From Ed Gorman’s Blog (2010; revised 2017)
This list originally appeared on Ed Gorman’s Blog on August 31, 2010. At the time, Ed wrote: “In addition to being both a fine novelist and short story writer as well as a very perceptive critic, Dick’s list is especially interesting to me because he includes novels I’ve never seen on any other list before. And now I want to read or re-read them. Keep (clicking) after the Top 20 Novels because Dick gets into movies and tv. Cool stuff. “
It’s still cool stuff, and Dick’s still the man. In 2017, he even added a few notes to his original choices.
In alphabetical order (limiting myself to one per author, or Chandler, Hammett and Macdonald would use up the 20).
- Goodey’s Last Stand by Charles E. Alverson (Joe Goodey)
- Eight Million Ways to Die by Lawrence Block (Matt Scudder)
- The Taste of Ashes by Howard Browne (Paul Pine)
- The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler (Philip Marlowe)
- L.A. Requiem by Robert Crais (Elvis Cole)
- The Last Good Kiss by James Crumley (C.W. Sughrue)
- The Eighth Circle by Stanley Ellin (Murray Kirk)
- The Rainy City by Earl W. Emerson (Thomas Black)
- Every Brilliant Eye by Loren Estleman (Amos Walker)
- Dead Skip by Joe Gores (Dan Kearney & Associates)
- K Is For Killer by Sue Grafton (Kinsey Millhone)
- The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett (Sam Spade)
- Hard Trade by Arthur Lyons (Jacob Asch)
- The Way Some People Die by Ross Macdonald (Lew Archer)
- Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley (Easy Rawlins)
- Trace by Warren Murphy (Devlin “Trace” Tracy)
- The Judas Goat by Robert B. Parker (Spenser)
- Silent Joe by T. Jefferson Parker (Joe Trona)
- The Open Shadow by Brad Solomon (Fritz Thieringer & Maggie McGuane)
- Day of Wrath by Jonathan Valin (Harry Stoner)
FURTHER INVESTIGATION
- Robert Randisi’s PI Survey Results (1997)
PWA founder Randisi’s own personal P.I. Series & P.I. Novel Survey Results from the Spring of 1997, which he conducted on rec.arts.mystery. The results — and some of Randisi’s comments — are pretty interesting. - 100 Eyes of The Mystery Scene Era (2007)
My personal look back at the eyes who I felt had left their mark on the shamus game since Mystery Scene first hit the streets in 1985, published in conjunction with Mystery Scene’s 100 issue in 2007.
Compiled by Dick Lochte. This list (with additional commentary) originally appeared 0n Ed Gorman’s Blog on August 31, 2010. Used with permission.
