Pet-Owning Eyes
CATS
Okay, so Chandler was a cat man, and more than a few author photos feature him and a feline or two, although Marlowe–at least in the books–never had a cat. But these dicks did:
- Marcia Muller’s San Francisco eye Sharon McCone has had a cat or two.
- Nick O’Donohue’s Nathan Phillips has a cat named, appropriately–if a tad predictably–“Marlowe.” Rick Simon, of TV’s Simon and Simon, had a dog with the same monicker, and so do I.
- Bill Crider’s Houston-based Truman Smith has an ornery old orange tomcat he calls“Nameless.” A very nice little tip of the hat to Bill Pronzini, I assume.
- George Pelecanos’ Nick Stephanos feeds a one-eyed ex-alley cat, who also doesn’t seem to possess a name.
- Likewise, Robert Crais’ Elvis Cole‘s battle-scarred feral cat wanders in and out of his life, looking for food.
- Mark Timlin’s Nick Sharman also sings the stray cat blues, tossing food to a perennial stray that hangs around. Is this a trend? None of these guys can admit to actually owning a cat?
- And I guess I really should inform you — although it’s really with rather mixed feelings — of the existence of Sam the Cat, a feline private eye who charges half a pound of lox, plus expenses, in a couple of children’s books by Linda Stewart.
RABBITS
- Dan Kruger has a pet rabbit called “Bugs.”
- Jonni Thunder has a rabbit named Shamus.
OCELOTS
- Honey West had a pet ocelot named Bruce in her TV show.
PIGS
- Derien McCall has a pet piglet in “The Right Temptation.”
FALCONS
- Frank Pavlicek has a falcon, Armistead.
AND HOW COULD WE FORGET
- Baby Ganesh
Inspector Chopra’s pet elephant.
FURTHER INVESTIGATION
- Going to the Dogs
The Great Mutts of Detective Fiction. - “Oh mama, I got dem cosmic anthropomorphic P.I. blues again…”
Going to the dogs, the cats and worse.
Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith. Thanks to Jim Vella for the lead.
