Created by Richard A. Olson In the 1930s, Peoria, Illinois was a Big Bad Place, a Sin City stuffed to the gills with mobsters, gamblers, hookers, and enough crooked cops and politicians to start their own baseball league. And a tough guy, name of NICK STIHL. Used to be a boxer. Now he ain’t. Now … Continue reading Nick Stihl
Tag: Historical 1930s
Jacob Singer
Created by George Baxt JACOB SINGER is a LAPD detective (later a Hollywood private eye) who wanders in and out of George Baxt’s "Murder Case" series, working the same celebrity-clogged streets of 1930s and 40s Hollywood as Stuart Kaminsky's Toby Peters. Dorothy Parker? Alfred Hitchcock? Greta Garbo? Humphrey Bogart? William Powell AND Myrna Loy Murder? … Continue reading Jacob Singer
Picasso Smith
Created by Hugh Lessig PICASSO SMITH, hard-boiled scribbler for The Frisco Foil tabloid ("Boldly Printing the Truth and Mayhem"), circa 1931-58, is the star of a string of on-line short stories and vignettes by Hugn Lessig that harken back to the days of the pulps. Picasso's a general assignment reporter, with no time for guff … Continue reading Picasso Smith
Nate Ross
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
Kitty Pangborn & Dex Theroux
Created by Linda L. Richards "Dex is tall and dreamy… Oh. Sure, he's a mook, but he's the kind of a mook that can heat a girl's socks, if you follow my drift.” —Kitty just might have a thing for her boss. Once upon a time, a secretary was pretty much standard equipment for fictional private … Continue reading Kitty Pangborn & Dex Theroux
Larry Carmody
Created by Anders Bellis One thing that never seems to stop is the tsunami of pushy self-published hustlers who think the entire world (and this site) need to know about their latest masterpieces, and that the best way to accomplish it is to sneak a full-fledged plug into our Comments section. And here’s another one, … Continue reading Larry Carmody
William Garrett
Created by Natalie Marlow British author Natalie Marlow (apparently her real name) reimagines Chandler's tarnished knight of 1940s Los Angeles as a private inqury agent who is all tarnish. Then she plops him on the decidedly mean streets of 1930s Birmingham, England, in the noirish Needless Alley (2023). Without a speck of chivalry, WILLIAM GARRETT has … Continue reading William Garrett
Mike Murphy (City Heat)
Created by Sam O. Brown Pseudonym of Blake Edwards (1922-2010) "When a hotshot cop and a wise-guy detective get together... the heat is on!" -- the film's tagline. Burt Reynolds is MIKE MURPHY, a 1930's down-on-his-luck Kansas City P.I., reluctantly teamed-up with former Homicide partner Speer (played by Clint Eastwood), in the 1984 would-be buddy flick City … Continue reading Mike Murphy (City Heat)
Bill “the Hook” Lockwood
Created by Brad Latham BILL "THE HOOK" LOCKWOOD, better known by the nickname he received in his boxing days for his hard-hitting left, is a high-living chief investigator for the Transatlantic Insurance Company out of New York City. He was the hero in a series that tried to stand out from the usual Men's Adventure … Continue reading Bill “the Hook” Lockwood
The Twenty-Year Death Trilogy
Created by Ariel S. Winter "I had on my good suit, a navy blue so deep it looked black, with a pressed white shirt, a red-and-blue-striped tie, a red handkerchief, and freshly polished loafers. I'd had a shower and a shave." -- Dennis Foster calls on his client, in The Falling Star "Yeah, I'd always … Continue reading The Twenty-Year Death Trilogy