Steve Hamilton - Edgar Winning Mystery Author

I first heard about mystery author Steve Hamilton in after "Bookline Mystery Newsletter" that I subscribed to in 1999. The April issue listed the Edgar award nominees for Best First Novel. A Cold Day In Paradise was Steve Hamilton's first book ... and it won. The book was published by St. Martin's Press in 1998.

The story takes place in the Upper Penisula of Michigan. Alex McNight, an ex-Detroit cop with a bullet, survived a shootout years ago that left him with a bullet near his heart. The psycho that shot him has now apparently escaped from prison.

Receiving an Edgar award for Best First Novel is not only a tremendous boost to an author's career ... but also makes this book sought after by collectors.

I bought a signed book in 1999 and bought the paperback to read. Since then Steve Hamilton has written seven more books. I also bought a signed edition of his second book Winter of the Wolf Moon.

Mr. Hamilton has continued writing mysteries. And now has a total of eight with a ninth book coming out in 2008.

Here is a list of his books and their approximate values in Dec 2007:

The prices of the books are from the Advanced Book Exchange ... or abe.com. These are only for books in fine condition ... both book and dust jacket. And all of these are signed.

I eliminated the two lowest priced books. This assumes the lowest priced books may be sold or could be repriced before you buy it. Jim and I both agree on this.

Also, an authors's first book price is normally two to three times the price of the second book. And that's what we see here.

What is interesting is to see the range of prices for the first book. A chart in the form of a histogram makes it easier to see the distribution of prices by the booksellers on ABE: