Created by Harry Carmichael Pseudonym of Leopold Horace Ognall Other pseudonyms include Hartley Howard (1908-79) JOHN PIPER was a suitably tough insurance assessor who appeared in four novels in the early fifties, and QUINN was a reporter who worked the crime beat for The Morning Post, a London paper, who showed up in three novels … Continue reading John Piper & Quinn
Tag: England
William Garrett
Created by Natalie Marlow British author Natalie Marlow (apparently her real name) reimagines Chandler's tarnished knight of 1940s Los Angeles as a private inqury agent who is all tarnish. Then she plops him on the decidedly mean streets of 1930s Birmingham, England, in the noirish Needless Alley (2023). Without a speck of chivalry, WILLIAM GARRETT has … Continue reading William Garrett
Francis Quarles
Created by Julian Symons(1912-1994) Sharp-dressed man about town FRANCIS QUARLES was the low-key private detective who worked the clue-ridden streets of post-WWII London, solving countless cleverly plotted fair-play short stories in the fifties and sixties, paying homage to the Golden Age of crime fiction. Most of them first appeared in The London Evening Standard, although … Continue reading Francis Quarles
Eddie Ginley (Gumshoe)
Created by Neville Smith "He looked like the kind of guy your mother would like to marry your sister. If you had a mother. If you had a sister." -- the opening lines from Gumshoe The sleuth, the whole sleuth and nothing but the sleuth... Stephen Frears' served notice with his directorial debut, a slice … Continue reading Eddie Ginley (Gumshoe)
Rex Carver
Created by Victor Canning (1911-86) "What did I learn? ... that there's an office waiting, clients being clever with you, and two roads running away north and south, and that you've got to be honest and take your own road because somewhere at the end of itâwith luckâthere might be the thing you really want. … Continue reading Rex Carver
James Helder
Created by Victor Canning(1911-86) Although long known for his spy novels, Victor Canning has managed to crank out a few memorable private eyes, such as Rex Carver and Edward Mercer. JAMES HELDER is another, although "memorable" may not be quite the word heâor Canning himself--uses to describe himself. Heâs a pivotal character in both novels … Continue reading James Helder
Edward Mercer (Venetian Bird)
Created by Victor Canning (1911-86) Private eye EDWARD MERCER, like most of prolific British thriller writer Victor Canning's other P.I. creations (such as James Helder and Rex Carver) leans more toward the international thriller than the mean streets, but that doesn't mean they're not worth checking out. In Bird of Prey (1950; aka âThe Venetian Bird"), … Continue reading Edward Mercer (Venetian Bird)
Francis MacNab
Created by John Ferguson (1873â) Scottish author John Ferguson must have liked the name. He wrote a mystery in 1921, The Dark Geraldine, which featured a Scottish policeman by the name of FRANCIS MacNAB. And then seven years later, in The Man in the Dark (1928), he resurrected the name for another detective, but this time … Continue reading Francis MacNab
Paul Temple
Created by Francis Durbridge (1912-1998) "By Timothy!" Once upon a time, one of the most popular private detectives of all time was PAUL TEMPLE. Unless you were American. But Temple ruled the U.K. and much of the Commonwealth, and his exploits entertained millions of fans around the world. He made his first appearance in a BBC … Continue reading Paul Temple
Jack Morgan, Peter Knight, Dan Carter, Chris Schneider, Craig Gisto, Santosh Wagh, Joey Montague et al (Private)
Created by James Patterson, Maxine Paetro, Mark Sullivan, Mark Pearson, Michael White, Ashwin Sanghi, Rees Jones, Jassy Mackenzie et al I've heard so many bad and even cruel things from writers and readers whom I generally respect about James Patterson's writing--tempered by equally effusive but vague praise by diehard fans--that I really had little real … Continue reading Jack Morgan, Peter Knight, Dan Carter, Chris Schneider, Craig Gisto, Santosh Wagh, Joey Montague et al (Private)