Created by Judson P. Philips Pseudonyms include Hugh Pentecost, Philip Owen (1903 – 1989) THE PARK AVENUE HUNT CLUB were a team of disparate millionaire adventurers, vigilantes, and amateur crime solvers; men of leisure with a weakness for black masks and bloody violence, whose thirty-seven action-packed stories and serials were published in Detective Fiction Weekly, Flynn’s Detective … Continue reading George Seville, John Jericho, Arthur Hallam & Wu (The Park Avenue Hunt Club)
Tag: Amateur Sleuth
Nick Travers
Created by Ace Atkins (1970--) Maybe no one can sing the blues like Blind Willie McTell, but Ace Atkins certainly gives it a shot. Former New Orleans Saint NICK TRAVERS blew his pro football career when he punched out his coach out (LIVE! ON NATIONAL TELEVISION!). Not the greatest career move... So now he's a … Continue reading Nick Travers
Ludovic Travers
Created by Christopher Bush Pseudonyms include Noel Barclay and Michael Home (1885-1973) "And that’s not all. Somers is dead too … He poisoned himself … in the lounge!” —from Murder in Fenwold LUDOVIC TRAVERS, a tall, skinny, bespectacled and introspective economist and amateur sleuth, eventually turns pro when he becomes the owner of the Broad … Continue reading Ludovic Travers
The Lone Wolf (Michael Lanyard)
Created by Louis Joseph Vance (1879-1933) Louis Joseph Vance's MICHAEL LANYARD, better known as THE LONE WOLF, didn't start out as a private eye, but as a criminal. However, like Jack Boyle's Boston Blackie, thanks to his numerous reboots, reincarnations and re-imaginings in radio, film and television, The Lone Wolf is now remembered by many, … Continue reading The Lone Wolf (Michael Lanyard)
Quique Hache
Created by Sergio Gómez A series of Spanish language YA novels following the adventures (and misadventures) of fun-loving fifteen-year-old Chilean QUIQUE HACHE, who has a knack for solving crimes. In what I think is the second book in the series, Quique Hache, Detective (2005), Quique's just knocked off a correspondence course on becoming a private detective. … Continue reading Quique Hache
Gil Yates
Created by Alistair Boyle (Pseudonym) (1952--) GIL YATES is a real find: a private investigator from--get this!--California! What're the odds? But actually, Gil does carve a bit of a cockeyed niche for himself, as a sort of high-tech, big business, high-priced, Los Angeles contingency expert. But it's all a delicious blend of mid-life crisis and … Continue reading Gil Yates
Singer Batts
Created by Thomas B. Dewey Pseudonyms include Tom Brandt and Cord Wainer (1915-81) Whatever fame the great but unjustly ignored Thomas B. Dewey managed to claim was for his two fine private eye series, featuring the husband-and-wife team of Pete and Jeanne Schofield and hard-boiled Chicago gumshoe Mac respectively. But he created another very entertaining … Continue reading Singer Batts
Randall Lee
Created by Charles Colyott "Things are oriental, Detective. People are Asian. As you say, I am neither. Just another Gwailo, like yourself." -- Randall explains it (again) on Changes RANDALL LEE isn't your typical addition to these pages. Hell, when we first meet him in Changes (2010), he's not really a private eye at all--even … Continue reading Randall Lee
Agatha Raisin
Created by M.C. Beaton Cozy alert! (The character's first name was a clue). M.C. Beaton's AGATHA RAISIN wasn't even a private investigator for a good piece of her career. When she first appeared, in Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death way back in 1992, she was just your typical amateur sleuth-- a successful, middle-aged … Continue reading Agatha Raisin
Colton Parker (Jim Sanderson)
Created by Jim Sanderson It's the 1980s, and there's boom money to be made--one way or another--in the hard-scrabble West Texas oil patches out near Odessa, but COLTON PARKER isn't exactly setting the world on fire. He's a chump-change criminal, trying to stay out of trouble, working as a bouncer for a local gambler, and … Continue reading Colton Parker (Jim Sanderson)