The Private Eye Writers of America have released their finalists for the 2026 Shamus Awards. If you’re anything like me, I love a good mystery. Throw in an engaging detective, and there’s room on my shelf just waiting. The Shamus Awards are awarded each year by the Private Eye Writers of America for the best detective fiction genre novels and short stories of the previous year. They started given out the award in 1981.
The Shamus Awards winners will be announced at the 2026 Bouchercon Opening Ceremonies in Calgary, Alberta on October 21, 2026. Bouchercon is a mystery fan convention held in a different city each year. I went two years ago and had a blast.
The list below includes the book or story, author, publisher, and detective.
The reason I like to list these awards here is because this is a great opportunity to discover a new author or detective to add to your reading list. Even though they will pick a winner at the Opening Ceremonies, each of these finalists have proven that they are at the top of last year’s offerings.
Let me know in the comments if you have a favorite.
Best PI Hardcover
The Big Empty by Robert Crais (G.P. Putnam’s Sons; Elvis Cole)
Photograph by Brian Freeman (Blackstone Publishing; Shannon Wells)
Hatchet Girls by Joe R. Lansdale (Little, Brown and Company; Hap Collins & Leonard Pine)
Gray Dawn by Walter Mosley (Little, Brown and Company; Easy Rollins)
Mirage City by Lev AC Rosen (Minotaur Books; Evander Mills)
Best First PI Novel
Chase Harlem by Elise Burke Brown (Rising Action Publishing; Chase Harlem)
Miles in Time by Lee Matthews Goldberg (Wise Wolf Books; Miles Hardy)
Where the Bones Lie by Nick Kolakowski (Datura Books; Dash Fuller)
Shadow of the Eternal Watcher by Josh Mendoza (Inkshares; Duster Raines)
The Witch’s Orchard by Archer Sullivan (Minotaur Books; Annie Gore)
Best Original Paperback PI Novel
The Hook and the Eye by Raymond Benson (Ian Fleming Publications; Felix Leiter)
Sunday or the Highway by Cindy Fazzi (Thomas & Mercer; Domingo)
City Lights by Claire M. Johnson (Level Best Books; Maggie Laurent)
Midnight Streets by Phil Lecomber (Titan Books: George Harley)
Catch Me on a Blue Day by M.E. Proctor (Shotgun Honey Books; Declan Shaw)
Best PI Short Story
“The One Cry” by F.H. Batacan (Accidents Happen, Soho Crime; Joanna “Joe’ Bonifacio)
“Dr. Bones” by Libby Cudmore (May/June 2025, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine; Martin Wade)
“Hours on the Phone” by Gregory Fallis (July/August 2025, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine; Hockney)
“The Shadows” by Charles John Harper (May/June 2025, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine; Darrow Nash)
“The Roosevelt Affair “by Adam Meyer (Crimeucopia: Not So Frail Detective Agency, Murderous Ink Press;
Rosie Perkins)