Shamus Awards

Welcome to the section of Crime Fiction HQ where I focus primarily on the Shamus Awards and the books and authors that have featured over the years since they were first awarded in 1982.

In addition we are noting the new release private investigator / private detective books with a page for each month of release as well as an ongoing post for each book.

The Shamus Awards are awarded by the Private Eye Writers of America (PWA). The PWA defines a “private eye” as any 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.

Listed below is the complete list of Shamus Award winning books along with the finalists for the categories of Best PI Novel, Best First PI Novel and Best PI Paperback Original Novel. It should be noted that the Shamus for the Best First PI Novel was not awarded until 1985.

Clicking on a particular entry will take you to a page that provides far more details about the book including book details, a synopsis, reviews as well as details about how you can find a copy to read.  

2022

Best PI Novel

Family Business by S.J. Rozan
Runner by Tracy Clark
Last Redemption by Matt Coyle
Pay Or Play by Howard Michael Gould
Head Case by Michael Wiley

Best First PI Novel

Lost Little Girl by Gregory Stout
Porno Valley by Phillip Elliot
Dead Man's Eyes by Lori Duffy Foster
Suburban Dicks by Fabian Nicieza
The Arrangement by M. Ravenel

Best PI Paperback Novel

Every City Is Every Other City by John McFetridge
The Burden of Innocence by John Nardizzi
Angels In the Wind by Manuel Ramos
Frog In A Bucket by Clive Rosengren
An Empty Grave by Andrew Welsh-Huggins

2021

Best PI Novel

Blind Vigil by Matt Coyle
What You Don't See by Tracy Clark
Do No Harm by Max Allen Collins
House On Fire by Joseph Finder
And Now She's Gone by Rachel Howzell Hall

Best First PI Novel

The Missing American by Kwei Quartey
Squatter’s Rights by Kevin R. Doyle
Derailed by Mary Keliikoa
I Know Where You Sleep by Alan Orloff
Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden

Best PI Paperback Novel

Brittle Karma by Richard Helms
Farewell Las Vegas by Grant Bywaters
All Kinds of Ugly by Ralph Dennis
Remember My Face by John Lantigua
Damaged Goods by Debbi Mack

2020

Best PI Novel

Lost Tomorrows by Matt Coyle
The Tower of Songs by Casey Barrett
The Shallows by Matt Goldman
Below the Line by Howard Michael Gould
The Cold Way Home by Julia Keller

Best PI Paperback Novel

Behind the Wall of Sleep by James D.F. Hannah
The Skin Game by J.D. Allen
Paid In Spades by Richard Helms
Ration of Lies by M. Ruth Myers
The Bird Boys by Lisa Sandlin

2019

Best PI Novel

What You Want To See by Kristen Lepionka
Wrong Light by Matt Coyle
The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey
Baby’s First Felony by John Straley
Cut You Down by Sam Wiebe

Best First PI Novel

The Best Bad Things by Katrina Carrasco
Broken Places by Tracy Clark
Last Looks by Howard Michael Gould
What Doesn’t Kill You by Aimee Hix
Only to Sleep: A Philip Marlowe Novel by Lawrence Osborne

Best PI Paperback Novel

The Questionable Behavior of Dahlia Moss by Max Wirestone
She Talks to Angels by James D. F. Hannah
No Quarter by John Jantunen
Shark Bait by Paul Kemprecos
Second Story Man by Charles Salzberg

2018

Best PI Novel

The Room of White Fire by T. Jefferson Parker
Dark Water by Parker Bilal
Blood Truth by Matt Coyle
Y Is for Yesterday by Sue Grafton
Monument Road by Michael Wiley

Best First PI Novel

The Last Place You Look by Kristen Lepionka
Under Water by Casey Barrett
A Negro and an Ofay by Danny Gardner
Gone to Dust by Matt Goldman
August Snow by Stephen Mack Jones

Best PI Paperback Novel

Lights Out Summer by Rich Zahradnik
Play a Cold Hand by Terence Faherty
The Strange Disappearance of a Bollywood Star by Vaseem Khan
Dames Fight Harder by M. Ruth Myers
The Painted Gun by Bradley Spinelli

2017

Best PI Novel

Where It Hurts by Reed Farrel Coleman
The Graveyard of the Hesperides by Lindsey Davis
Fields Where They Lay by Timothy Hallinan
With 6 You Get Wally by Al Lamanda
The Stardom Affair by Robert S. Levinson

Best First PI Novel

IQ by Joe Ide
Fever City by Tim Baker
Deep Six by D.P. Lyle
The Second Girl by David Swinson
SoHo Sins by Richard Vine

Best PI Paperback Novel

The Perplexing Theft of the Jewel in the Crown by Vaseem Khan
The Detective and the Chinese High-Fin by Michael Craven
Hold Me, Babe by O’Neil De Noux
The Knife Slipped by Erle Stanley Gardner
My Bad: A Mile High Noir by Manuel Ramos

2016

Best PI Novel

Brutality by Ingrid Thoft
The Promise by Robert Crais
Dance of the Bones by J.A. Jance
Gumshoe by Rob Leininger
Brush Back by Sara Paretsky

Best First PI Novel

The Do-Right by Lisa Sandlin
The Red Storm by Grant Bywaters
Night Tremors by Matt Coyle
Trouble in Rooster Paradise by T.W. Emory
Depth by Lev AC Rosen

Best PI Paperback Novel

Circling the Runway by J.L. Abramo
The Long Cold by O’Neil De Noux
Split to Splinters by Max Everhart
The Man in the Window by Dana King
Red Desert by Clive Rosengren

2015

Best PI Novel

Hounded by David Rosenfelt
The Hollow Girl by Reed Farrel Coleman
The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith
Tokyo Kill by Barry Lancet
Peter Pan Must Die by John Verdon

Best First PI Novel

Invisible City by Julia Dahl
Wink of an Eye by Lynn Chandler-Willis
Bad Country by C.B. McKenzie [review]
Last of the Independents by Sam Wiebe
City of Brick and Shadow by Tim Wirkus

Best PI Paperback Novel

Moonlight Weeps by Vincent Zandri
The Detective & the Pipe Girl by Michael Craven
Beauty with a Bomb by M.C. Grant
Critical Damage by Robert K. Lewis
Street Justice by Kris Nelscott

2014

Best PI Novel

The Good Cop by Brad Parks
W Is for Wasted by Sue Grafton
Little Elvises by Timothy Hallinan
The Mojito Coast by Richard Helms
Nemesis by Bill Pronzini

Best First PI Novel

Bear Is Broken by Lachlan Smith
A Good Death by Christopher R. Cox
Montana by Gwen Florio
Blood Orange by Karen Keskinen
Loyalty by Ingrid Thoft

Best PI Paperback Novel

Heart of Ice by P.J. Parrish
Seduction of the Innocent by Max Allan Collins
Into the Dark by Alison Gaylin
Purgatory Key by Darrell James
The Honky Tonk Big Hoss Boogie by Robert J. Randisi

2013

Best PI Novel

Taken by Robert Crais
Robert B. Parker’s Lullaby by Ace Atkins
Hunting Sweetie Rose by Jack Fredrickson
Blues in the Night by Dick Lochte
The Other Woman by Hank Phillippi Ryan

Best First PI Novel

Black Fridays by Michael Sears
Hush Money by Chuck Greaves
Murder Unscripted by Clive Rosengren
Racing the Devil by Jaden Terrell
The Twenty-Year Death by Ariel S. Winter

Best PI Paperback Novel

And She Was by Alison Gaylin
Death Warmed Over by Kevin J. Anderson
Archie Meets Nero Wolfe by Robert Goldsborough
False Negative by Joseph Koenig
Pulse by John Lutz

2012

Best PI Novel

A Bad Night’s Sleep by Michael Wiley
Bye Bye, Baby by Max Allan Collins
1222 by Anne Holt
When the Thrill Is Gone by Walter Mosley
The Highly Effective Detective Crosses the Line by Richard Yancey

Best First PI Novel

Shortcut Man by P.G. Sturges
The Plot Against Hip Hop by Nelson George
Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead by Sara Gran
The Ocean Forest by Troy D. Nooe
The Stranger You Seek by Amanda Kyle Williams

Best PI Paperback Novel

Fun & Games by Duane Swiercyzinski
Quarry’s Ex by Max Allan Collins
Threat Warning by John Gilstrap
Serial by John Lutz
Long Pig by James L. Ross

2011

Best PI Novel

No Mercy by Lori Armstrong
The First Rule by Robert Crais
Voyeur by Daniel Judson
If the Dead Rise Not by Philip Kerr
Naked Moon by Domenic Stansberry

Best First PI Novel

In Search of Mercy by Michael Ayoob
One Man’s Paradise by Douglas Corleone
Rogue Island by Bruce DeSilva
Random Violence by Jassy MacKenzie
City of Dragons by Kelli Stanley

Best PI Paperback Novel

Asia Hand by Christopher G. Moore
Hostage Zero by John Gilstrap
Nightshade by Tom Henighan
Mister X by John Lutz
The Panic Zone by Rick Mofina
The Little Death by P.J. Parrish

2010

Best PI Novel

Locked In by Marcia Muller
The Silent Hour by Michael Koryta
Where the Dead Lay by David Levien
Schemers by Bill Pronzini
My Soul To Take by Yrsa Sigurdardottir

Best First PI Novel

Faces of the Gone by Brad Parks
Loser’s Town by Daniel Depp
The Last Gig by Norman Green
The Good Son by Russel D. McLean
Chinatown Angel by A.E. Roman

Best PI Paperback Novel

Sinner’s Ball by Ira Berkowitz
Dark Side of the Morgue by Raymond Benson
Red Blooded Murder by Laura Caldwell
Vengeance Road by Rick Mofina
Body Blows by Marc Strange

2009

Best PI Novel

Empty Ever After by Reed Farrel Coleman
Salvation Boulevard by Larry Beinhart
The Blue Door by David Fulmer
The Price of Blood by Declan Hughes
The Ancient Rain by Domenic Stansberry

Best First PI Novel

In the Heat by Ian Vasquez
Stalking Susan by Julie Kramer
The Eye of Jade by Diane Wei Liang
Swann’s Last Song by Charles Salzberg
Veil of Lies by Jeri Westerson

Best PI Paperback Novel

Snow Blind by Lori Armstrong
Shot Girl by Karen Olson
The Stolen by Jason Pinter
The Black Hand by Will Thomas
The Evil That Men Do by Dave White

2008

Best PI Novel

Soul Patch by Reed Farrel Coleman
Head Games by Thomas B. Cavanagh
The Color of Blood by Declan Hughes
A Welcome Grave by Michael Koryta
A Killer’s Kiss by William Lashner

Best First PI Novel

Big City, Bad Blood by Sean Chercover
The Cleaner by Brett Battles
Keep It Real by Bill Bryan
When One Man Dies by Dave White
The Last Striptease by Michael Wiley

Best PI Paperback Novel

Songs of Innocence by Richard Aleas
Exit Strategy by Kelley Armstrong
Stone Rain by Linwood Barclay
Deadly Beloved by Max Allan Collins
Blood of Paradise by David Corbett

2007

Best PI Novel

The Dramatist by Ken Bruen
The Darkest Place by Daniel Judson
The Do-Re-Mi by Ken Kuhlken
Vanishing Point by Marcia Muller
Days of Rage by Kris Nelscott

Best First PI Novel

The Wrong Kind of Blood by Declan Hughes
Lost Angel by Mike Doogan
A Safe Place for Dying by Jack Fredrickson
Holmes on the Range by Steve Hockensmith
18 Seconds by George D. Shuman

Best PI Paperback Novel

An Unquiet Grave by P.J. Parrish
Hallowed Ground by Lori G. Armstrong
The Prop by Pete Hautman
The Uncomfortable Dead by Paco Ignacio Taibo II and Subcomandante Marcos
Crooked by Brian M. Wiprud

2006

Best PI Novel

The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly
Oblivion by Peter Abrahams
The Forgotten Man by Robert Crais
In a Teapot by Terence Faherty
The Man with the Iron-On Badge by Lee Goldberg
Cinnamon Kiss by Walter Mosley

Best First PI Novel

Forcing Amaryllis by Louise Ure
Blood Ties by Lori G. Armstrong
Still River by Harry Hunsicker
The Devil’s Right Hand by J.D. Rhoades

Best PI Paperback Novel

The James Deans by Reed Farrell Coleman
Falling Down by David Cole
Deadlocked by Joel Goldman
Cordite Wine by Richard Helms
A Killing Rain by P.J. Parrish

2005

Best PI Novel

While I Disappear by Edward Wright
Fade to Clear by Leonard Chang
The Wake-Up by Robert Ferrigno
After the Rain by Chuck Logan
Choke Point by James C. Mitchell

Best First PI Novel

The Dead by Ingrid Black
Little Girl Lost by Richard Aleas
The Last Goodbye by Reed Arvin
Aspen Pulp by Patrick Hasburgh
Some Danger Involved by Will Thomas

Best PI Paperback Novel

Fade to Blonde by Max Phillips
Call the Devil by His Oldest Name by Sallie Bissell
Shadow of the Dahlia by Jack Bludis
The London Blitz Murders by Max Allan Collins
Island of Bones by P.J. Parrish

2004

Best PI Novel

The Guards by Ken Bruen
Scavenger Hunt by Robert Ferrigno
Blood Is the Sky by Steve Hamilton
A Visible Darkness by Jonathon King
Fatal Flaw by William Lashner

Best First PI Novel

Black Maps by Peter Spiegelman
Spiked by Mark Arsenault
Lover’s Crossing by James C. Mitchell

Best PI Paperback Novel

Cold Quarry by Andy Straka
Dragonfly Bones by David Cole
Wet Debt by Richard Helms
Thicker Than Water by P.J. Parrish

2003

Best PI Novel

Blackwater Sound by James W. Hall
North of Nowhere by Steve Hamilton
The Last Place by Laura Lippman
Hell to Pay by George Pelecanos
Winter and Night by S.J. Rozan

Best First PI Novel

The Distance by Eddie Muller
Private Heat by Robert E. Bailey
Westerfield’s Chain by Jack Clark
The Bone Orchard by D. Daniel Judson
Open and Shut by David Rosenfelt

Best PI Paperback Novel

The Poisoned Rose by D. Daniel Judson
Cash Out by Paul Boray
Juicy Watusi by Richard Helms
The Lusitania Murders by Max Allan Collins
Paint It Black by P.J. Parrish

2002

Best PI Novel

Reflecting the Sky by S.J. Rozan
Angel in Black by Max Allan Collins
Ashes of Aries by Martha C. Lawrence
The Devil Went Down to Austin by Rick Riordan
Cold Water Burning by John Straley

Best First PI Novel

Chasing the Devil’s Tail by David Fulmer
Rat City by Curt Colbert
Epitaph by James Siegel
A Witness Above by Andy Straka
Pilikia Is My Business by Mark Troy

Best PI Paperback Novel

Archangel Protocol by Lyda Morehouse
Keepers by Janet LaPierre
Ancient Enemy by Robert Westbrook

2001

Best PI Novel

Havana Heat by Carolina Garcia-Aguilera
A Smile on the Face of the Tiger by Loren D. Estleman
The Deader the Better by G.M. Ford
Ellipsis by Stephen Greenleaf
Listen to the Silence by Marcia Muller

Best First PI Novel

Street Level by Bob Truluck
Brigham’s Day by John Gates
The Heir Hunter by Chris Larsgaard
Resurrection Angel by William Mize
Lost Girls by Andrew Pyper

Best PI Paperback Novel

Death in the Steel City by Thomas Lipinski
The Blazing Tree by Mary Jo Adamson
The Sporting Club by Sinclair Browning
The Hindenburg Murders by Max Allan Collins
Bad to the Bone by Katy Munger
Dirty Money by Steven Womack

2000

Best PI Novel

California Fire and Life by Don Winslow
L.A. Requiem by Robert Crais
Monster by Jonathan Kellerman
Prayers for Rain by Dennis Lehane
Stone Quarry by S.J. Rozan

Best First PI Novel

Every Dead Thing by John Connolly
East of A by Russell Atwood
The Immortal Game by Mark Coggins
Maximum Insecurity by P.J. Grady
The Answer Man by Roy Johansen

Best PI Paperback Novel

In Big Trouble by Laura Lippman
Deadbeat by Leo Atkins
Fulton County Blues by Ruth Birmingham
The Last Song Dogs by Sinclair Browning
Steel City Confessions by Thomas Lipinski

1999

Best PI Novel

Boobytrap by Bill Pronzini
No Badge, No Gun by Harold Adams
Flying Blind by Max Allan Collins
The Only Good Lawyer by Jeremiah Healy
Gone, Baby, Gone by Dennis Lehane

Best First PI Novel

A Cold Day in Paradise by Steve Hamilton
Like A Hole In The Head by Jen Banbury
Zen and the Art of Murder by Elizabeth Cosin
Dead-Low Tide by Jamie Katz

Best PI Paperback Novel

Murder Manual by Steven Womack
Too Easy by Phillip DePoy
Butchers Hill by Laura Lippman
The Widower’s Two Step by Rick Riordan
Death in a City of Mystics by Janice Steinberg

1998

Best PI Novel

Come Back Dead by Terrance Faherty
Indigo Slam by Robert Crais
Deception Pass by Earl Emerson
Sacred by Dennis Lehane
Down for the Count by Maxine O’Callaghan
No Colder Place by S.J. Rozan

Best First PI Novel

Big Red Tequila by Rick Riordan
Baltimore Blues by Laura Lippman
Legwork by Katy Munger

Best PI Paperback Novel

Charm City by Laura Lippman
Back Spin by Harlan Coben
A Whisper of Rage by Tim Hemlin
Father, Forgive Me by Randye Lordon
Sunset and Santiago by Gloria White

1997

Best PI Novel

Sunset Express by Robert Crais
Damned in Paradise by Max Allan Collins
Flesh Wounds by Stephen Greenleaf
Invasion of Privacy by Jeremiah Healy
Sentinels by Bill Pronzini
When Wallflowers Die by Sandra West Prowell

Best First PI Novel

This Dog for Hire by Carol Lea Benjamin
Keeper by Greg Rucka
The Low End of Nowhere by Michael Stone
This Far, No Further by John Wessel

Best PI Paperback Novel

Fade Away by Harlan Coben
A Natural Death by Ruthe Furie
Chain of Fools by Steven Womack

1996

Best PI Novel

Concourse by S.J. Rozan
The Vanishing Smile by Earl Emerson
Come to Grief by Dick Francis
Movie by Parnell Hall
Neon Smile by Dick Lochte

Best First PI Novel

The Innocents by Richard Barre
Who in Hell Is Wanda Fuca? by G.M. Ford
If Looks Could Kill by Ruthe Furie
Penance by David Housewright
The Harry Chronicles by Allan Pedrazas

Best PI Paperback Novel

Native Angels by William Jaspersohn
Zero Tolerance by J.D. Knight
Interview with Mattie by Shelley Singer
Charged with Guilt by Gloria White
Way Past Dead by Steven Womack

1995

Best PI Novel

K Is for Killer by Sue Grafton
A Long Line of Dead Men by Lawrence Block
Carnal Hours by Max Allan Collins
The Killing of Monday Brown by Sandra West Prowell
The Lake Effect by Les Roberts

Best First PI Novel

A Drink Before the War by Dennis Lehane
The Heaven Stone by David Daniel
One for the Money by Janet Evanovich
The Fall-Down Artist by Thomas Lipinski
When Death Comes Stealing by Valerie Wilson Wesley

Best PI Paperback Novel

Served Cold by Ed Goldberg
Double Plot by Leo Axler
Lament for a Dead Cowboy by Catherine Dain
Dead Ahead by Bridget McKenna
Deadly Devotion by Patricia Wallace

1994

Best PI Novel

The Devil Knows You’re Dead by Lawrence Block
Foursome by Jeremiah Healy
Wolf in the Shadows by Marcia Muller
Moth by James Sallis
The Lies that Bind by Judith Van Gieson

Best First PI Novel

Satan’s Lambs by Lynn Hightower
Brotherly Love by Randye Lordon
By Evil Means by Sandra West Prowell

Best PI Paperback Novel

Brothers and Sinners by Rodman Philbrick
The Half-Hearted Detective by Milton Bass
A Minyon For The Dead by Richard Fliegel
Shadow Games by Ed Gorman
Torch Town Boogie by Steven Womack

1993

Best PI Novel

The Man Who Was Taller Than God by Harold Adams
Cassandra in Red by Michael Collins
Lullaby Town by Robert Crais
Shallow Graves by Jeremiah Healy
Special Delivery by Jerry Kennealy

Best First PI Novel

The Woman Who Married a Bear by John Straley
Return Trip Ticket by David C. Hall
Switching the Odds by Phyllis Knight
The Long-Legged Fly by James Sallis

Best PI Paperback Novel

The Last Tango of Dolores Delgado by Marele Day
Lay it on the Line by Catherine Dain
Dirty Money by Marc Davis
The Brutal Ballet by Wayne D. Dundee

1992

Best PI Novel

Stolen Away by Max Allan Collins
A Dance at the Slaughterhouse by Lawrence Block
Where Echoes Live by Marcia Muller
A Fistful of Empty by Benjamin Schutz
Second Chance by Jonathan Valin

Best First PI Novel

Suffer Little Children by Thomas D. Davis
The January Corpse by Neil Albert
Dead on the Island by Bill Crider
Best Performance by a Patsy by Stan Cutler
A Cool Breeze on the Underground by Don Winslow

Best PI Paperback Novel

Cool Blue Tomb by Paul Kemprecos
Black Light by Daniel Hearn
House of Cards by Kay Hooper
The Thousand-Yard Stare by Rob Kantner

1991

Best PI Novel

G Is for Gumshoe by Sue Grafton
A Ticket to the Boneyard by Lawrence Block
Poor Butterfly by Stuart Kaminsky
Polo’s Wild Card by Jerry Kennealy
Dead Irish by John Lescroart
The Desert Look by Bernard Schopen

Best First PI Novel

Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosely
Kindred Crimes by Janet Dawson
Body Scissors by Jerome Doolittle
The Stone Veil by Ronald Tierney

Best PI Paperback Novel

Rafferty: Fatal Sisters by W. Glenn Duncan
Bimbo Heaven by Marvin Albert
The Queen’s Mare by John Birkett
Made in Detroit by Rob Kantner
The Blue Room by Monroe Thompson

1990

Best PI Novel

Extenuating Circumstances by Jonathan Valin
Out on the Cutting Edge by Lawrence Block
The Skintight Shroud by Wayne D. Dundee
The Shape of Dread by Marcia Muller
The Killing Man by Mickey Spillane

Best First PI Novel

Katwalk by Karen Kijewski
Medicine Dog by Geoff Peterson
Cold Night by Al Sarrantonio
Rock Critic Murders by Jesse Sublett

Best PI Paperback Novel

Hell’s Only Half Full by Rob Kantner
Muscle and Blood by Gaylord Dold
Behind the Fact by Richard Hilary
Tough Enough by W.R. Philbrick
A Collector of Photographs by Deborah Valentine

1989

Best PI Novel

Kiss by John Lutz
Neon Mirage by Max Allan Collins
Deviant Behavior by Earl Emerson
Swan Dive by Jeremiah Healy
Blood Shot by Sara Paretsky

Best First PI Novel

Fear of the Dark by Gar Anthony Haywood
Lost Daughter by Michael Cormany
Burning Season by Wayne D. Dundee
Wall of Glass by Walter Satterthwait
Slow Dance in Autumn by Philip Lee Williams

Best PI Paperback Novel

Dirty Work by Rob Kantner
The Last Private Eye by John Birkett
Bonepile by Gaylord Dold
Rebound by David Everson
The Crystal Blue Persuasion by W.R. Philbrick

1988

Best PI Novel

A Tax in Blood by Benjamin Schutz
A Trouble of Fools by Linda Barnes
Lady Yesterday by Loren D. Estleman
The Autumn Dead by Ed Gorman
Ride the Lightning by John Lutz

Best First PI Novel

Death on the Rocks by Michael Allegretto
The House of Blue Lights by Robert Bowman
Shawnee Alley Fire by John Douglas
Detective by Parnell Hall
An Infinite Number of Monkeys by Les Roberts

Best PI Paperback Novel

Wild Night by L.J. Washburn
The Monkey’s Raincoat by Robert Crais
Snake Eyes by Gaylord Dold
Recount by David Everson
Madelaine by Joseph Louis

1987

Best PI Novel

The Staked Goat by Jeremiah Healy
When the Sacred Ginmill Closes by Lawrence Block
In La-La Land We Trust by Robert Campbell
The Million-Dollar Wound by Max Allan Collins
C Is for Corpse by Sue Grafton

Best First PI Novel

Jersey Tomatoes by J.W. Rider
No One Rides for Free by Larry Beinhart
Tourist Season by Carl Hiassen

Best PI Paperback Novel

The Back-Door Man by Rob Kantner
Melting Point by Kenn Davis
Nervous Laughter by Earl Emerson
Dark Fields by T.J. MacGregor
Too Old a Cat by Warren Murphy

1986

Best PI Novel

B Is for Burglar by Sue Grafton
The Naked Liar by Harold Adams
Hardball by Doug Hornig
A Catskill Eagle by Robert B. Parker
Bones by Bill Pronzini

Best First PI Novel

Hardcover by Wayne Warga
New, Improved Murder by Ed Gorman
Sleeping Dog by Dick Lochte
Embrace the Wolf by Benjamin Schutz
Flood by Andrew Vachss

Best PI Paperback Novel

Poverty Bay by Earl Emerson
The Rainy City by Earl Emerson
The Kill by Douglas Heyes
Pigs Get Fat by Warren Murphy
Blue Heron by Philip Ross

1985

Best PI Novel

Sugartown by Loren D. Estleman
True Crime by Max Allan Collins
Die Again, Macready by Jack Livingston
Nightlines by John Lutz
Full Contact by Robert J. Randisi

Best First PI Novel

A Creative Kind of Killer by Jack Early
Blunt Darts by Jeremiah Healy
The Nebraska Quotient by William J. Reynolds

Best PI Paperback Novel

The Ceiling of Hell by Warren Murphy
Squeeze Play by Paul Benjamin
San Quentin by Jack Lynch
And 47 Miles of Rope by Warren Murphy
The Man Who Risked His Partner by Reed Stephens

1984

Best PI Novel

True Detective by Max Allan Collins
Dancing Bear by James Crumley
The Dark Fantastic by Stanley Ellin
The Glass Highway by Loren D. Estleman
The Widening Gyre by Robert B. Parker

Best PI Paperback Novel

Dead in Centerfield by Paul Engelman
Finders Weepers by Max Byrd
Death And The Single Girl by Elliot Lewis
Trace by Warren Murphy
The Steinway Collection by Robert J. Randisi

1983

Best PI Novel

Best PI Paperback Novel

The Cana Diversion by William Campbell Gault
Nevsky's Return by Dimitri Gat
Pieces of Death by Jack Lynch
Smoked Out by Warren Murphy

1982

Best PI Novel

Best PI Paperback Novel

California Thriller by Max Byrd
Carpenter, Detective by Hamilton T. Caine
Brown’s Requiem by James Ellroy
The Old Dick by L.A. Morse
Murder in the Wind by George Ogan