6/17/1995 Shamus goes home with a long line of dead men

June 17, 1995.  On this date Lawrence Block added yet another award to his long list of trophies.  The Private Eye Writers of America gave him the Shamus Award for A Long Line of Dead Men.  The Shamus Award is given to books about private eyes or other people who don't work for the government but are paid to investigate crimes.  That includes lawyers, reporters, and unlicensed, unofficial private eyes like Matt Scudder, the hero of this novel.  In fact, I think of that part of the Shamus rules as the Scudder Exception.  But it would certainly make no sense to leave this great series out.