The St. Martin's Press/Private Eye Writers of America
Best First Private Eye Novel Contest

The Private Eye Writers of America (PWA) is an organization devoted to private-eye detective fiction, and are probably best known for their annual Shamus Awards. Membership is open to fans, writers, and publishing professionals. There are three levels of membership: Active, Associate, and International.

Since the mid-1950s, publishing mystery novels has been at the heart of St. Martin's Press. In that time, they have come to be known as one of the largest, most prominent mystery publisher in the book industry. In fact, in September of 1999, St. Martin's Press recognized this successful history with a new mystery imprint called Minotaur, named after the Greek mythological figure who guarded the fabled labyrinth and devoured anyone who entered (except for Theseus, of course).

In 1986, the PWA teamed up with St. Martin's Press to sponsor The St. Martin's Press/PWA Best First Private Eye Novel Contest, and has been holding it

By the way, there's seems to be a little confusion about the categories of the PWA's Best First Private Eye Novel Shamus and The St. Martin's Press/PWA Best First Private Eye Novel Contest. Seems some publishers don't make the distinction, and that a novel can win the contest, and a few years later, when it's finally published, win the Best First Novel Award. But it's pretty simple, actually. As Bob Randisi explains, "There is nothing for publishers to distinguish. The PWA/SMP contest winner is for an unpublished novel, and is ONLY a PWA/SMP prize winner. It's not a book, eligible for book awards, until it is published."

There's also a little confusion about a lot of things about this contest. An upcoming PWA web site should go a long way to clarifying things...

1986 SMP/PWA BEST FIRST PRIVATE EYE NOVEL CONTEST

• An Infinite Number of Monkeys by Les Roberts (Saxon)

1987 SMP/PWA BEST FIRST PRIVATE EYE NOVEL CONTEST

• Fear of the Dark by Gar Anthony Haywood (Aaron Gunner)

1988 SMP/PWA BEST FIRST PRIVATE EYE NOVEL CONTEST

• Katwalk by Karen Kijewski (Kat Colorado)

1989 SMP/PWA BEST FIRST PRIVATE EYE NOVEL CONTEST

• Kindred Crime by Janet Dawson (Jeri Howard)

1990 SMP/PWA BEST FIRST PRIVATE EYE NOVEL CONTEST

• The Loud Adios by Ken Kuhlken (Tom Hickey)

1991 SMP/PWA BEST FIRST PRIVATE EYE NOVEL CONTEST

• A Sudden Death at the Norfolk Cafe by Winona Sullivan (Sister Cecile Buddenbrooks)

1992 SMP/PWA BEST FIRST PRIVATE EYE NOVEL CONTEST

• Storm Warning by A.C. Ayres (eventually published as Hour of the Manatee)

1993 SMP/PWA BEST FIRST PRIVATE EYE NOVEL CONTEST

• The Harry Chronicles by Allan Pedrazas (Harry Rice)

1994 SMP/PWA BEST FIRST PRIVATE EYE NOVEL CONTEST

• The Heaven Stone by David Daniel (Alex Rasmussen)

1995 SMP/PWA BEST FIRST PRIVATE EYE NOVEL CONTEST

• Diamond Head by Charles Knief (John Caine)

1996 SMP/PWA BEST FIRST PRIVATE EYE NOVEL CONTEST

• No Award Given

1997 SMP/PWA BEST FIRST PRIVATE EYE NOVEL CONTEST

• A Cold Day in Paradise by Steve Hamilton (Alex McKnight)

1998 SMP/PWA BEST FIRST PRIVATE EYE NOVEL CONTEST

• The Losers' Club by Lise S. Baker (Cal Brantley)

1999 SMP/PWA BEST FIRST PRIVATE EYE NOVEL CONTEST

• Street Legal by Robert Truluck (Duncan Sloan)

2000 SMP/PWA BEST FIRST PRIVATE EYE NOVEL CONTEST

• Catching Water in a Net by J.L. Abramo (Jake Diamond)

2001 SMP/PWA BEST FIRST PRIVATE EYE NOVEL CONTEST

• No award given.

2002 SMP/PWA BEST FIRST PRIVATE EYE NOVEL CONTEST

• The Sterling Inheritance by Michael Siverling (Jason Wilder)

2003 SMP/PWA BEST FIRST PRIVATE EYE NOVEL CONTEST

• Tonight I Said Goodbye by Michael Koryta (Lincoln Perry)

2004 SMP/PWA BEST FIRST PRIVATE EYE NOVEL CONTEST

• First Kill by Michael Kronenwetter (Hank Berlin)

2006 SMP/PWA BEST FIRST PRIVATE EYE NOVEL CONTEST

• The Last Striptease by Michael Wiley (Joe Kozmarski)

2007 SMP/PWA BEST FIRST PRIVATE EYE NOVEL CONTEST

• Father's Day by Keith Gilman (Louis Klein)

2008 SMP/PWA BEST FIRST PRIVATE EYE NOVEL CONTEST

• Drink the Tea by Thomas Kaufman (Willis Gidney)

2009 SMP/PWA BEST FIRST PRIVATE EYE NOVEL CONTEST

• In Search of Mercy by Michael Ayoob (Dexter Bolzjak)

2012? SMP/PWA BEST FIRST PRIVATE EYE NOVEL CONTEST

• Cuts Through Bone by Alaric Hunt (Rachel Vasquez & Clayton Guthrie)

Thanks to Robert Randisi, Jan Grape, Jan Long, Gerald So and especially Cathleen Jordan for their help with this one.