Created by Robert S. Levinson (1936-2018) Los Angeles newspaper columnist NEIL GULLIVER was once a hotshot crime reporter, but now he earns his daily bread dishing out the dirt on the denizens of Hollywood. He lives with (but is divorced from) TV actress STEVIE MARRINER, the "sex queen of the soaps," who serves as his … Continue reading Neil Gulliver & Stevie Marriner
Tag: California
Alan Bonner
Created by Mona Williams (1905-91) When Tony Lopez comes to San Sebastián, California for dinner with his employers, he promptly disappears, in the 1978 horror novel This House is Burning. Private detective ALAN BONNER is soon dispatched to find Lopez, and is soon asking questions all over town, and his attention is soon drawn to … Continue reading Alan Bonner
Joe Goodey
Created by Charles E. Alverson (1935-2020) They're now nearly forgotten, but Alverson's two novels starring ex-homicide dick-turned-San Francisco P.I. JOE GOODEY are, like Howard Browne's Paul Pine books, as close as any writer has come to capturing the style and spirit of Raymond Chandler. Here's the opener from Not Sleeping, Just Dead: "I was stretching … Continue reading Joe Goodey
Gregory Hood (The Casebook of Gregory Hood)
Created by Anthony Boucher (1911-1968) and Denis Green (1905-1954) Wealthy gentleman sleuth-about-town GREGORY HOOD was an antiquities importer whose search for various treasures took him all over the world, and whose acquisitions inevitably had interesting histories that were somehow always associated with a current-day mystery — a mystery that Hood, of course, would end up solving. … Continue reading Gregory Hood (The Casebook of Gregory Hood)
Steve Summers
Created by Jason Manor Pseudonym of Oakley M. Hall Other pseudonyms include O.M. Hall (1920-2008) Divorced (although he still has a thing for his ex) and retired private eye and former Peninsula City cop STEVE SUMMERS came into some real money, and decided he didn't need the grief. So he chucked it all, and … Continue reading Steve Summers
Judd Brody
Created by Carol Ericson You've got to hand it to Harlequin. Although they're best known as the purveyors about a zillion pulpy, sappy romance novels, this once-Canadian publishing dynasty (founded way back in 1949 in Winnipeg, Manitoba) initially published everything and anything they could get their hands on: mystery, western, science fiction, sports, adventure, cookbooks, … Continue reading Judd Brody
David Spandau
Created by Daniel Depp "The Nice-Cannes airport is about as architecturally exciting as a VD clinic." -- from Babylon Nights Should a writer's personal life be fair comment in a review? My first instinct is to go all Nancy Reagan and just say "No." But how about if that said writer has used his or … Continue reading David Spandau
Hack Bohannon
Created by Joseph Hansen Pseudonyms include include Rose Brock & James Colton (1923-2004) Tall, lean, with a "shock of Indian-black hair," usually clad in jeans, cowboy boots and a plaid shirt, HACK BOHANNON looks more like a cowboy than a private detective. And, if he had his druthers, that's probably the way he'd prefer it. … Continue reading Hack Bohannon
Nate Ross
Created by J.R. Sanders It’s 1938, and if he had his druthers, Los Angeles-based gumshoe NATE ROSS would rather stay on his side of Vermont Avenue, and avoid Hollywood altogether. “As a rule, I avoided all dealings with movie studios. I preferred more reputable business, like pool halls and whorehouses." But a chance encounter with … Continue reading Nate Ross
Zach Davies
Created by Josh Lanyon " You can’t just…just pick up and become a PI on a whim.” That’s the “friendly” advice given to CPA turned fledgling private eye ZACH DAVIES, who’s struggling to keep his late father’s struggling detective agency afloat. That’s a lot of struggling. Of course, it doesn’t help that the advice being given is … Continue reading Zach Davies