Shamus Superiority

The winners of The Private Eye Writers Of America 2025 Shamus Awards, for private eye novels and short stories first published in the United States in 2024, were announced at the 2025 Bouchercon Opening Ceremonies, held in New Orleans, Louisiana. Congrats to all the winners and finalists!

 

BEST PI HARDCOVER:  Trouble in Queenstown by Delia Pitts (Minotaur Books)

Other finalists:

• Kingpin by Mike Lawson (Atlantic Monthly Press) 
• The Hollow Tree by Phillip Miller (Soho Crime)
• Farewell, Amethystine by Walter Mosley (Mulholland Books) 
• Death and Glory by Will Thomas (Minotaur Books)

BEST ORIGINAL PI PAPERBACK:  Call of the Void by J.T. Siemens (NeWest Press)

Other finalists:

• Geisha Confidential by Mark Coggins (Down & Out Books)
• 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 Books)
• The Big Lie by Gabriel Valjan (Level Best Books)

BEST FIRST PI NOVEL:  Twice the Trouble by Ash Clifton (Crooked Lane Books)

Other finalists:

• The Devil’s Daughter by Gordon Greisman (Blackstone Publishing) 
• Fog City by Claire M. Johnson (Level Best Books) 
• The Road to Heaven by Alexis Stefanovich-Thomson (Dundurn Press) 
• Holy City by Henry Wise (Atlantic Monthly Press)

BEST PI SHORT STORY:  “Deadhead” by Tom Andes (Issue 10.1: A Case of KINK - Cowboy Jamboree Magazine) 

Other finalists:

• “Alibi in Ice” by Libby Cudmore (July/August 2024, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine)  
• “Drop Dead Gorgeous” by M.E. Proctor (Janie’s Got a Gun: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Music of Aerosmith – White City Press) 
• “Under Hard Rock” by Ed Teja (Black Cat Weekly #164) 
• “The Five Cent Detective” by S.B. Watson (Crimeucopia: Great Googly-Moo!) 

THE EYE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD:  Christine Matthews