: Private Eyes from Sea to Shining Sea, edited by Andrew McAleer and Paul D. Marks; Down & Out)

The Shamuses are sponsored by the Private Eye Writers of America. Congratulations to all of the nominated authors and books!