Distinguished Dicks

The Private Eye Writers of America has announced its finalists for the 2025 Shamus Awards, in four categories.

Best P.I. Hardcover:
• Kingpin, by Mike Lawson (Atlantic Monthly Press)
• The Hollow Tree, by Phillip Miller (Soho Crime)
• Farewell, Amethystine, by Walter Mosley (Mulholland)
• Trouble in Queenstown, by Delia Pitts (Minotaur)
• Death and Glory, by Will Thomas (Minotaur)

Best Original P.I. Paperback:
• Geisha Confidential, by Mark Coggins (Down & Out)
• Quarry’s Return, by Max Allan Collins (Hard Case Crime)
• Not Born of Woman, by Teel James Glenn (Crossroad Press)
• Bless Our Sleep, by Neil S. Plakcy (Samwise)
• Call of the Void, by J.T. Siemens (NeWest Press)
• The Big Lie, by Gabriel Valjan (Level Best)

Best First P.I. Novel:
• Twice the Trouble, by Ash Clifton (Crooked Lane)
• The Devil’s Daughter, by Gordon Greisman (Blackstone)
• Fog City, by Claire M. Johnson (Level Best)
• The Road to Heaven, by Alexis Stefanovich-Thomson (Dundurn Press)
• Holy City, by Henry Wise (Atlantic Monthly Press)

Best P.I. Short Story:
• “Deadhead,” by Tom Andes (Issue 10.1: A Case of KINK—Cowboy Jamboree Magazine)
• “Alibi in Ice,” by Libby Cudmore (Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, July/August 2024)
• “Drop Dead Gorgeous,” by M.E. Proctor (from Janie’s Got a Gun: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Music of Aerosmith, edited by Michael Bracken; White City Press)
• “Under Hard Rock,” by Ed Teja (Black Cat Weekly #164)
• “The Five Cent Detective,” by S.B. Watson (from Crimeucopia: Great Googly-Moo!; Murderous Ink Press)

All of the winners will be announced on September 4 during Bouchercon 2025’s opening ceremonies, to be held at the National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana.