Created by Douglas Heyes Pseudonyms include Matthew Howard (1919-1993) “Looking back, I can see how quitting a corrupt police force to go straight as a private cop was like a two-dollar whore coming out of a cathouse to set up shop as a virgin” Douglas Heyes could have been a truly great P.I. novelist, but … Continue reading Ray Ripley
Tag: Douglas Heyes
Steve Mallory
Created by Douglas Heyes Pseudonyms include Matthew Howard (1919-1993) STEVE MALLORY is a partner in a small detective agency based in Los Angeles, that employs, besides his partner, Harry Jellison, at least three other ops. That's the set-up, anyway, in the 1951 novel The Kiss-Off, a quick, hard read that's one of those almost-forgotten treasures … Continue reading Steve Mallory
Leo Gordon (The Lonely Profession)
Created by Douglas Heyes Pseudonyms include Matthew Howard (1919-1993) Early P.I. renaissance man Douglas Heyes (cartoonist, actor, writer, director, producer and musician) created San Francisco private eye LEO GORDON (complete with trenchcoat) who gets drawn into a complicated mess the 1969 made-for-television movie (and would-be pilot) The Lonely Profession (1969), which aired on October 21 on NBC-TV's … Continue reading Leo Gordon (The Lonely Profession)
Jake Axminster (City of Angels)
Created by Stephen J. Cannell and Roy Huggins "This is the city of Los Angeles, one of the least corrupt cities in the United States, and its police force is one of the most honest and efficient in the world. But it wasn't always so..." -- from the opening credits "They call LA the City of … Continue reading Jake Axminster (City of Angels)
Hank Brackett & Johnny Reach (Bearcats!)
Created by Douglas Heyes "Ridin' in a Stutz Bearcat, Jim/Man, those were different times..." --Sweet Jane by Lou Reed HANK BRACKETT and JOHNNY REACH were two freelance adventurers (Uh, mercenaries? Troubleshooters? Private eyes?) roaming around the American Southwest circa 1914 in their snazzy Stutz Bearcat in this fondly-remembered (by me, anyway) but short-lived (okay, I … Continue reading Hank Brackett & Johnny Reach (Bearcats!)
Don Corey, Jed Sills, Chris Devlin & Dr. Carl Hyatt (Checkmate)
Created by Eric Ambler In Checkmate, a fondly-remembered television show from the early sixties, DON COREY and JED SILLS run a very fancy, very expensive, high-tech San Francisco detective agency whose aim is "to thwart crime and checkmate death (by) stopping the slide downhill to tragedy." It was a lofty and intriguing concept, arguably ahead … Continue reading Don Corey, Jed Sills, Chris Devlin & Dr. Carl Hyatt (Checkmate)