The Shamus awards honor the traditional private eye story, and are awarded by the Private Eye Writers of America (PWA). According to the PWA, a "private eye" is a mystery protagonist who is a professional investigator, but not a police officer or government agent -- a person paid for investigative work but not employed by a unit of government -- "a person paid for investigative work but not employed by a unit of government. Thus books and stories about private investigators (licensed and unlicensed), lawyers and reporters who do their own legwork, and other hired agents are eligible; works centering on law enforcement officers or amateur sleuths are not." The PWA was founded in 1981 and The Shamus Awards were first presented in 1982, and have been given out annually ever since.

Initial categories were The Eye Award (for Lifetime Achievement), Best P.I. Novel and Best P.I. Paperback Original. Additional categories added over the years have included Best First P.I. Novel, Best P.I. Short Story, and The Hammer Award (for Best P.I. Series Character). Although no official website exists for the Private Eye Writers of America, there is a page with background about the awards on the Thrilling Detective website, set up by Robert Randisi, who originally founded PWA.

The titles in this list are "hotlinked" to our library's catalog, for all those titles currently owned by the Lincoln City Libraries. Please note that several of the Shamus-winning novels are no longer in our collection. They appear here for the sake of providing a complete list. If there is a title you are interested in which we no longer own, and you are a Lincoln City Libraries customer, please consider requesting it through our Interlibrary Loan service.

With regards to the winners in the Short Stories award category, please note that the Lincoln City Libraries does not own individual issues of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, and we only carry limited back issues of Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine. However, numerous stories which originally saw print in these two periodicals have since been reprinted in anthologies under the Ellery Queen and Alfred Hitchcock banners, and the library does own many of these reprint volumes.

2012		Michael Wiley A Bad Night's Sleep
2011		Lori Armstrong No Mercy
2010		Marcia Muller Locked In
2009		Reed Farrel Coleman Empty Ever After
2008		Reed Farrel Coleman Soul Patch
2007		Ken Bruen The Dramatist
2006		Michael Connelly The Lincoln Lawyer
2005		Edward Wright While I Disappear
2004		Ken Bruen The Guards
2003		James W. Hall Blackwater Sound
2002		S.J. Rozan Reflecting the Sky
2001		Carolina Garcia-Aguilera Havana Heat
2000		Don Winslow California Fire and Life
1999		Bill Pronzini Boobytrap
1998		Terrance Faherty Come Back Dead
1997		Robert Crais Sunset Express
1996		S.J. Rozan Concourse
1995		Sue Grafton K is for Killer
1994		Lawrence Block The Devil Knows You're Dead
1993		Harold Adams The Man Who Was Taller Than God
1992		Max Allan Collins Stolen Away
1991		Sue Grafton G is for Gumshoe
1990		Jonathan Valin Extenuating Circumstances
1989		John Lutz Kiss
1988		Benjamin Schutz A Tax in Blood
1987		Jeremiah Healy The Staked Goat
1986		Sue Grafton B is for Burglar
1985		Loren D. Estleman Sugartown
1984		Max Allan Collins True Detective
1983		Lawrence Block Eight Million Ways to Die
1982		Bill Pronzini Hoodwink

Best P.I. Paperback Original -- [1982 to present]

2012		Duane Swierczynski Fun and Games
2011		Christopher G. Moore Asia Hand
2010		Ira Berkowitz Sinner's Ball
2009		Lori Armstrong Snow Blind
2008		Richard Aleas Songs of Innocence
2007		P.J. Parrish An Unquiet Grave
2006		Reed Farrell Coleman The James Deans
2005		Max Phillips Fade to Blonde
2004		Andy Straka Cold Quarry
2003		D. Daniel Judson The Poisoned Rose
2002		Lyda Morehouse Archangel Protocol
2001		Thomas Lipinski Death in the Steel City
2000		Laura Lippman In Big Trouble
1999		Steven Womack Murder Manual
1998		Laura Lippman Charm City
1997		Harlan Coben Fade Away
1996		William Jaspersohn Native Angels
1995		Ed Goldberg Served Cold
1994		Rodman Philbrick Brothers and Sinners
1993		Marele Day The Last Tango of Dolores Delgado
1992		Paul Kemprecos Cool Blue Tomb
1991		W. Glenn Duncan Rafferty: Fatal Sisters
1990		Rob Kantner Hell's Only Half Full
1989		Rob Kantner Dirty Work
1988		L.J. Washburn Wild Night
1987		Rob Kantner The Back-Door Man
1986		Earl Emerson Poverty Bay
1985		Warren Murphy The Ceiling of Hell
1984		Paul Engleman Dead in Centerfield
1983		William Campbell Gault The Cana Diversion
1982		Max Byrd California Thriller

Best First P.I. Novel -- [1985 to present]

2012		P.G. Sturges The Shortcut Man
2011		Michael Ayoob In Search of Mercy
2010		Brad Parks Faces of the Gone
2009		Ian Vasquez In the Heat
2008		Sean Chercover Big City, Bad Blood
2007		Declan Hughes The Wrong Kind of Blood
2006		Louise Ure Forcing Amaryllis
2005		Ingrid Black The Dead
2004		Peter Spiegelman Black Maps
2003		Eddie Muller The Distance
2002		David Fulmer Chasing the Devil's Tail
2001		Bob Truluck Street Level
2000		John Connolly Every Dead Thing
1999		Steve Hamilton A Cold Day in Paradise
1998		Rick Riordan Big Red Tequila
1997		Carol Lea Benjamin This Dog For Hire
1996		Richard Barre The Innocents
1995		Dennis Lehane A Drink Before the War
1994		Lynn Hightower Satan's Lambs
1993		John Straley The Woman Who Married a Bear
1992		Thompas D. Davis Suffer the Little Children
1991		Walter Mosley Devil in a Blue Dress
1990		Karen Kijewski Katwalk
1989		Gar Anthony Haywood Fear of the Dark
1988		Michael Allegretto Death on the Rocks
1987		J.W. Rider Jersey Tomatoes
1986		Wayne Warga Hardcover
1985		Jack Early A Creative Kind of Killer

Best P.I. Short Story -- [1983 to present]
[Honoring the best in shorter mystery works, often reprinted in anthologies or collections in later years]

2012	Michael C. Lewin	"Who I Am" [in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Dec 2011]
2011	Gar Anthony Haywood	"The Lamb Was Sure to Go" [in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Nov 2010]
2010	Dave Zeltserman	"Julius Katz" [in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Sep/Oct 2009]
2009	Mitch Alderman	"Family Values" [in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Jun 2008]
2008	Cornelia Read	"Hungry Enough" [in A Hell of a Woman (anthology)]
2007	O'Neil De Noux	"Tje Heart Has Reasons" [in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Sep 2006]
2006	Michael Wiecek	"A Death in Ueno" [in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Mar 2005]
2005	Pearl Abraham	"Hasidic Noir" [in Brooklyn Noir (anthology)]
2004	Loren D. Estleman	"Lady on Ice" [in A Hot and Sultry Night (anthology)]
2003	Terence Faherty	"The Second Coming" [in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Nov 2002]
2002	Ceri Jordan	"Rough Justice" [in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Jul 2001]
2001	Brendan Dubois	"The Road's End" [in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Apr 2000]
2000	I.J. Parker	"Akitada's First Case" [in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Jul/Aug 1999]
1999	Warren Murphy	"Another Day, Another Dollar" [in Murder on the Run (anthology)]
1998	Carolyn Wheat	"Love Me For My Yellow Hair Alone" [in Marilyn: Shades of Blonde (anthology)]
1997	Lia Matera	"Dead Drunk" [in Guilty as Charged (anthology)]
1996	Gar Anthony Haywood	"And Pray Nobody Sees You" [in Spooks, Spies and Private Eyes (anthology)]
1995	Brendan DuBois	"The Necessary Brother" [in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, May 1994]
1994	Lawrence Block	"The Merciful Angel of Death" [in The New Mystery (anthology)]
1993	Benjamin Schutz	"Mary, Mary, Shut the Door" [in Deadly Allies (anthology)]
1992	Nancy Pickard	"Dust Devil" [in The Armchair Detective, Winter 1991]
1991	Marcia Muller	"Final Resting Place" [in Justice for Hire (anthology)]
1990	Mickey Spillane	"The Killing Man" [in Playboy, Dec 1989]
1989	Loren D. Estleman	"The Crooked Way" [in The New Black Mask (anthology)]
1988	Ed Gorman	"Turn Away" [in Black Lizard Anthology of Crime Fiction (anthology)]
1987	Rob Kantner	"Fly Away Home" [in Mean Streets (anthology)]
1986	Loren D. Estleman	"Eight Mile and Dequindre" [in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, May 1985]
1985	Lawrence Block	"By the Dawn's Early Light" [in Playboy, Aug 1984]
1984	Bill Pronzini	"Cat's Paw" [in Waves Press (stand-alone volume)]
1983	John Lutz	"What You Don't Know Can Hurt You" [in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Nov 1982]

The Eye Award -- [1982 to present] (for Lifetime Achievement)

Not all winners of The Eye Award are purely fiction writers -- this award has also been given to screenwriters and television producers, as well as editors, all of whom made important contributions to the Private Eye field. Not given in every year.

2011	Ed Gorman
2010	Robert Crais
2008	Joe Gores
2007	Stuart Kaminsky
2006	Max Allan Collins
2005	Sara Paretsky
2004	Donald E. Westlake
2003	Sue Grafton
2002	Lawrence Block
2000	Edward D. Hoch
1999	Maxine O'Callaghan
1997	Stephen Marlowe
1995 [two this year]	John Lutz
1995 [two this year]	Robert B. Parker
1994	Stephen J. Cannell
1993	Marcia Muller
1992	Joseph Hansen
1991	Roy Huggins
1988 [two this year]	Dennis Lynds (Michael Collins)
1988 [two this year]	Wade Miller (Robert Wade and Bob Miller)
1987	Bill Pronzini
1986	Richard S. Prather
1985	Howard Browne
1984	William Campbell Gault
1983	Mickey Spillane
1982	Ross Macdonald

The Hammer Award -- [2077 to present] (for Best P.I. Series Character)

2012	Nathan Heller by Max Allan Collins
2011	V.I. Warshawski by Sara Paretsky
2009	Matthew Scudder by Lawrence Block
2007	Shell Scott by Richard S. Prather

Updated October 2012 sdc

Looking for additional novels on this or other subjects? Try out the NoveList database!

Interested in other mystery books? You might want to sign up for the Mystery Book Club at our On-Line Book Clubs page, or take a look at our other mystery-themed lists on our booklists page.