(1908-64) Author JOHN K. BUTLER is best-known, at least in our little neck of the woods, for the numerous stories he pounded out for such pulps as Black Mask, Detective Fiction Weekly, Double Detective and especially Dime Detective. A native Californian, Butler was born in Auburn, up near San Francisco. In the latetwenties he migrated to … Continue reading John K. Butler
Tag: Dime Detective
“Corpus Delicti” Mort
Created by Julius W. Long (1907-1955) Defense attorney and notorious barfly CLARENCE DARROW MORT, better known by his nickname "CORPUS DELECTI," liked to drink and hang out in dive bars and dubious nightclubs--and what's wrong with that? He was a regular in the pages of Dime Detective in the mid-forties, staggering from case to case, slightly … Continue reading “Corpus Delicti” Mort
Leander & Horatio Jones (The Jones Brothers)
Created by Maxwell Hawkins (1895-1962) LEANDER JONES and HORATIO JONES were twins (identical as the two "proverbial peas"), the sole operatives of Manhattan's Jones and Jones Detective Agency (with offices in the Flatiron Building, no less), who didn't just stumble into cases that involved murder--it was their speciality. Not that they needed the work--"their private inherited … Continue reading Leander & Horatio Jones (The Jones Brothers)
“Bookie” Barnes
Created by Robert Reeves (1912-45) Reminescent at times of Frank Gruber and Norbert Davis, Robert Reeves is best known for creating private eye Cellini Smith, but he also created another memorable (if short-lived) hard-boiled hero: trucker and "highway detective" "BOOKIE" BARNES, who appeared in just three short stories (the first in Black Mask, and the … Continue reading “Bookie” Barnes
Cash Wale
Created by Peter Paige Pseudonym of Morton Wolson (1913-2003) "It all began with the dog who liked beer..." -- the opening of "A Corpse for Cinderella" Yet another hard-boiled private eye from the pulps, Peter Paige's CASH WALE was a New York City dick very much in the Race Williams vein, full of gunplay and fisticuffs, … Continue reading Cash Wale
Hannibal Smith
Created by C. William Harrison Peseudonyms include Coe Williams and Will Hickok (1913-1994) HANNIBAL SMITH (no relation to the A-Team) is a sort of troubleshooter who appeared in a handful of stories in Dime Detective in 1945-46. Ten years and ninety or so years ago, he used to be a boxer, but "fat, forty and futile," … Continue reading Hannibal Smith
Steve Midnight
Created by John K. Butler (1908-64) Although he wasn't really a private eye, STEVE MIDNIGHT sure acted like one in the pages of Dime Detective in the 1940s. Steven Middleton Knight earned his nickname from the moneyed days of his youth when he had a rep as a "midnight playboy on a nation-wide scale." … Continue reading Steve Midnight
Cass Blue
Created by John Lawrence (1907-1970) CASS BLUE is a New York private dick who appeared in several short stories in Dime Detective back in the thirties. With his hard-ass attitude, a conveniently flexible set of morals and a blackjack on his hip, he's ready for just about anything. His pals include speakeasy owner Al Lascoine, … Continue reading Cass Blue
The Acme Indemnity Op
Created by Jan Dana Pseudonym of John Frederick Brooks Lawrence (1907-1970) Sssshhhhh.... don't tell the Hammett folks. But in 1937, Dime Detective started publishing a series of short stories featuring a nameless hard-boiled, cynical claims investigator who worked for a national insurance agency. No similarity to Hammett's very popular and influential hard-boiled, cynical Continental Op, … Continue reading The Acme Indemnity Op
Cardigan (aka “Steve Cardigan” & Jack Cardigan”)
Created by Frederick NebelPseudonyms include Grimes Hill, Lewis Nebel & Eric Lewis(1903-1966) “I said I was sorry, you want me to set it to music?” The award for most appearances by a series character in Dime Detective has to go to prolific pulpster Frederick Nebel's St. Louis private eye JACK CARDIGAN. Starting with "Death Alley" … Continue reading Cardigan (aka “Steve Cardigan” & Jack Cardigan”)