Shamus Award
{{Short description|Annual award for the best detective fiction novels of the year}}
{{For|the racehorse|Shamus Award (horse)}}
The Shamus Award is awarded by the Private Eye Writers of America (PWA) for the best detective fiction (P. I. = Private investigator) genre novels and short stories of the year.
The Prize is given annually to recognize outstanding achievement in private eye fiction. Starting in 2003, the Shamus Awards are sometimes (2003, 2007–2009, 2011–2016) announced during the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention, at the convention's PWA Awards Banquet.{{cite web |title=The Private Eye Writers of America and The Shamus Awards |url=http://www.thrillingdetective.com/trivia/triv72.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807082823/http://www.thrillingdetective.com/trivia/triv72.html |archive-date=2011-08-07 |access-date=2019-06-04 |website=Thrilling Detective |publisher=}}
Categories
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Title
!Awarded since |
|---|
| Best P. I. Hardcover Novel
|1982 |
| Best First P. I. Novel
| 1985 |
| Best P. I. Paperback Original
| 1982 |
| THE EYE – Lifetime Achievement Award
| 1982 |
| Best P. I. Short Story
| 1983 |
| St. Martins' Press/ PWA Best First Private Eye Novel Contest | 1986 |
| Friends of PWA
| 2002 |
| Best P. I. Series/Characters – The Hammer
| 2007 |
| Best Indie P.I. Novel
| 2013 |
Winners
=Best P. I. Hardcover Novel=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Winner ! Title |
|---|
| 1982
| Hoodwink |
| 1983
| Eight Million Ways to Die |
| 1984
| True Detective |
| 1985
| Sugartown |
| 1986
| "B" Is for Burglar |
| 1987
| Jeremiah Healy | The Staked Goat |
| 1988
| Benjamin Schutz | A Tax in Blood |
| 1989
| Kiss |
| 1990
| Extenuating Circumstances |
| 1991
| "G" Is for Gumshoe |
| 1992
| Stolen Away |
| 1993
| Harold Adams | The Man Who was Taller Than God |
| 1994
| The Devil Knows You're Dead |
| 1995
| "K" Is for Killer |
| 1996
| Concourse |
| 1997
| Sunset Express |
| 1998
| Come Back Dead |
| 1999
| Boobytrap |
| 2000
| California Fire and Life |
| 2001
| Havana Heat |
| 2002
| Reflecting the Sky |
| 2003
| Blackwater Sound |
| 2004
| The Guards |
| 2005
| Ed Wright | While I Disappear |
| 2006
| The Lincoln Lawyer |
| 2007
| The Dramatist |
| 2008
| Soul Patch |
| 2009
| Empty Ever After |
| 2010
| Locked In |
| 2011
| Lori Armstrong | No Mercy |
| 2012
| A Bad Night's Sleep |
| 2013
| Taken |
| 2014
| The Good Cop |
| 2015
| Hounded |
| 2016
| Ingrid Thoft | Brutality |
| 2017
| Where It Hurts |
| 2018
| The Room of White Fire |
| 2019
|What You Want to See Minotaur Books, 2018 |
| 2020
|Lost Tomorrows Oceanview Publishing, 2019 |
| 2021
|Matt Coyle |Blind Vigil Oceanview Publishing, 2019 |
| 2022
|S. J. Rozan |Family Business Pegasus Crime, 2021 |
| 2023
|Jonathan Ames |The Wheel of Doll Mulholland Books, 2022 |
= Best First P. I. Novel =
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Winner ! Title |
|---|
| 1985
| A Creative Kind of Killer |
| 1986
| Hardcover |
| 1987
| J. W. Rider |Jersey Tomatoes |
| 1988
| Michael Allegretto | Death on the Rocks |
| 1989
| Fear of the Dark |
| 1990
| Katwalk |
| 1991
| Devil in a Blue Dress |
| 1992
| Thomas Davis | Suffer Little Children |
| 1993
| The Woman Who Married a Bear |
| 1994
| Lynn Hightower | Satan's Lambs |
| 1995
| A Drink Before the War |
| 1996
| Richard Barre | The Innocents |
| 1997
| Carol Lea Benjamin | This Dog for Hire |
| 1998
| Big Red Tequila |
| 1999
| A Cold Day in Paradise |
| 2000
| Every Dead Thing |
| 2001
| Bob Truluck | Street Level |
| 2002
| Chasing the Devil's Tail |
| 2003
| The Distance |
| 2004
| Black Maps |
| 2005
| The Dead |
| 2006
| Louise Ure | Forcing Amaryllis |
| 2007
| The Wrong Kind of Blood |
| 2008
| Sean Chercover | Big City, Bad Blood |
| 2009
| Ian Vasquez | In the Heat |
| 2010
| Faces of the Gone |
| 2011
| Michael Ayoob | In Search of Mercy |
| 2012
| P.G. Sturges |The Shortcut Man |
| 2013
| Michael Sears | Black Fridays |
| 2014
| Lachlan Smith | Bear Is Broken |
| 2015
| Julia Dahl | Invisible City |
| 2016
| Lisa Sandlin | The Do-Right |
| 2017
| Joe Ide | IQ |
| 2018
| Kristen Lepionka | The Last Place You Look |
| 2019
| Katrina Carrasco | The Best Bad Things MCD Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 2018 |
| 2021
| The Missing American Soho Crime, 2020 |
=Best P. I. Paperback Original=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Winner ! Title |
|---|
| 1982
| Max Byrd | California Thriller |
| 1983
| The Cana Diversion |
| 1984
| Paul Engleman | Dead in Centerfield |
| 1985
| Ceiling of Hell |
| 1986
| Poverty Bay |
| 1987
| Rob Kantner | The Back Door Man |
| 1988
| L.J. Washburn | Wild Night |
| 1989
| Rob Kantner | Dirty Work |
| 1990
| Rob Kantner | Hell's Only Half Full |
| 1991
| W. Glenn Duncan | Rafferty: Fatal Sisters |
| 1992
| Cool Blue Tomb |
| 1993
| The Last Tango of Dolores Delgado |
| 1994
| Brothers and Sinners |
| 1995
| Ed Goldberg | Served Cold |
| 1996
| William Jaspersohn | Native Angels |
| 1997
| Fade Away |
| 1998
| Charm City |
| 1999
| Steven Womack | Murder Manual |
| 2000
| In Big Trouble |
| 2001
| Thomas Lipinski | Death in the Steel City |
| 2002
| Archangel Protocol |
| 2003
| D. Daniel Judson | The Poisoned Rose |
| 2004
| Cold Quarry |
| 2005
| Max Phillips | Fade to Blonde |
| 2006
| The James Deans |
| 2007
| An Unquiet Grave |
| 2008
| Songs of Innocence |
| 2009
| Lori G. Armstrong | Snow Blind |
| 2010
| Sinner's Ball |
| 2011
| Asia Hand |
| 2012
| Fun & Games |
| 2013
| Alison Gaylin | And She Was |
| 2014
| Heart of Ice |
| 2015
| Vincent Zandri | Moonlight Weeps |
| 2016
| J. L. Abramo | Circling the Runway |
| 2017
| The Perplexing Theft of the Jewel in the Crown |
| 2018
| Rich Zahradnik | Lights Out Summer |
| 2019
|Max Wirestone |The Questionable Behavior of Dahlia Moss Redhook Books, 2018 |
| 2020
|James D. F. Hannah |Behind the Wall of Sleep James D.F. Hannah, 2019 |
| 2021
|Richard Helms |Brittle Karma Barbados Hall Communications, 2020 |
=THE EYE – Lifetime Achievement Award=
(Not awarded in 1989, 1990, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2012, 2014, 2019 and 2020)
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Winner |
|---|
| 1982 |
| 1983 |
| 1984 |
| 1985 |
| 1986 |
| 1987 |
| 1988
| Dennis Lynds and |
| 1991 |
| 1992 |
| 1993 |
| 1994 |
| 1995 |
| 1997 |
| 1999
| Maxine O'Callaghan |
| 2000 |
| 2002 |
| 2003 |
| 2004 |
| 2005 |
| 2006 |
| 2007 |
| 2008 |
| 2009 |
| 2010 |
| 2011 |
| 2013 |
| 2015 |
| 2016 |
| 2017
| Jerry Kennealy |
| 2018 |
| 2021 |
= Best P. I. Series Character – The Hammer =
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
!Series/Characters !Authors |
|---|
| 2007 |
| 2008 |
| 2009 |
| 2010
| Sharon McCone |
| 2011 |
| 2012
| Nate Heller |
| 2014 |
=Best Indie P.I. Novel=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Winner ! Title |
|---|
| 2013
| White Heat |
| 2014
| M. Ruth Myers | Don't Dare a Dame |
| 2015
| [http://www.traceconger.com Trace Conger] | The Shadow Broker |