Created by Jon Rankin "Dawn cracked hard--real hard." Hard-living womanizer and "purveyor of information"(he doesn't like the term "private eye"), MARTY RANDOLPH likes to be in control of things, but his playboy lifestyle doesn't always make it easy. And it gets even worse when he realizes the woman he picked up in a bar the … Continue reading Marty Randolph
Tag: Florida
Doak Miller
Created by Lawrence Block (1938--) The cover of Lawrence Block's The Girl with the Deep Blue Eyes (2015) boasts the prominent (and seriously retro-looking) Hard Case Crime logo and a naked babe with the obligatory gun and come-hither look. Even the title suggests we may be time-traveling back to the heady days of the original … Continue reading Doak Miller
Conner Samson
Created by Victor Gischler Take Travis McGee, and add a generous pinch of Mike Hammer and give him Thomas Magnum's wardrobe and you have the beachcombing CONNER SAMSON. He makes his home in Pensacola, Florida, taking cases of murder and greed along the "Redneck Riviera." This detective shuns firearms, not because of any aversion to … Continue reading Conner Samson
Charlie “The Hook” Swift
Created by Victor Gischler CHARLIE "THE HOOK" SWIFT was one of the hard-boiled kinda guys in a promising new series of stories back when this site started. Written by one of fellow upstarts in those heady times, Victor Gischler's first story featuring Charlie, "Hitting Rufus," was selected by Otto Penzler for his Best American Mystery … Continue reading Charlie “The Hook” Swift
Jim Halden (aka Jim Holden)
Created by Jack Ricardo In 1991, author and gay activist Jack Ricardo published a private eye novel, Death With Dignity, featuring a gay gumshoe from Florida named JIM HALDEN. In 2014, fifteen years later, he published another novel, Desperate Innocence, featuring a a gay gumshoe from Florida named JIM HOLDEN. But it's the same guy! … Continue reading Jim Halden (aka Jim Holden)
J. P. McCoy
Created by Carol Ericson "That's the way I like it--hot and wet." --J.P. in his job interview Hoo-boy! You want it steamy? Harlequin's short-lived Intrigue Noir series (four books?) offered plenty of panty-wetting innuendo amid the usual trappings of "noir" fiction: bounty hunters, scam artists, private detectives, femme fatales, and the usual melange of blackmail, … Continue reading J. P. McCoy
Katie Hassworth
Created by Dorothy Francis It’s a hell of a way to become a private eye. KATIE HASSWORTH was an English teacher in Miami who resigned after a school shooting (back when it wasn’t a regular occurrence), in which she was wounded a few years ago. Seems a student with some serious “issues” brought a gun … Continue reading Katie Hassworth
Archy McNally
Created by Lawrence Sanders (1920-98) The one-man publishing industry that was Lawrence Sanders (No, really! in the 70s and 80s, he was everywhere!), created more than one interesting private eye. Laidback bon vivant ARCHIBALD "ARCHY" MCNALLY was the last, but he was also probably the most fun. Droll, detached upper class twit Archy works as a … Continue reading Archy McNally
Mike Valentine (Florida Man)
Created by Donald Todd “For a state shaped like a limp dick, it can sure fuck a person over." The idea among many Americans that Florida is the Great Wrong Place, filled with eccentrics and dumb-as-dirt yahoos, is not new, and the phrase “Florida Man” has been an internet meme for years. So it’s no … Continue reading Mike Valentine (Florida Man)
My Scrapbook: The Florida Man Ad Campaign
My Scrapbook The Florida Man Ad Campaign Netflix Steps Up… sorta Someone at Netflix’s art department decided it would be cool to spotlight each of the seven episode of their 2023 comedy-thriller Florida Man with a graphic done in faux-pulp paperback cover style (something I know a little about), and much like the show … Continue reading My Scrapbook: The Florida Man Ad Campaign