Created by Michael Daly & Dinah Prince, and Stephen J. Cannell & Randall Wallace "He's a scam, he's a sham, he's a flim-flam man." — NBC trailer for the show "Fashion plate. Con artist. Public nuisance. Private eye." — tagline from a print ad Television's affable, street-smart, hip young Black private eye SONNY SPOON was … Continue reading Sonny Spoon
Tag: Black Eye
Lincoln Keller
Created by Lee E. Meadows It's nice to see someone didn't forget the Motor City, after all. Add LINCOLN KELLER to the ever-growing list of Black eyes since the eighties and nineties, and give him extra marks for not living on either coast. Lincoln's an ex-Oakland Raiders defensive back and ex-Oakland Police officer who's come … Continue reading Lincoln Keller
Vandy Myrick
Created by Delia Pitts Black Jersey girl VANDY MYRICK is the "toughest bitch" in Queenstown, New Jersey. Just ask her. Okay, it's a barely a dot on the map, with a population of only about nine thousand or so, an exurb crammed into twelve square miles, surrounded by farmer fields, warehouses, Big Pharma labs, and … Continue reading Vandy Myrick
William Fletcher
Created by Grant Bywaters "His face looked like it'd been shoved into an airplane propeller." -- from The Red Storm. Boxing ain't pretty. The Red Storm by Grant Waters won the Minotaur Books Private Eye Writers of America Best First Private Eye Novel Contest, and introduced WILLIAM FLETCHER, a black ex-fighter turned rookie private eye, … Continue reading William Fletcher
Watson & Holmes
Created by Karl Bollers and Rick Leonardi "No time for explanation, the game's afoot!" Ever wonder what would have happened if  Sherlock Holmes had been an inner city black dude? Me neither. But comic book scribe Karl Bollers did just that, and it was a pretty fun spin on The Great One. His HOLMES is … Continue reading Watson & Holmes
Richard Abraham Spade (aka “Superspade”)
Created by B. B. Johnson Pseudonym of Joe Greene (1915-86) Here's another fellow who is not technically a private eye, but I swear this cat could give John Shaft a run for his money. Can you dig it? RICHARD ABRAHAM SPADE was a strapping 240-pound fellow who went from the ghetto to UCLA, where he made … Continue reading Richard Abraham Spade (aka “Superspade”)
Khloé Mercer
Created by Kiki Swinson KHLOÉ MERCER is getting tired of putting her neck on the line as an investigative journalist, snooping into all sorts of malfeasance and corruption, and getting paid diddley squat for it. So she figures she might as well at least make some bucks doing it, and becomes a private eye, in … Continue reading Khloé Mercer
S.J. Rook (The Ross Agency)
Created by Delia C. Pitts The Ross AgencyPrivate InvestigationsLost? Missing? Cheated?Your Problems--Our Solutions-- the agency's business card The Ross Agency is a tiny Harlem detective firm on the side of the angels, dedicated to offering affordable services to its clients, taking  those cases the police are too busy--or too indifferent--to solve. Things like tracking down … Continue reading S.J. Rook (The Ross Agency)
Tootsie Carter
Created by M. Ravenal The Arrangement (2021) marks the debut of  hard-boiled African-American private eye TOOTSIE CARTER, who takes on 1975 New York City armed only with "a snub-nosed Colt .38, unmatchable wit, and a pocketful of Tootsie Rolls." It's the first book in the proposed Plainclothes Tootsie Mystery series, which is planned for 26 … Continue reading Tootsie Carter
Ezell “Easy” Barnes
Created by Richard HilaryPseudonym of Richard Bodino & Hilary Connors "...lyng to your detective is one of the privileges you get billed for."-- Easy explains how it works to a client in Pieces of Cream. In the long, mostly dry winter of discontent for Black eyes between Ernest Tidyman's ground-breaking Shaft, and Walter Mosley's game-changing … Continue reading Ezell “Easy” Barnes