Created by Neil Plakcy Pseudonyms include Dirk Strong "I wouldn't kick Warren Beatty out of bed for eating crackers." — George has his preferences Retro seems to be all the rage, as Florida-based rookie private eye GEORGE CLAY sweats it out in the steamy heat of Miami circa 1968. Very hip, very cool, very retro. And … Continue reading George Clay
Tag: Historical 1960s
Patrick Bird
Created by Alexis Stefanovich-Thomson Young private detective PATRICK BIRD wanders the rapidly changing streets of Toronto in the mid-sixties, back when it was only Canada's second largest city and sneeringly referred to as "Toronto the Good" (at least in sleazy, breezy Montréal). But the times they are a-changin', and Toronto is evolving, growing, and slowly … Continue reading Patrick Bird
Derek Strange & Terry Quinn
Created by George P. Pelecanos (1957--) Let's just play the race card, and fucking get it over with... DEREK STRANGE is BLACK. He's a former cop, now in his fifties, who runs his own Washington, D.C. detective agency. He carries a buck knife and may get a little slick at times, but he's respected in … Continue reading Derek Strange & Terry Quinn
Gene Burk
Created by John Kaye (1941--) Don't look back -- something may be gaining on you. In John Kaye's well-received The Dead Circus (2002), a noirish ode to dark secrets and the buried past, it's 1986, and GENE BURK is an ex-cop turned Hollywood private eye, obsessed with rock'n' roll, and still reeling over the death … Continue reading Gene Burk
Eddie Cero & Sal Giambroni
Created by David Fulmer Eddie rubbed his knuckles. “You better get him out of here.” -- from The Blue Door A good deed sucker punches Philly welterweight EDDIE CERO's life. There he is, just minding his own, taking a short cut through an alley on a fine Philly night in 1962, when he stumbles upon … Continue reading Eddie Cero & Sal Giambroni
“Piece by Piece”
By Paul Sundeson Featuring Gil Barntree Holiday 2007 New Orleans March 1962 “Thirty cents a gallon for ethyl?” my partner Frank Whitney said. We were parked in his Mercury just up Burgundy Street from the garage. “No wonder they're not pulling in the customers.” Hyams Auto Repair was a long white barn with a tin roof … Continue reading “Piece by Piece”
Smokey Dalton
Created by Kris Nelscott Pseudonym of Kristine Kathryn Rusch Other pseudonyms include Kristine Grayson "You know, sometimes people should be allowed their secrets." --Smokey lays it out for a client Memphis, 1968. Black private eye, white client. And MLK's on the way... In the Edgar-nominated A Dangerous Road (2000), Memphis P.I. SMOKEY DALTON is hired … Continue reading Smokey Dalton
Scott Elliott
Created by Terence Faherty (1954 --) Another of the growing breed of retro eyes (see Toby Peters, Jack Levine, Brian Kane, Nate Heller, etc.), the adventures of Tinseltown gumshoes SCOTT ELLIOTT take him from Hollywood's so-called "Golden Age" of the 1940s right up to the late sixties. A former bit-player (a nice word for failed actor) … Continue reading Scott Elliott
Sam McCain (aka “Cody McCain”)
Created by Ed Gorman Pseudonyms include Richard Driscoll, Chris Shea McCarrick, Daniel Ransom, E.J. Gorman, Edward Gorman Jr. & Robert David Chase (1941-2016) In the late fifties, rookie attorney SAM McCAIN finds himself in Black River Falls, Iowa, the "least successful lawyer" in a "a town that already had too many lawyers." So he agrees--reluctantly, … Continue reading Sam McCain (aka “Cody McCain”)
Aristotle Canasta
Created by MW Taylor “A private investigator’s main purpose is to discover kernels of truth hidden in the lies and deceits he encounters each day. He must feel proud of his profession but never privileged. No part of him can be soft yet he still must have compassion. There’s no pension, health plan or gold … Continue reading Aristotle Canasta