The Private Eye Writers of America announced the 2025 Shamus Awards nominees. The Shamus Awards honor excellent work in the Private Eye genre. The winners will be announced on September 4 at the 2025 Bouchercon Opening Ceremonies in New Orleans, Louisiana. The 2025 awards are for books published in 2024.
The Private Eye Writers of America was founded in 1981 by Robert J. Randisi, who also created the Shamus Awards. From their website: “A Private Eye is defined as a private citizen (not a member of a military, federal agency, or civic or state police force) who is paid to investigate crimes. A Private Investigator can be a traditional private eye, a TV or newspaper reporter, an insurance investigator, an employee of an investigative service or agency or similar character.”
The 2025 nominees are:
Best P.I. Novel
Kingpin by Mike Lawson (Atlantic Monthly Press)
The Hollow Tree by Phillip Miller (Soho Crime)
Farewell, Amethystine by Walter Mosley (Mulholland Books)
Trouble in Queenstown by Delia Pitts (Minotaur Books)
Death and Glory by Will Thomas (Minotaur Books)
Best P.I. Paperback Original
Geisha Confidential by Mark Coggins (Down and 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)
Call of the Void by J.T. Siemens (NeWest Press)
The Big Lie by Gabriel Valjan (Level Best Books)
Best First P.I. Novel
Twice the Trouble by Ash Clifton (Crooked Lane Books)
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 P.I. Short Story
“Deadhead” by Tom Andes (Issue 10.1: A Case of KINK-Cowboy Jamboree Magazine, Fall 2024)
“Alibi in Ice” by Libby Cudmore (Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, July/August 2024)
“Drop Dead Gorgeous” by M.E. Proctor (Janie’s Got a Gun: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Music of Aerosmith)
“Under Hard Rock” by Ed Teja (Black Cat Weekly #164, October 2024)
“The Five Cent Detective” by S.B. Watson (Crimeucopia: Great Googly-Moo))
The 2025 Shamus Awards Nominees @OpeningaMystery @PrivateeyeWritersof America #ShamusAwards #Mysteries #Awards Share on X