The Private Eyes That Matter
I‘ve listed these eyes by the decade in which they first appeared, even though an eye’s career may span more than one decade, or even not make much of mark for several years after their first appearance.
They’re counted for what I consider their quality, entertainment value, reflection of their times, influence on the genre and… honestly? Whether I liked them or not. Yes, it’s all horribly subjective.Â
By the way, this list is very much a work in progress. Feel free to contradict me, or suggest your own favourites. That’s what the comments section down there is for…
THE TWENTIES
Let There Be Light: The Real Deal
Three Gun Terry by Carroll John Daly
Race Williams by Carroll John Daly
The Continental Op by Dashiell Hammett
Ben Jardinn by Raoul Whitfield
THE THIRTIES
The Pulps and Beyond
Sam Spade by Dashiell Hammett
Nick and Nora Charles by Dashiell Hammett
Bill Crane by Jonathan Latimer
Cardigan by Frederick Nebel
“Tough Dick” Donohue by Frederick Nebel
Jo Gar by Ramon Delacorta
Max Latin by Norbert Davis
Philip Marlowe by Raymond Chandler
Steve Midnight by John K. Butler
Mike Shayne by Brett Halliday
Dan Turner by Robert Leslie Bellem
Bertha Cool & Donald Lam by A.A. Fair
Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin by Rex Stout
THE FORTIES
Aprés la guerre
Lew Archer by Ross Macdonald
Nestor Burma by Léo Malet
Ed Clive by Leigh Brackett
Karl Craven by Jonathan Latimer
Mike Hammer by Mickey Spillane
Ed and Am Hunter by Fredric Brown
“Mac” Robinson by Thomas B. Dewey
Paul Pine by Howard Browne
Max Thursday by Wade Miller
Carney Wilde by Bart Spicer
THE FIFTIES
Under the Hammer
The introduction of Mike Hammer in the late forties, the rise of a zillion pulpy and mostly inferior imitators, and the paperback industry that fostered it all, may have seemed to have been all encompassing at the time, but in retrospect, some of the most interesting eyes of the era were moving the genre ahead, allowing for a little more social and cultural awareness.
Brock Callahan by William Campbell Gault
Timothy Dane by William Ard
Chet Drum by Stephen Marlowe
Peter Gunn by Blake Edwards
Grave Digger Jones & Coffin Ed Johnson by Chester Himes
Johnny Liddell by Frank Kane
Toussaint Moore by Ed Lacy
Jim Sader by Dolores Hitchens
Shell Scott by Richard S. Prather
THE SIXTIES
‘Cos the Times, They Are A-Changin’
Dan Fortune by Michael Collins
Joe Mannix by Richard Levinson & William Link
Travis McGee by John D. MacDonald
Mitch Tobin by Tucker Coe (Donald Westlake)
Honey West by G.G. Fickling
THE SEVENTIES
The Pre-Renaissance: Everyone into the Pool
Jake Asch by Arthur Lyons
Pepe Carvalho by Manuel Vásquez Montalbán
Dan Kearney & Associates (DKA) by Joe Gores
Dave Brandstetter by Joseph Hansen
Jake Gittes by Robert Towne
Al Hickey & Frank Boggs by Walter Hill
Anna Lee by Liza Cody
Sharon McCone by Marcia Muller
Milo Milodragovitch by James Crumley
Harry Moseby by Alan Sharp (Night Moves)
Nameless by Bill Pronzini
Harry O by Howard Rodman
Toby Peters by Stuart Kaminsky
Jim Rockford by Stephen J. Cannell & Roy Huggins
Albert Samson by Michael Z. Lewin
Matt Scudder by Lawrence Block
John Shaft by Ernest Tidyman
Hector Belascoarán Shayne by Paco Ignacio Taibo II
Spenser by Robert B. Parker
C.W. Sughrue by James Crumley
Moses Wine by Roger Simon
THE EIGHTIES
The Renaissance: Come On In, The Water’s Fine
The eighties are when I really became interested in private eye fiction, and I’ll probably always have a weakness for that era. It was certainly an exciting time for the genre, particularly the series P.I. So many launched in the seventies were just hitting their stride, and in their wake  a whole bunch of diverse new voices (Grafton, Paretsky, Mosley, Burke, et al) entered the genre. In retrospect, you can see that the slew of non-pale males and other fresh voices beginning to pop up were not so much a shake-up as a logical progression, following what had been going on in the seventies (and arguably, the sixties as well).
Burke by Andrew Vachss
Fred Carver by John Lutz
Frank Clemons by Thomas H. Cook
Elvis Cole by Robert Crais
John Francis Cuddy by Jeremiah Healy
Dave Garrett by Neil Albert
Leo Haggerty by Benjamin M. Schutz
Cliff Hardy by Peter Corris
Nate Heller by Max Allan Collins
Kinsey Millhone by Sue Grafton
John Marshall Tanner by Stephen Greenleaf
Ms. Tree by Max Allan Collins and Terry Beatty
Ben Perkins by Rob Kantner
Mitch Roberts by Gaylord Dold
Dan Roman by Edward Mathis
Harry Stoner by Jonathan Valin
Thorn by James W. Hall
Amos Walker by Loren D. Estleman
V.I. Warshawski by Sara Paretsky
THE NINETIES
Sisters (and Everyone Else, It Seems) Are Doing It For Themselves
Vinnie Calvino by Christopher G. Moore
Lydia Chin and Bill Smith by S. J. Rozan
Lionel Essrog by Jonathan Lethem
Lew Griffin by James Sallis
Milan Jacovich by Les Roberts
Patrick Kenzie & Angela Gennaro by Dennis Lehane
Jack Liffey by John Shannon
Tess Monaghan by Laura Lippman
Ivan Monk by Gary Phillips
Charlie Parker by John Connolly
Stephanie Plum by Janet Evanovich
Precious Ramotswe by Alexander McCall Smith
Easy Rawlins by Walter Mosely
Jack Reacher by Lee Child
Nick Stefanos by George Pelecanos
Jane Whitefield by Thomas Perry
THE OH-OHS
Or is it “The Oughties”?
Frank Behr by David Levien
Lisbeth Salander & Mikael Blomkvist by Stieg Larsson
Norm Carpenter & Al Hasp by Jon L. Breen
David DiAngelo by Tim Broderick
Ray Dudgeon by Sean Chercover
Josephine “Joe” Flannigan by Sara Gran
Cal Innes by Ray Banks
Joe Kurtz by Dan Simmons
Ed Loy by Declan Hughes
John March by Peter Spiegelman
J. McNee by Russel D. McLean
Dex Parios by Greg Rucka and Matthew Southworth
Moe Prager by Reed Farrel Coleman
Derek Strange & Terry Quinn by George Pelecanos
Jack Taylor by Ken Bruen
THE OH-TEENS
As the decade came to a close, a whole new gaggle of writers and critics took turns patting each other on the back for their oh-so-woke diversity, apparently unaware that they were merely rolling down the highway other, often more daring, writers had paved decades earlier.
Tommy Akhtar by Patrick Neate
Juniper Song by Steph Cha
Spero Lucas by George P. Pelecanos
Gus Murphy by Reed Farrel Coleman
Veronica Mars by Rob Thomas
Cormoran Strike by Robert Galbraith (pseudonym of J.K. Rowling)
Roxane Weary by Kristen Lepionka
THE OH-TWENTIES
put joe gaylord on this list sir becoue just i like his name
and also flemming johnny saxon jim steele
and kevin just do it please and also tony hunter on the 30s list too and Anthony martin rush henry max hale John j shsnnon
just put joe gaylord on list please
The Hall of Fame is a mixture of popular critical and and commercial acclaim, plus a dash of historical significance, and yes, a little subjective judgement on my part. I’m not sure just a catchy monicker is enough, Melvin. But if you can make a worthy case for inclusion of any of the detectives you’ve mentioned, based on those factors, I’ll certainly consider them.
I just don.t care With the popular critical and commerical acclaim i just don.t fuck care
Well, I do “fuck care”–it’s MY site. Some of your suggestions are worth considering, some of them just don’t do it for me, and a few you must be pulling my leg. You want them included, make a convincing case for them–email me. But try and stick to one pseudonym.
look for the records i don,t carre with hall of famr mixture of popular critical and commerical Acclaim look i just want to found it easy that it
Put Danny Boyd jim steele and also Joe gaylord
Like one example is the 60s is so Little put more like Roy marshal Elvis Horn
Is so Little just put them 2
Hi can you put johnny liddell chester durm Lou largo mike garfin Timothy Dane Burns Bannion Ben Gates Peter Chambers Nathan Hawk Jake Barrow Danny Boyd
Oh by the other guys is not me Kevin is i don,t know them Jesus christ
Thank you for sharing.
Ok can you put johnny liddel On the list in the 40s and Lou largo too becouse becouse the 40s and 50s there too Little
Actually, these are both good, solid if not spectacular choices, and not just because those decades are a little light. Stay tuned…
And Here a maybe. I am not sure Jim Bennett. And this one of maybe ish
You’ve left off some great Jewish detective series. How about Faye Kellerman (Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus), Stuart Kaminsky (Abe Lieberman) and the best (although only a few titles) Robert Rosenberg (Avram Cohen). Oh, just thought of one more– the Arab series by Matt Beynon Rees (Omar Yussef). Oh, what about Donald Westlake’s hardboiled Parker series under the pseudonym Richard Stark? Oh and British writer Mark Timlin (Nick Sharman). There’s a bunch for you
This isn’t a Jewish detective site. It’s a site dedicated to private eyes, with a few notable exceptions.
Have you read the Alex McKnight series by Steve Hamilton? I think they are great. https://www.goodreads.com/series/50945-alex-mcknight I guess they would fall under 1990s as the first one was published in 1998.
And have you read the Gil Yates series by Alistair Boyle? They are a sort of comedy series. I really enjoyed them.
Glad to see Gaylord Dold in your Hall of Fame.