Created by Glen Cook
A well-received series about a man called GARRETT, the top–and only–private eye in TunFaire. It’s not easy making a living as a private dick in a town full of ogres, dwarfs, gnomes, sorcerors, centaurs, nymphs and elves, never mind having Captain Block of the Watch always on your case, but dammit, someone’s got to do it.
And thankfully, Garrett’s got a partner to watch his back…well, sorta. The catch is that his partner, known as the “Dead Man,” is, according to reader James Davis,” Nero Wolfe taken to an extreme. His methods are similar. The aversion to women is there. He’s big and never moves from his chair. Of course, he’s dead.”
As The Library Journal puts it, “Fast-paced adventure that combines sword and sorcery with hard-boiled detective fiction.”
The author, Glen Cook, is a contemporary American science fiction and fantasy writer, best known for The Black Company fantasy series, but he keeps returning to the Garrett series, possibly because they’re simply a lot of fun. The plots and the hero are extremely Chandleresque — Garrett is the ultimate hard-boiled detective, living in a world where the cops are corrupt, the rich can get away with murder, and a favor from the local kingpin can open just about any locked door. What’s different is that this world also contains vampires, trolls, magic, and gods that tend to visit you “personally” if they think you haven’t been behaving yourself.
In many ways, it’s a lot like the HBO movie Cast a Deadly Spell where the “fantasy” element is more of a backdrop than anything else, and the real action comes from the different characters just playing off each other. It also bears a marked resemblance to Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden series, the success of which may have prompted Cook to pick up the pace on the Garrett books.
TRIVIA
- Garrett is named in honour of Randall Garrett, the creator of the Lord Darcy, one of the first writers to successfully combine the genres of science fiction, fantasy and mystery.
NOVELS
- Sweet Silver Blues (1987) |Â Buy this book
- Bitter Gold Hearts (1988) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
- Cold Copper Tears (1988)  | Buy this book | Kindle it!
- Old Tin Sorrows (1989) |Â Buy this book
- Dread Brass Shadows (1990) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
- Red Iron Nights (1991) |Â Buy this book
- Deadly Quicksilver Lies (1994)|Â Buy this book
- Petty Pewter Gods (1995)Â |Â Buy this book
- Faded Steel Heat (1999)Â |Â Buy this book
- Angry Lead Skies (2002) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
- Whispering Nickel Idols (2005) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
- Cruel Zinc Melodies (2008) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
- Gilded Latten Bones (2010) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
- Wicked Bronze Ambition (2013) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
SHORT STORIES
- “Shadow Thieves” (2011, Down These Strange Streets) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
COLLECTIONS & OMNIBUS EDITIONS
- Introducing Garrett, P.I. (2011)Â |Â Buy this book
Collects first three novels. - Garrett Takes the Cases (2012)Â |Â Buy this book
Collects Old Tin Sorrows, Dread Brass Shadows and Red Iron Nights. - Garrett For Hire (2013) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
Collects Deadly Quicksilver Lies, Petty Pewter Gods and Faded Steel Heat.
RELATED LINKS
- I Ain’t Afraid of No Ghosts
A listing of fantasy & occult eyes. Suffice it to say that we’re definitely not in Kansas anymore…
Report respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith. Thanks to Troy ‘Trenchcoat’ Wood for this one.
