Created by Giorgio Scerbanenco (1911-69) In my opinion, the only one worth mentioning amongst the Italian hard-boiled authors is a Ukrainian-born writer Giorgo Scerbanenco. There's a reason many consider him "the Father of Italian noir." His main character, DUCA LAMBERTI isn't actually a private eye, at least officially, but a disgraced former doctor from Milan … Continue reading Duca Lamberti
Tag: Ex-con
Tom Stone
Created by Andrew Wreggitt "Corporate crime, my ass." When television's Tom Stone made its debut back in February 2002, I couldn't help thinking "Wow! A promising new P.I. show — from Canada! Set in Calgary!" Even better? It turned out to be pretty good. TOM STONE, naturally, was the hero — a fast-talking ex-cop, ex-oil … Continue reading Tom Stone
Frank Marker (Public Eye)
Created by Roger Marshall & Anthony Marriott This ain't no Garner, this ain't no disco, this ain't no foolin' around... Forget drop-dead cool, two-fisted, square-jawed American TV eyes with their shiny muscle cars and bikinied neighbors. Private enquiry agent FRANK MARKER was the real deal, about as hip as a day-old cup of tea. He … Continue reading Frank Marker (Public Eye)
R.J. Decker
Created by Carl Hiaasen(1953—) An ex-con and former news photographer, disillusioned and burned-out R.J. DECKER is a rookie private eye out for what he can get, be it a big juicy case or a roll in the hay with his ex-wife, in Carl Hiaasen's 1988 gonzo noir novel, Double Whammy. He's living in a trailer … Continue reading R.J. Decker
Jimmy Devore
Created y W.R. Burnett (1899-1982) Published by retro press Stark House forty-five years after his death, Man With a Thousand Enemies (2025) is a feisty little read. No, it doesn't stand up to the author’s classics (The Asphalt Jungle, Little Caesar), but it is a quick, satisfying blast of hard-boiled pulp: terse, taut and generally … Continue reading Jimmy Devore
Callie Darrow
Created by Barbara Paul (1931-2022) Private eye CALLIE DARROW made her debut in Barbara Paul's Shamus-nominated short story "The Reluctant Op" Which of course begs the question "Why is she so reluctant?" Well, for a good part of her life, Callie was on the other side of the line. A thief and a con artist … Continue reading Callie Darrow
Orson Carver
Created by Gary Coffin "I have no interest to dredge up my history. It's over now. I did their crime, and I did the time. All I want is to forget my past and find some semblance of a life." — Mercy Lake "It's a rough town." — All That We Lost Twenty years as … Continue reading Orson Carver
Dave “Mace” Mason
Created by Dick Lochte Only you know and I know just how good Dick Lochte can be... In Blues in the Night (2012), Lochte, one of the most reliable--if hardly the most prolific--writers in the Shamus Game, ditches the weatherman (at least for a while) and delivers a first rate new character: ex-con DAVE "MACE" … Continue reading Dave “Mace” Mason
Ray Boyd
Created by Lee Goldberg And here I thought that Lee Goldberg was such a nice boy... I mean, the man wrote episodes of Diagnosis Murder! And its tie-ins. But in Crown Vic, he unleashes the beast with two violent, sexually explicit and previously unpublished stories that just reek of 1950s pulp paperbacks. The only thing … Continue reading Ray Boyd
Jason Chase
Created by Stephen Marlowe Pseudonym of Milton Lesser Other pseudonyms include Adam Chase, Andrew Frazer, Jason Ridgway, C.H. Thames, S.M. Teneshaw, Gerald Vance, Alexander Blade, Darius John Granger, Adam Chase, Stephen Wilder, Ellery Queen (1928–2008) “I made a considerable dent in the bourbon reserves of three bars. Maybe I couldn’t quite walk a straight line after that, … Continue reading Jason Chase