And Other Miscreants... Like his contemporary Roy Huggins, Blake Edwards must have had a real jones for the Shamus Game. Along with his genuine successes (everything from Richard Diamond and Peter Gunn to 10, S.O.B. and the Pink Panther movies), Edwards wrote, directed and/or produced several radio shows, films (both for television and the big … Continue reading Blake Edwards’ Private Eyes
Category: My Back Pages
The 14 Best Private Eye Novels Of All Time
The April 2012 P.I. Poll Results To mark this site's fourteenth anniversary, I asked readers to compile a list of their fourteen favourite private eyes. The results, as of 12:01 AM, PST, April 1st, 2012, when we closed the poll, are: THE FOURTEEN Â Â In descending order... The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett (Sam … Continue reading The 14 Best Private Eye Novels Of All Time
The Casting Couch
How About... About a zillion years ago—1998, when I first started this site--I came up with the bright idea of asking people who should play various private eyes in television or film. I tossed out a few ideas: Robert DeNiro as Mike Hammer? Harrison Ford as Travis McGee? Bill Murray as Shell Scott? Tom Selleck … Continue reading The Casting Couch
They Come From Lands Down Under
Eyes at Work in Australia, Tasmania and New Zealan AUSTRALIA Benjamin Bartholomew by Kel Richards Cassidy Blair by Kirsty Brooks Rosie Bosansky by A.E. Martin Richard Browning by Peter Corris Sam Chauvel by Scott Bywater Grant Colwyn by Arthur J. Rees Ted Conkaffey & Amanda Pharrell by Candice Fox (Queensland) Denis Delaney by Bant Singer … Continue reading They Come From Lands Down Under
Robert Randisi’s Survey of Your Favorite P.I.s (Spring 1997)
From rec.arts.mystery Robert Randisi, founder of The Private Eye Writers of America, not to mention the creator of such popular gumshoes as Miles Jacoby, Henry Po and Nick Delvecchio, took it upon himself to survey the popularity of various P.I.’s in the spring of 1997, via the newsgroup rec.arts.mystery--about a year before I decided to … Continue reading Robert Randisi’s Survey of Your Favorite P.I.s (Spring 1997)
Mysterious Profiles
Biographical Quickies from Mysterious Press/Open Road A gimmick, for sure, but an intriguing one. Launched in April 2022, this series of digital quickies from MysteriousPress/Open Road, available on Kindle. Nook, Kobo, etc., offers a new spin on self-promotion: short but in-depth takes (30-40 digital pages) on beloved fictional detectives, written by the authors themselves. Some are actual … Continue reading Mysterious Profiles
Even a Shamus Could Be a Shamus
Some Nice Jewish Eyes Moses Wine by Roger Simon Dave Brodsky by Jay Tarses Benny Cooperman by Howard Engel Stuart Kovacs by Sarah Weinman “Silky" Pincus by Leo Rosten Joe Posner by Jeremy Pikser Moe Prager by Reed Farrel Coleman Lenny Schneider by Ed Goldberg Kaiser Lupowitz by Woody Allen Respectfully compiled by Kevin Burton … Continue reading Even a Shamus Could Be a Shamus
The 2022 Shamus Awards
From the Private Eye Writers of America The winners of the 2022 Shamus Awards, for works published in 2021, were announced by PWA Awards Chairperson John Shepphird on August 4, 2022. The winners are in red. BEST PI HARDCOVER Family Business by S. J. Rozan (Lydia Chin/Bill Smith) Runner by Tracy Clark (Cass Raines) Last … Continue reading The 2022 Shamus Awards
What Were Once Vices…
Notable Gay and Lesbian Eyes Sam Spade seemed to take some genuine pleasure in belittling and slapping around both Wilmer (that gunsel!) and Joel Cairo in The Maltese Falcon, but homosexuals (and transsexuals) have already been treated more or less the same way in the genre for decades--and would continue to be so for decades … Continue reading What Were Once Vices…
Ontari-ari-ari-o Eyes
Eyes from Canada's Second Largest Province Ontario Benny Cooperman by Howard Engel (Grantham, a thinly disguised St. Catharines) Joe Garrett by Alison Bruce Max Dexter by Chris Laing Kate Garrett & Jake Carmedy by Alison Bruce Terry Lane from Taking the Falls (Niagara Falls) D.B. Murphy by Richard J. Thomas (Owen Sound) John Swan by … Continue reading Ontari-ari-ari-o Eyes