Created by William Campbell Gault Pseudonyms include Roney Scott, Will Duke, Bill Gault, David Crewe & Ray P. Shotwell (1910-1995) An early series chartacter by pulpster Gault, ex-pug MICKEY DOLAN popped up in one of his very first published stories in the April 1940 issue of Ten Detective Aces, and made only a handful of … Continue reading Mickey Dolan
Tag: Ex-boxer
Parker Kane
Created by Peter M. Lenkov "Here. Hold my weiner." -- Parker displays some of his cutting-edge wit. Somebody somewhere must have made a checklist of every annoying, dumb-ass cliche and stereotype about American TV private eyes of the previous decade that was ever driven into the ground, and then put them all together in this … Continue reading Parker Kane
Tyrone Gable & Rinty “The Gaffer” McLaren
Created by Niklas Three It's 1999 and "hard-boiled" Windy City dicks TYRONE GABLE and RINTY "THE GAFFER" MCLAREN are the cash-strapped stars of the action-packed, wise-cracking Roll (2023), venturing  deep into Dick Francis territory, travelling to Louisiana to track down a prized thoroughbred that has disappeared. It's all narrated by the surpisingly chatty Gable, a … Continue reading Tyrone Gable & Rinty “The Gaffer” McLaren
Ray Corson
Created by Max Phillips "Well, maybe she wasn't all that blonde, but it'd be a crime to call hair like that light brown. It was more sort of lion-colored." One of the first books released under the Hard Case Crime imprint, co-founder Max Phillips' Fade to Blonde immediately set the standard for the feisty paperback … Continue reading Ray Corson
Oscar “Duke” Ramsey (The Duke)
Created by Stephen J. Cannell The Duke was yet another Stephen J. Cannell-produced P.I. show that flopped. In the pilot, Up Against the Odds (April 5, 1979), we meet 38-year old Chicago prizefighter OSCAR "DUKE" RAMSEY (played by Robert "The Wild, Wild West, Hawaiian Eye" Conrad), who decides--with some help from his long-time manager Benny--that … Continue reading Oscar “Duke” Ramsey (The Duke)
Joe Grundy
Created by Marc Strange So there I am, feeling homesick. And then Marc Strange's Sucker Punch (2007) arrived at my door. As the editor of this site, and a sometime-reviewer, my mailbox is often full of treasures, and nothing delights this Canadien errant more than a package from home, and this one was from Toronto's … Continue reading Joe Grundy
Steve Silk
Created by James Brendan O'Sullivan (1919--) STEVE SILK is a former prizefighter turned un-licensed P.I., working out of what appears to be New York City, in a string of novels that ran for almost two decades, starting in 1945 with Death Came Late. Quick with a wisecrack and quicker with his fists, he dresses well … Continue reading Steve Silk
Kip Morgan
Created by Louis L'Amour Pseudonym of Louis Dearborn LaMoore (1908-1988) KIP (his mom was a fan of Rudyard Kipling) MORGAN is a former prizefighter (light heavyweight) trying to make a go of it as a private detective in 1940's Los Angeles. He appeared in several short stories in the pulps of the era, written by … Continue reading Kip Morgan
Doc Egg
Created by Day Keene Pseudonym of Gunnar Hjerstedt Other pseudonyms include Lewis Dixon, William Richards, Daniel White, John Corbett & Donald King (1904-1969) Are you frickin' kidding me? I've occasionally stretched the boundaries of the definition of what a private eye is to the breaking point on this site, but this? A "bright-eyed, bald little man … Continue reading Doc Egg
Pierre Apoyan
Created by William Campbell Gault Pseudonyms include Roney Scott, Will Duke, Bill Gault, David Crewe & Ray P. Shotwell (1910-1995) Armenian-American PIERRE APOYAN is a former boxer making a career change. After slugging it out in sixteen amateur and two professional bouts as "Pistol Pete", and three years working for a large detective agency in … Continue reading Pierre Apoyan