Still, sometimes an author’s work can’t really be covered solely by a discussion of his or her creations. In some cases, their work is so significant and/or influential that they just can’t be ignored. Like the authors listed below.
And don’t worry — I’m not forgetting foreign-language writers, who are a stepping stone to a vast new world of P.I. literature you may not be aware of.
- Cleve F. Adams
- William Ard
- Mike Avallone
- W. T. Ballard
- Robert Leslie Bellem
- Lawrence Block
- Leigh Brackett
- Fredric Brown
- Howard Browne
- Ken Bruen
- James Lee Burke
- John K. Butler
- Paul Cain
- Stephen J. Cannell
- Raymond Chandler
- James Hadley Chase
- Peter Cheyney
- Liza Cody
- Max Allan Collins
- Michael Collins (pseud. of Dennis Lynds)
- George Harmon Coxe
- Robert Crais
- James Crumley
- Carroll John Daly
- Norbert Davis
- Richard Deming
- Ralph Dennis
- Thomas B. Dewey
- David Dodge
- Loren D. Estleman
- Dick Francis
- Erle Stanley Gardner
- William Campbell Gault
- Joe Gores
- Ed Gorman
- Sue Grafton
- Frank Gruber
- Brett Halliday
- Parnell Hall
- Dashiell Hammett
- Joseph Hansen
- Carl Hiaasen
- Roy Huggins
- Stuart Kaminsky
- Frank Kane
- Henry Kane
- Day Keene
- Ed Lacy
- Jonathan Latimer
- Dennis Lehane
- Elmore Leonard
- Laura Lippman
- John Lutz
- Dennis Lynds
- Arthur Lyons
- Gregory McDonald
- John D. MacDonald
- Ross Macdonald
- Ed McBain
- Daniel Mainwaring
- Stephen Marlowe
- Robert Martin
- Wade Miller
- Walter Mosley
- Marcia Muller
- Frederick Nebel
- Maxine O’Callahan
- Sara Paretsky
- Robert B. Parker
- George Pelecanos
- Allan Pinkerton
- Talmage Powell
- Richard S. Prather
- Bill Pronzini
- Robert J. Randisi
- Craig Rice
- Mike Roscoe
- Lawrence Sanders
- Charlie Siringo
- Bart Spicer
- Mickey Spillane
- Rex Stout
- Roger Torrey
- Donald Westlake
- Raoul Whitfield
Non-English Writers
Expand your horizons!
- Alain Demouzon
- Emmanuel Errer
- Juan Madrid
- Leo Malet
- Jean Mazarin
- Andreu Martin
- René-Charles Rey
- Paco Ignacio Taibo II
Respectfully compiled by Kevin Burton Smith.
