The Gumshoe Awards are an American award for popular crime fiction

Crime fiction

Crime fiction is the literary genre that fictionalizes crimes, their detection, criminals and their motives. It is usually distinguished from mainstream fiction and other genres such as science fiction or historical fiction, but boundaries can be, and indeed are, blurred...

 literary works. The Gumshoe Awards are awarded annually by the American Internet magazine Mystery Ink (not to be confused with Mystery Inc.) to recognize the best achievements in crime fiction. The nominated books were chosen from those published for the first time in the United States in English (or English translation). They have been awarded since 2002 in several categories:

• Best Mystery
• Best Thriller
• Best First Novel
• Best Crime Fiction Website
• Lifetime Achievement Award

The magazine "Mystery Ink" is not available as a print medium and is one of the world's first online magazines.

In 2005 a new award category was introduced: Best European Crime Novel.

Categories

Category	Title	Initially awarded	Notes
Best Novel	Best Mystery	2002	In 2002/3 this was titled "Best Novel"
	Best Thriller	2005
	Best European Crime Novel	2005
	Best First Novel	2002
	Lifetime Achievement	2002
	Best Crime Fiction Website	2002	2002/3: "Best Author Website"

Best Mystery (2002/3: "Best Novel")

Year	Prize winner	Title	Publisher
2002	Thomas Perry Thomas Perry (author) Thomas Perry is an American mystery and thriller novelist, who received a 1983 Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best First Novel.-Writings:...	Pursuit	Random House, New York 2001
2003	George P. Pelecanos	Hell to Pay	Little, Brown & Co., Boston 2002
2004	Steve Hamilton Steve Hamilton (author) Steve Hamilton is an American writer of detective fiction. He was born January 10, 1961 and raised in Detroit, Michigan. He graduated in 1983 from the University of Michigan where he won the Hopwood Award for fiction. -Works:...	Blood is the Sky	Thomas Dunne Books, New York 2003
2005	Jim Fusilli	Hard, Hard City	Putnam's, New York 2004
2006	Laura Lippman Laura Lippman Laura Lippman is an American author of detective fiction.-Biography:Lippmann was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. She is the daughter of Theo Lippman Jr., a well known and respected writer at the Baltimore Sun, and Madeline Lippman, a retired school librarian for the...	To the Power of the Three	William Morrow, New York 2005
2007	Julia Spencer-Fleming Julia Spencer-Fleming Julia Spencer-Fleming is an American novelist.She lives in Maine with her husband, 3 children, a dog, and two cats.-Rev. Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne series :...	All Mortal Flesh	Thomas Dunne Books, New York 2006
2008	James Lee Burke James Lee Burke James Lee Burke is an American author of mysteries, best known for his Dave Robicheaux series. He has won an Edgar Award for Black Cherry Blues and Cimarron Rose . The Robicheaux character has been portrayed twice on screen, first by Alec Baldwin and then Tommy Lee Jones...	The Tin Roof Blowdown	Simon & Schuster, New York 2007

Best Thriller

Year	Prize Winner	Title	Publisher
2005	Barry Eisler Barry Eisler Barry Eisler is a best-selling American novelist. He is the author of two thriller series, the first featuring anti-hero John Rain, a half-Japanese, half-American former soldier turned freelance assassin, and a second featuring black ops soldier Ben Treven...	Rain Storm	Putnam's, New York 2004
2006	Joseph Finder Joseph Finder Joseph Finder is an American writer of several thrillers set in a business environment. His books include Paranoia, Company Man, Killer Instinct and Power Play...	Company Man	St. Martin's Press, New York 2005
2007	Robert Ferrigno Robert Ferrigno Robert Ferrigno is an American author of crime novels and of speculative fiction. Eight books published between 1990 ad 2004 were well received additions to the detective and thriller genres, while the post 9/11 'Assassin trilogy' is set in an imagined United States dominated by Islam.-Novels:*...	Prayers for the Assassin	Scribner, New York 2006
2008	Robert Crais Robert Crais Robert Crais is an American author of detective fiction. Crais began his career writing scripts for television shows such as Hill Street Blues, Cagney & Lacey, Quincy, Miami Vice and L.A. Law. He lists amongst his literary influences the authors Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, Ernest...	The Watchman	Simon & Schuster, New York 2007

Best European Crime Novel

Not awarded: 2008

Year	Prize Winner	Nationality	Title	Publisher
2005	Henning Mankell Henning Mankell Henning Mankell is a Swedish crime writer, children's author, leftist activist and dramatist, best known for a series of mystery novels starring his most famous creation, Inspector Kurt Wallander.-Life and career:...	Swedish	The Return of the Dancing Master	The New Press, New York 2003
2006	Robert Wilson Robert Wilson (crime novelist) Robert Wilson is a British crime-writer currently resident in Portugal. He is the son of an RAF fighter pilot, and has a degree in English from Oxford. Wilson is the author of the Bruce Medway series, set on the Gold Coast of Africa, and the Javier Falcon series, set largely in Seville, Spain...	British	The Vanished Hands	Harcourt, New York 2006
2007	Karin Fossum Karin Fossum Karin Fossum is a Norwegian author of crime fiction, often referred to as the "Norwegian queen of crime".-Biography:Karin Mathisen was born in Sandefjord in Vestfold county, Norway. She currently lives in Oslo. Fossum debuted as a poet with Kanskje i morgen, her first collection published in...	Norwegian	When the Devil Holds the Candle	Harcourt, New York 2006

Best First Novel

Year	Prize Winner	Title	Publisher
2002	C.J. Box	Open Season	Putnam's, New York 2001
2003	Eddie Muller Eddie Muller Eddie Muller is a writer based in San Francisco. He is known for writing books about movies, particularly film noir. Founder and president of the Film Noir Foundation, he is considered a noir expert and is called on to write and talk about the film genre, notably on wry commentary tracks for Fox's...	The Distance	Scribner, New York 2002
2004	P.J. Tracy	Monkeewrench	Putnam's, New York 2003
2005	Dylan Schaffer	Misdemeanor Man	Bloomsbury, New York 2004
2006	Randall Hicks	The Baby Game	Wordslinger Press, San Diego 2005
2007	John Hart	The King of Lies	St. Martin's Minotaur, New York 2006
2008	Sean Chercover	Big City, Bad Blood	William Morrow, New York 2007

Lifetime Achievement

Year	Prize Winner	Nationality
2002	Ross Thomas
2003	Dick Francis Dick Francis Richard Stanley "Dick" Francis CBE was an English jockey and crime writer, many of whose novels centre around horse racing.- Personal life :...	Great Britain Great Britain Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
2004	Ruth Rendell Ruth Rendell Ruth Barbara Rendell, Baroness Rendell of Babergh, CBE, , who also writes under the pseudonym Barbara Vine, is an English crime writer, author of psychological thrillers and murder mysteries....	Great Britain Great Britain Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
2005	Lawrence Block Lawrence Block Lawrence Block is an acclaimed contemporary American crime writer best known for two long-running New York–set series, about the recovering alcoholic P.I. Matthew Scudder and gentleman burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr, respectively...
2006	Ed McBain
2007	Robert B. Parker Robert B. Parker Robert Brown Parker was an American crime writer. His most famous works were the novels about the private detective Spenser. ABC television network developed the television series Spenser: For Hire based on the character in the late 1980s; a series of TV movies based on the character were also...
2008	Donald E. Westlake Donald E. Westlake Donald Edwin Westlake was an American writer, with over a hundred novels and non-fiction books to his credit. He specialized in crime fiction, especially comic capers, with an occasional foray into science fiction or other genres...

Best Crime Fiction Website (2002/3: "Best Author Website")

Year	Prize Winner	Website
2002	Lee Child Lee Child Jim Grant , better known by his pen name Lee Child, is a British thriller writer. His wife Jane is a New Yorker, and they currently live in New York state. His first novel, Killing Floor, won the Anthony Award for Best First Novel....	Official Site of Lee Child and Jack Reacher	Author site
2003	Michael Connelly Michael Connelly Michael Connelly is an American author of detective novels and other crime fiction, notably those featuring LAPD Detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch and criminal defense attorney Mickey Haller. His books, which have been translated into 36 languages, have garnered him many awards...	Official Website of Bestselling Author Mike Connelly	Author site
2004	Sarah Weinman	Confessions of Idiosyncratic Mind	Weblog
2005	January Magazine's Crime Fiction Section	January Magazine	Literature-Online magazine
2006	CrimeSpot.net (Graham Powell)	CrimeSpot.net	Weblog
2007	Demolition Magazine	Demolition Magazine	Literature-Online magazine
2008	The Thrilling Detective Web Site	Thrilling Detective	Website (Kevin Burton Smith)