Hard Case Crime Writer Wins Shamus Award

Songs of Innocence by Charles Ardai receives Best Paperback Original Award October 16, 2008—Senior Vice President of Dorchester Publishing Tim DeYoung is pleased to announce that Charles Ardai won the Shamus Award for Best Paperback Original from the Private Eye Writers of America for his novel Songs of Innocence (written as Richard Aleas). “We are very pleased to see Charles honored for this extraordinary novel. This award gives Songs of Innocence and Charles the recognition they truly deserve. ” “I’m very grateful for all the recognition Hard Case Crime has received since we founded the line in 2004,” said Ardai. “But there’s something especially gratifying about receiving the Shamus Award for one of my own books, particularly this one, since Songs of Innocence is a novel that means a lot to me and evokes a powerful response from readers.” Shamus nominees and winners were chosen by a committee of members of PWA. The winners were announced on Oct. 10 at the annual PWA awards banquet in Baltimore, MD, during the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention. Ardai’s noire thriller about detective John Blake’s search for the truth about a college student’s apparent suicide held its own in a highly competitive field. Novels by Kelley Armstrong, Linwood Barclay, David Corbett, and fellow Hard Case author Max Allan Collins were all in contention for the award. Ardai’s next novel, Fifty-to-One, commemorates the anniversary of the 50th published book in the Hard Case Crime pulp fiction line and will feature a full-color insert with miniature reproductions of all 50 of the celebrated Hard Case Crime novel covers. It releases in December 2008. The Shamus Award is given by the Private Eye Writers of America to honor excellent work in the Private Eye genre. The award was created by PWA founder Charles Ardai and Max Phillips and the line is published as a collaboration between Winterfall LLC and Dorchester Publishing.