Thrilling Detective's Cheap Thrill Awards 2004

Every year around this time, Thrilling Detective polls its visitors on the state of P.I. fiction. My answers are below. Feel free to add your own.

THE BEST P.I. BOOK AWARD
For Books First Published in 2004
LITTLE GIRL LOST by Richard Aleas

THE OTHER BEST P.I. BOOK AWARD
For Books You Read in 2004, Regardless of When They Were First Published
WALKING THE PERFECT SQUARE by Reed Farrel Coleman

BEST MYSTERY MAG, WEB SITE, E-ZINE, LIST-SERV, BLOG or NEWSGROUP
Fiction or Non-Fiction, In Print or On-Line Besides Thrilling, Natch!
Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind (Sarah Weinman), A Writer's Life (Lee Goldberg), World's Worst Blog (Victor Gischler)

WISDOM OF THE AGES
The Best Thing I Ever Learned from a P.I. Novel Was...
I've learned to come up with relevant questions and phrase them cleverly.

HOW MUCH LONGER?
Most Anxiously Awaited P.I. Event
Kevin Smith's (CLERKS, DOGMA, etc.) Fletch movie

REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL
What gives you the most hope for the future of the P.I.?
The new P.I./noir imprints Hard Case Crime and POINTBlank and their commitment to classic lean prose.

THE ASHES, ASHES, WE ALL FALL DOWN AWARD
Biggest Disappointment
P.I. movies and TV shows that die before they ever reach the screen

THE "MICROWAVED CAT" AWARD
Most Nauseating Cover Design
The cover of Lee Goldberg's BEYOND THE BEYOND, which shows a phallic-looking rocket ship crashing through a TV screen.

THE "THAT''S MORE LIKE IT" AWARD
Cover Designs That Don't Suck
Most covers by Hard Case Crime

WELCOME BACK
P.I. Classics FINALLY Back in Print
TEXAS WIND by James Reasoner (reprinted by POINTBlank), COWARD'S KISS by Lawrence Block and The Amos Walker backlist (reprinted by iBooks)

WELCOME TO THE FOLD
Mystery Fiction Character Who Should Become a P.I.
Elmore Leonard's Chili Palmer

TOO LONG IN THE WASTELAND
P.I.s Missing In Action
Technically I can't call him M.I.A., but I miss the first-person-only, more optimistic Elvis Cole. Also, Harlan Coben's Myron Bolitar.

SO LONG, IT'S BEEN GOOD TO KNOW YOU
Plots with Guns, Joseph Hansen, Larry Brown, Christopher Reeve

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS...
L.A. CONFIDENTIAL and Peter Gunn on DVD

ABOVE AND BEYOND
Staff Members or Contributors of the Year
Dale Stoyer, Jim Winter, Dave White, Ray Banks

SPILL THE BEANS
Further Comments
Great working with you, Kevin. Action is my reward.

After eleven years reading the genre, I saw the debut of my own P.I., Chris Harvey, in 2004. I hope he passes muster with Thrilling Detective's distinguished following. With any luck, it won't be eleven years before the sequel.