Gumshoe Awards 2008

The 7th Annual Gumshoe Awards are given by Mystery Ink to recognize the best achievements in crime fiction. This year's nominees were chosen from books first published in the United States in 2007.

Best Mystery:

James Lee Burke - The Tin Roof Blowdown (Simon & Schuster)

The Nominees:

John Connolly - The Unquiet (Atria)
Ariana Franklin - Mistress of the Art of Death (Putnam)
Charlie Huston - The Shotgun Rule (Ballantine)
Laura Lippman - What the Dead Know (William Morrow)

Best Thriller:

Robert Crais - The Watchman (Simon & Schuster)

The Nominees:

Joseph Finder - Power Play (St. Martin's Press)
Michael Gruber - The Book of Air and Shadows (William Morrow)
Richard K. Morgan - Thirteen (Del Rey)
Lee Child - Bad Luck and Trouble (Delacorte)

Best First Novel:

Sean Chercover - Big City, Bad Blood (William Morrow)

The Nominees:

Philip Hawley, Jr. - Stigma (Harper)
Lisa Lutz - The Spellman Files (Simon & Schuster)
Craig McDonald - Head Games (Bleak House Books)
Nick Stone - Mr. Clarinet (HarperCollins)

Lifetime Achievement:

Donald E. Westlake

Donald E. Westlake is one of the most prolific authors in the crime genre, having written books of nearly every conceivable type, ranging from comic capers to thrillers to noir. He's written private eye novels, cop novels, historical novels, even erotic novels. More impressively, most of them are pretty damn good, and some of them are great. For maintaining a tradition of writing excellence for nearly 50 years, Westlake is a most deserving winner of the award for Lifetime Achievement. (Read the tribute essay to Donald E. Westlake.)

Best Crime Fiction Website:

The Thrilling Detective Web Site
http://www.thrillingdetective.com

Edited by Kevin Burton Smith, The Thrilling Detective Web Site has been a comprehensive resource on private eye fiction, and the crime genre more generally, for over a decade. A one-stop destination with a wealth of information, The Thrilling Detective includes author and book guides, reviews, news, information on film and TV, original fiction and more. It is an essential guide for fans of PI novels or anyone looking to learn more about detective fiction.

Comments

[Gerald So]

On behalf of Kevin and all of Thrilling's contributors, I thank you for this honor.

[Elaine Flinn]

Congrats to the winners...even though some were not who I'd hoped would win.

[Cameron Hughes]

Thats a really great essay!

[Aldous]

Some very interesting choices.

[Lily Courthope]

For what it's worth (nada), I concur with every one of your choices. The winning books are outstanding, and Donald Westlake deserves every kudo tossed his way.

[Levi Stahl]

Congratulations to all the winners!

I'm particularly excited about the recognition for Westlake, because my employer, the University of Chicago Press, is republishing the first three Parker novels later this summer--the Press's first real foray into the world of noir! We'll be bringing out The Hunter, The Man with the Getaway Face, and The Outfit in late summer, and quite possibly more in coming seasons.

[Melissa]

I appreciate the list of crime related books. Looks good and I will check back for more.

[Generic Cialis]

I really like those kind of award because you can get the best of the genre. I think that independece awards are better than those of the industry. Because they can be biased.

[supra shoes]

Was well written

[coach factory stores]

Yeah, you're right.*

[air jordans]

nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.

[Supra Shoes]

I really like those kind of award because you can get the best of the genre. I think that independece awards are better than those of the industry. Because they can be biased.