Created by Roger Torrey
Pseudonyms include Sam Drake, Samuel Drake, John Ryan, R.D. Torrey
(1901-46)
Yet another of prolific pulpster Roger Torrey’s seemingly endless and virtually indistinguishable supply of private eyes, JOSEPH H. “JOE” HARPER appears in, as far as I can tell, only one short story, narrated in first person.
Harper had “four years on the cops” before he started his own detective agency in New York City. He mostly works for insurance companies, and specializes in jewel thefts, frequently acting as a go-between, even if her admits “it isn’t exactly ethical maybe.”
But hey, he’s doing okay. He’s got a gum-snapping young (but feisty) secretary, Hester Magee, who occasionally irritates him, Â a decent line of patter and so far, he’s making the rent. And then, in “Ten Grand Trade” (June 26, 1937, Detective Fiction Weekly), the “cutest little man” he’d seen in “many a day” walks into his office…
SHORT STORIES
- “Ten Grand Trade” (June 26, 1937, Detective Fiction Weekly)
FURTHER INVESTIGATION
- The Eyes of Roger Torrey
A Preliminary List
Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith.
