Nominees for the 2011 Shamus Awards Announced

The nominees for the 2011 Shamus Awards were announced yesterday by the Private Eye Writers of America, honoring excellent work in the PI genre. In the list below, the book's PI is indicated in parentheses following the title.

◊ Best PI Hardcover:
No Mercy (Mercy Gunderson) by Lori G. Armstrong  (Touchstone)
The First Rule (Joe Pike) by Robert Crais (Putnam)
Voyeur (Remer) by Daniel Judson (Minotaur Books)
If the Dead Rise Not (Bernie Gunther) by Philip Kerr (Putnam)
Naked Moon (Dante Mancuso) by Domenic Stansberry (Minotaur Books)

◊ Best First PI Novel:
In Search of Mercy (Dexter Bolzjak) by Michael Ayoob  (Minotaur Books)
One Man's Paradise (Kevin Corvelli) by Douglas Corleone  (Minotaur Books)
Rogue Island (Liam Mulligan) by Bruce DeSilva (Forge Books)
Random Violence (Jade de Jong) by Jassy MacKenzie  (Soho Crime)
City of Dragons (Miranda Corbie) by Kelli Stanley (Minotaur Books)

◊ Best PI Paperback Original:
Hostage Zero (Jonathan Grave) by John Gilstrap (Kensington)
Nightshade (Sam Montcalm) by Tom Henighan (Dundurn Press)
Mister X (Frank Quinn) by John Lutz (Pinnacle)
The Panic Zone (Jack Gannon) by Rick Mofina (Mira Books)
Asia Hand (Vincent Calvino) by Christopher G. Moore (Grove/Atlantic)
The Little Death (Louis Kincaid and Joe Frye) by P. J. Parrish  (Pocket Star)

◊ Best PI Short Story:
"The God of Right and Wrong" by Steven Gore (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine)
"The Lamb Was Sure To Go" by Gar Anthony Haywood (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine)
"The Girl in the Golden Gown" by Robert S. Levinson (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine)
"Phelan's First Case" by Lisa Sandlin (Lone Star Noir)
"A Long Time Dead" by Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins (The Strand Magazine)

 indicates a review is available from Mysterious Reviews.

(Hat tip to The Rap Sheet.)