“Just One of Those Things”

A Mary Kelly Story by D.L. Browne Fall 2001 The Chinese have a saying: "Dangerous enemies will meet again in narrow streets." The way I remember it, business was slow that November. Carl von Ossietzky won the Nobel Peace Prize and everyone was learning to Rumba. We were between World Wars and the Pinkertons over … Continue reading “Just One of Those Things”

Mary Kelly

Created by Diana Killian Pseudonym of D.L. Browne Other pseudonyms include Josh Lanyon, Colin Dunne, Louise Harris It had to happen. The female eye, So Cal division, finally went retro. In a promising short story debut which creator Diana Killian assured us was just the start, MARY KELLY is an op for the Brannigan Detective … Continue reading Mary Kelly

Dave Barrett (Manhunter)

Created by Sam H. Rolfe Taciturn DAVE BARRETT was an ex-WWI marine turned bounty hunter who goes up against a Bonnie-and-Clyde team of bank robbers who murdered his former girlfriend (and his dog!) in Manhunter, a 1974 TV movie. Dave was played by Ken Howard, later to star as television's The White Shadow. Killed his … Continue reading Dave Barrett (Manhunter)

Johnny Hawke (Johnny One-Eye)

Created by David Stuart Davies (1946--) The war evidently didn't belong just to Foyle... When he made his debut in "One for the Monet," a 2000 short story, World War II had just broken out, and action-craving young copper JOHNNY HAWKE quits the London police department to enlist in the British Army, intending to give his … Continue reading Johnny Hawke (Johnny One-Eye)

Harry MacNeil

Created by H. Paul Jeffers Pseudonyms include M. T. Jefferson & Harry Paul Lonsdale (1934--) HARRY MacNEIL is a New York P. I. who appeared in three books, all set in the Big Apple in the years leading up to World War II. Rubout at the Onyx (1981) is a private eye story, but by no … Continue reading Harry MacNeil

Miles Banyon (Banyon)

Created by Ed Adamson "The private eye of the thirties returns." -- tag on the paperback novelization MILES C. BANYON (played Robert Forster) was an ex-cop turned lone-wolf private eye, working in 1930s Los Angeles, in Banyon, a short-lived NBC television show back in the seventies. (The very similar City of Angels and Manhunter, both period pieces, … Continue reading Miles Banyon (Banyon)

Maisie Dobbs

Created by Jacqueline Winspear In her spawling, ambitious eponymously-titled historical novel, we first meet MAISIE DOBBS, a young working class girl in 1920s England with a love of books and learning. Once, a long time ago (much of the book flashes back to her younger years), Maisie worked as a housemaid for social activist Lady … Continue reading Maisie Dobbs

Minky Woodcock

Created by Cynthia von Buhler Hard Case Crime/Titan Comics stepped briefly out of its hard-boiled shell for the 1920s period piece fantasy-tinged limited series. The Girl Who Handcuffed Houdini, set in the surprisingly sexy world of 1920s magic. Plucky, kinky, rabbit-loving MINKY WOODCOCK (she's a penpal of Agatha Christie!) is tired of being dismissed by … Continue reading Minky Woodcock