Created by Michael A. Black This P.I. can definitely kick your ass. That's because RON SHADE is not just a tough Army vet turned tough-guy Chicago P.I.--he's a tough Army vet turned tough-guy Chicago P.I. really into competitive kickboxing. So don't get him pissed, okay? In his debut, A Killing Frost (2002), he's hired to find an … Continue reading Ron Shade
Tag: Chicago
Sheba Shayne (Sheba, Baby)
Created by William Girdler and David Sheldon "Whatchu gonna do with that gun, mama?" Who's the queen of the private dicks that digs like a sex machine with all the boys? Sheba! Uh, damn right? In Sheba, Baby, the 1975 blaxploitation would-be classic that does a sex-change on Shaft, Pam Grier finally gets to let … Continue reading Sheba Shayne (Sheba, Baby)
Miles Paladon
Created by Robert J. Randisi & Kevin D. Randle 1939 Chicago shamus MILES PALADON is gunned down in a back alley but comes to on a bloody medieval battlefield, with an arrow sticking out of his chest and a bunch of Prince Valiant lookalikes calling him Prince Paladon. Yep, it's another of those "how the hell … Continue reading Miles Paladon
Johnny Maguire
Created by Richard Himmel (1920-2000) Although he's almost forgotten today, author Richard Himmel was tagged as one of the greatest hard-boiled crime writers of the Fawcett Gold Medal era, starting things off with his first book, I'll Find You in 1950, only the second book GM ever published. But the book, which introduced his series … Continue reading Johnny Maguire
My Scrapbook: Be Careful Out There!
It Ain't All Booze, Bullets and Babes...(or "How Two Wrights Make a Wrong") Folks send me stuff all the time, but this clipping sent to me from John Larsen from the January 22, 2021 Chicago Tribune just really stuck in my craw. It's one hell of a way for a hardworking gumshoe to start off the … Continue reading My Scrapbook: Be Careful Out There!
Kalinda Sharma (The Good Wife)
Created by Michelle King and Richard King Alicia: Are you gay? Kalinda: I'm private. CBS' hit legal drama The Good Wife, which ran from 2009 until 2016) was NOT a P.I. show. But one of the major characters on it was, and for a few glorious seasons, we were treated to occasional glimpses of KALINDA SHARMAN, … Continue reading Kalinda Sharma (The Good Wife)
Ashe Cayne
Created by Ian K. Smith What is this shit? Seriously... I’m told the author is a popular TV doctor with a string of diet books and novels to his name, but this is not the genre’s finest hour. The Unspoken (2020), the series launch, is inept, smugly derivative and ultimately offensive to almost anyone who has … Continue reading Ashe Cayne
Matt Mercer
Created by Day Keene Pseudonym of Gunnar Hjerstedt Other pseudonyms include Lewis Dixon, William Richards, Daniel White, John Corbett & Donald King (1904-1969) "Matt Mercer had come back from the South Pacific, leaving his arm behind on some Jap-infested island until, six-thousand miles away from that hell-hole, he found that the Little Yellow sons had returned--to claim … Continue reading Matt Mercer
Tom Doyle
Created by Day Keene Pseudonym of Gunnar Hjerstedt Other pseudonyms include Lewis Dixon, William Richards, Daniel White, John Corbett & Donald King (1904-1969) TOM DOYLE is a "private agency man" for Chicago's Inter-Ocean Agency, just back from World War II, who appeared in a string of short stories and novellas in the Detective Tales pulp. He also popped … Continue reading Tom Doyle
Nick Cranley
Created by Michael Storme Pseudonym of George H. Dawson Other pseudonyms include Michael Storm (1918-1979) The very first book featuring NICK CRANLEY, Make Mine a Shroud (1949), promised “a never-ending vortex of excitement ... tough mobs ... police that mean business; and gals that mean business too – but not the same kind," while the second suggested we'd find … Continue reading Nick Cranley