Created by Wade Miller Pseudonym of Bob Wade (1920-2012) and Bill Miller [1920-1961]) "Outside the sky was the same monotonous gray. The rain was drying into large puddles on Fifth Avenue. Max Thursday watched the early morning traffic and wished for the clean needles of a cold shower and something scalding to change the taste … Continue reading Max Thursday
Tag: California
Kate Connolly & Vicente Domingo (Maternal Instincts Mysteries)
Created by Diana Orgain Cozy Alert! Well, it was bound to happen--with the glut of cozy series clogging up the pipes, and the burning question of why a caterer, a florist, a dog walker or a retired opera singer would continually be involved in homicide investigations, it was really only a matter of time before … Continue reading Kate Connolly & Vicente Domingo (Maternal Instincts Mysteries)
“Just One of Those Things”
A Mary Kelly Story by D.L. Browne Fall 2001 The Chinese have a saying: "Dangerous enemies will meet again in narrow streets." The way I remember it, business was slow that November. Carl von Ossietzky won the Nobel Peace Prize and everyone was learning to Rumba. We were between World Wars and the Pinkertons over … Continue reading “Just One of Those Things”
Rod Case
Created by John K. Butler (1908-64) Hoo-boy! They sure had some peculiar occupations, those hard-boiled dicks of the pulps. ROD CASE was--I kid you not!--a hard-nosed "special agent" for the Los Angeles-based General Pacific Telephone Company in a handful of short stories that ran in Black Mask in the early 40's. He was somewhat of … Continue reading Rod Case
Jupiter Jones, Bob Andrews & Pete Crenshaw (The Three Investigators)
Created by Robert Arthur, Jr. (1909-1969) “The question mark is the universal symbol of something unknown. We are prepared to solve any puzzle, riddle, mystery, enigma, or conundrum which may be brought to us.” -- Jupiter Jones in The Secret of Terror Castle Purists may snicker, and suggest there's no real reason to include this … Continue reading Jupiter Jones, Bob Andrews & Pete Crenshaw (The Three Investigators)
Ford Morgan & Roy Shepherd
Created by Michael Collins In 1995's The Cadillac Cowboy, Michael Collins gave us not one, but two intriguing detective characters to add to our list. While neither LANGFORD "FORD" MORGAN or ROY ROGERS SHEPHERD are actually private eyes per se, they're both far too good at what they do to be dismissed as mere amateurs. And … Continue reading Ford Morgan & Roy Shepherd
Ethan Reckless
Created by Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips "I'm not a private eye. I'm just... someone who helps people sometimes." It's Los Angeles in the 1980s, and former sixties radical/undercover FBI agent turned surfer dude/troubleshooter (or is that troublemaker?) ETHAN RECKLESS is on the prowl, going down mean streets Chandler could never have imagined; streets teeming with … Continue reading Ethan Reckless
You Can’t Keep a Good Gal Down
An Interview with Gloria Fickling, the Real Honey West “Honey West here.” That’s how Gloria Fickling answered her phone when I reached her in her study in “beautiful” Laguna Beach Gloria, for those of you who don’t know, is Gloria Fickling, the female half of G.G. Fickling, the husband-and-wife team (her “sweet darling” husband, … Continue reading You Can’t Keep a Good Gal Down
Dashell “Dash” Malone
Created by Dave Ebersole and Delia Gable Maybe Ricky Nelson was right--you can't please everyone. But theatre director and playwright Dave Ebersole and illustrator Delia Gable certainly gave it a good shot, with the creation of Dash, a comic book series put out by tiny Northwest Press, featuring DASHELL "DASH" MALONE, a gay private eye in 1940s Los Angeles … Continue reading Dashell “Dash” Malone
Steve Michaels
Created by Ray Bradbury (1920-2012) Perhaps my favourite story (and the most recent) in Killer, Come Back to Me (2020), Hard Case Crime's spiffy 2020 collection of Ray Bradbury's crime and detective stories, was “Where Everything Ends.” Originally published in the 2010 omnibus collection of the author's Death Is a Lonely Business (1985), A Graveyard for … Continue reading Steve Michaels