French Eyes Georges Asculape by Alexandre Valetti Francis Bayard by Jean des Marcenelles Jerome K. Jerome Bloche by Pierre Makyo, Serge Le Tendre & Alain Dodier (Paris) Nestor Burma by Leo Malet (Paris) B.F. Cage by Peter Israel Philippe Clerc by Patrick Raynal Félix by Maurice Tillieux Robert Flécheux by Alain Demouzon René Griffon by … Continue reading Zut! Les Flics Privés
Tag: France
Aimée Leduc
Created by Cara Black Parisian AIMÉE LEDUC is one P.I. who really gets into it, be it surfing the web, traveling through sewers, or going undercover among neo-Nazis. That's just the kinda hands-on kinda half-American, half-French gal she is. Aimée makes her living as a private investigator in the Paris, aided by her partner, René … Continue reading Aimée Leduc
Philippe Clerc
Created by Patrick Raynal (1946--) PHILIPPE CLERC isn't really a private detective. But he sure acts like one. Truth is, he's an insurance salesman in Nice. Not the most crooked one in town, perhaps, but not the most honest, either. The beginning of Fenêtres sur femmes (1988; translates as "Window on Women") is in the best P.I. … Continue reading Philippe Clerc
Le poulpe (Gabriel Lecouvreur)
Created by Patrick Raynal, Jean-Bernard Pouy, & Serge Quadruppani Written by Patrick Raynal, Jean-Bernard Pouy, Serge Quadruppani, Jean-Gérard Imbar, Marc Villard and others Was it just a gimmick? Or a brave publishing experiment? Maybe it was both. GABRIEL LECOUVREUR, also known as "LE POULPE" was, according to co-creator Patrick Raynal, "something of an avenger, an outlaw, a Robin Hood and … Continue reading Le poulpe (Gabriel Lecouvreur)
Corbucci (Le débarcadère des anges)
Created by Patrick Raynal Part of the 2009 hard-boiled French TV anthology series Suite Noir, eight films which paired up-and-coming directors with works by some of France's hottst crime novelists, the "Le débarcadère des anges" (which translates as "Fright of an Angel) episode was based on the novel of the same title, by French hotshot noirista Patrick … Continue reading Corbucci (Le débarcadère des anges)
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)
Nestor Burma
Created by Léo Malet (1909-96) Mesdames et messieurs, ladies and gentlemen, may we introduce to you France's answer to Chandler's Marlowe, the one and only, NESTOR BURMA--detective de choc! Malet was heavily influenced by Chandler, Hammett, et al, and Burma's first appearance, in 120, rue de la gare (1943), ushered in a whole new era in French … Continue reading Nestor Burma
Francis Bayard (“The Sphinx”)
Created by Jean des Marcenelles Pseudonym of Jean-Henri Dancoine (1913-95) Parisian private eye FRANCIS BAYARD appeared in a series of light-hearted short stories in Police-Privée and other French pulps from about 1938 until 1943, when he began appearing in his own series, Les Aventures du détective Francis Bayard, which would make him a contemporary of Leo … Continue reading Francis Bayard (“The Sphinx”)
Eugène Tarpon
Created by Jean-Patrick Manchette (1942-1995) EUGÈNE TARPON is a real, honest-to-goodness, hard-boiled Parisian private eye, who appeared in two novels by the legendary French noirista, Jean-Patrick Manchette, as well as a couple of films. Tarpon's right out of the pages of the American detective pulps of the thirties and forties, but painted black. When we … Continue reading Eugène Tarpon
Gerard Griffu
Created by Jean-Patrick Manchette (1942-1995) and Jacques Tardi (1946--) GERARD GRIFFU is the disheveled, battered and betrayed legal adviser/punching bag hero of a real rock 'em, sock 'em hard-boiled detective story initially serialized in 27 installments between October 1977 and April 1978 in BD (issues #1-27), and eventually published as a very stylish graphic novel in … Continue reading Gerard Griffu