Created by John Shannon First Los Angeleno JACK LIFFEY lost his job as a technical writer. Then he lost his wife and, for a while, his daughter, to divorce. All he has left is his unerring ability to track down missing children, which keeps him busy for the most part, and away from booze, drugs, … Continue reading Jack Liffey
Category: Hall of Fame
Sharon McCone
Created by Marcia Muller (1944--) "Marcia Muller is the founding mother of the contemporary female hard-boiled private eye." -- Sue Grafton Generally credited with being the first liberated female private detective of the modern era, Marcia Muller's SHARON McCONE paved the way for the subsequentsuccess of Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone, Sara Paretsky's V.I. Warshawski, Laura Lippmann's … Continue reading Sharon McCone
Albert Samson
Created by Michael Z. Lewin (1942--) "Clients come to (private investigators) with stories. And humans are a storytelling species, so when I hear a story, I want to know how it comes out." --"Asset to the Community" Hard-boiled detective fiction has always claimed to be superior to other sub-genres, based on its realism. Since Raymond … Continue reading Albert Samson
Jim Sader
Created by Dolores Hitchens Pseudonym of Julia Clara Catherine Maria Dolores Robins Other pseudonyms include D.B. Olsen, Dolan Birkeley, Noel Burke (1907-73) "The carhop came and thanked him for the tip and took the tray away. As she walked into the light her legs shone like silk below the fluffy skirt, and Sader yawned, and … Continue reading Jim Sader
Pepe Carvalho
Created by Manuel Vázquez Montalbán (1939 - 2003) "Do you realise that we private eyes are the barometers of established morality? I tell you society is rotten. It doesn't believe in anything," declares Spanish private eye PEPE CARVALHO to his friend, Biscuter, in Southern Seas (1979). Pepe is a fat and cynical eye, who may … Continue reading Pepe Carvalho
Patrick Kenzie & Angie Gennaro
Created by Dennis Lehane (1965--) Dennis Lehane's 1994 A Drink Before the War rocked the boat when it came out, and introduced childhood pals turned Boston private eyes PATRICK KENZIE and ANGELA GENNARO. Patrick and Angie grew up in an Irish/Polish/Italian working-class neighbourhood where "your boundaries begin in the schoolyard and last a lifetime" (according … Continue reading Patrick Kenzie & Angie Gennaro
Bill Lennox
Created by W.T. Ballard (Willis Todhunter Ballard)Pseudonyms include P. D. Ballard, Harrison Hunt, Neil MacNeil, John Shepherd(1903-80) “Just a friendly town... When the knife falls, everyone helps you down into the gutter.”-- Lennox ponders Hollywwood in "A Little Different" Here's another iconic private eye who's officially not a private eye, yet does pretty much everything … Continue reading Bill Lennox
Karl Craven
Created by Jonathan Latimer (1906-1983) "From the way her buttocks looked under the black silk dress, I knew she’d be good in bed." -- one of the great opening lines in detective fiction. A true hardboiled classic, Jonathan Latimer's Solomon's Vineyard, featuring hard-as-a-rock St. Louis private eye KARL CRAVEN (at least, that's what he claimed … Continue reading Karl Craven
Steve Midnight
Created by John K. Butler (1908-64) Although he wasn't really a private eye, STEVE MIDNIGHT sure acted like one in the pages of Dime Detective in the 1940s. Steven Middleton Knight earned his nickname from the moneyed days of his youth when he had a rep as a "midnight playboy on a nation-wide scale." … Continue reading Steve Midnight
Honey West
Created by G.G. FicklingPseudonym of Gloria and Forest Fickling Move over, Kinsey. Step aside, Sharon. Someone get the smelling salts for V.I. Here comes the shocking truth. The first really successful female private eye in her own series of novels was a bimbo! Or at least frequently clothing-challenged and none-too-swift. Evidence? This exclamation from … Continue reading Honey West