Created by J.R. Sanders It’s 1938, and if he had his druthers, Los Angeles-based gumshoe NATE ROSS would rather stay on his side of Vermont Avenue, and avoid Hollywood altogether. “As a rule, I avoided all dealings with movie studios. I preferred more reputable business, like pool halls and whorehouses." But a chance encounter with … Continue reading Nate Ross
Tag: Ex-cop
Pete Fortunato
Created by Charles Salzberg “Nobody gets away with anything on my watch." Baseball-loving PETE FORTUNATO was a working class kid, half-Italian and half-Jewish, with a decent enough curveball and just enough of a fastball to earn a scholarship at a small upstate New York college before his arm gave out. He managed to hang on … Continue reading Pete Fortunato
Gil Disbro
Created by James E. Martin (1936 --) TAKE ONE (Stickney) James E Martin's was a retired police detective, who had previously worked as a high school teacher in Ohio. His creation GIL DISBRO was a Cleveland-based PI, a young laid off cop who earned his way through P.I./bounty work. Disbro was also a part-time college … Continue reading Gil Disbro
Morris Baker
Created by Josh Weiss When MORRIS BAKER first appeared, in 2022’s Beat the Devils, he wasn’t a private eye. Or was he? With alternate history novels, it’s hard to keep track, sometimes, as history is folded, bent and mutilated to fit the author’s vision. In Beat the Devils (2022), set in a hellish version of the post-WWII … Continue reading Morris Baker
Charlie Willis
Created by Lee Goldberg Down, down, down. CHARLIE WILLIS is a Beverly Hills cop who lands a plum security gig for a major Hollywood studio, after being shot in the stomach by one of their most beloved stars, in this wicked spoof by Lee Goldberg, a TV scriptwriter and producer (Spenser: For Hire, Monk, Diagnosis Murder, … Continue reading Charlie Willis
Benjamin Smoke
Created by Ed McBain Né Salvatore Lombino Other pseudonyms include Evan Hunter, Curt Cannon, Hunt Collins, Richard Marsten, Ezra Hannon,John Abbott (1926 -2005) Retired cop BENJAMIN SMOKE has one regret--he's never met a case he couldn't crack. In fact, that's why he retired — out of pure boredom. But upon becoming a private dick, he … Continue reading Benjamin Smoke
Harry Ross (Twilight)
Created by Robert Benton and Richard Russo Looking for sparkly vampires? Keep going... Retired, and just plain tired, Hollywood gumshoe HARRY ROSS takes odd jobs (and once, a bullet, trying to rescue their jailbait daughter) for his old pal and dying movie star, Jack Ames, and his one-time sexpot actress wife, Catherine. He bides his time, … Continue reading Harry Ross (Twilight)
Bixby Grant
Created by Patrick Coyle Forget love, sweet love. What the world needs now is an immortal mummy private eye. Fortunately, comics creator and long-time fanboy Patrick Coyle has given us one, in the crowd-sourced, eponymously titled comic GRANT BIXBY, PRIVATE EYE. Apparently it’s taken 30 years (and a Kickstarter campaign) to bring Coyle’s dream to … Continue reading Bixby Grant
Gabriel Præst
Created by Amulya Malladi There’s nothing like a Dane? Scandi Noir is everywhere, although mostly it seems to be woefully under-populated by private eyes. Mostly the detectives tend to be grizzled cops and inspectors (brilliant but anti-social, troubled, almost always divorced, almost always prone to bad habits) and homicidal spinsters (I’m looking at you, Maud!). … Continue reading Gabriel Præst
Tamara Hayle
Created by Valerie Wilson Wesley Another black private eye, but unlike contempories like Easy Rawlins or Aaron Gunner, TAMARA HAYLE "owes more to Waiting to Exhale than to the rage of Richard Wright. They're funny and slight and smart," according to The New York Times. Tamara's an ex-cop turned Newark, New Jersey private eye, a … Continue reading Tamara Hayle