Created by Robert George Dean Pseudonyms include George Griswold (1904-89) "So this is what comes of trying to drink a woman under the table. Just a sacrifice on the altar of insurance!” — Pat the morning after... Tucked away in the wrinkles and folds of the Shamus Game is this little rarity—a hard-boiled private eye … Continue reading Pat Thompson
Tag: Insurance Investigator
“Doc” Job (The Hidden Motive)
Created by Lester Powell (1912 -93) The 1952 BBC radio serial The Hidden Motive related the exploits of "DOC" JOB, an eccentric insurance investigator and bibliophile looking into the possibly fraudulent death claim of a legendary Shakespearean actor, Sir Henry Sloan, whose wife died in her bath. Suspicion soon falls on the extremely wealthy thespian, … Continue reading “Doc” Job (The Hidden Motive)
Steve Harmas
Created by James Hadley Chase Pseudonym of Rene Brabazon Raymond Other pseudonyms include Raymond Marshall, Ambrose Grant & James L. Dougherty (1906-1985) "Once, on a sultry June evening, Steve Harmas accidentally stops at the entrance to a luxurious Hollywood club, looking for an empty table, and just at that moment a tall man in a … Continue reading Steve Harmas
Gus Slavin (Loophole)
Created by Dwight V. Babcock and George Bricker This time out, he's GUS SLAVIN, an LA-based investigator for a bonding service, who's putting the screws on war hero turned nice guy bank teller Mike Donovan (Barry Sullivan, the star of the show, playing the classic noir bonehead/doofus to perfection). Gus is convinced Donovan had something … Continue reading Gus Slavin (Loophole)
Joe Mulqueen (Top o’ the Morning)
Created by Edmund Beloin & Richard L. Breen Bing ("Legalize it!) Crosby more or less ruled the forties--he was riding high, at the absolute peak of his popularity. And he would continue to be an A-lister for decades to come. But with the 1949 release of the feature film musical Top o' the Morning, featuring Bing … Continue reading Joe Mulqueen (Top o’ the Morning)
Joe Peters (Roadblock)
Created by Richard Landau (1914–93) and Geoffrey Homes Pseudonym of Daniel Mainwaring (1902-77) In Roadblock (1951), a nifty little noir full of robbery, murder, sexual obsession and a bunch of other neat stuff, JOE PETERS (Charles McGraw), a Los Angeles-based insurance investigaor who sounds like he gargles with old car parts, becomes involved with Diane … Continue reading Joe Peters (Roadblock)
Ralph Henderson
Created by Charles Felix Pseudonym of Charles Warren Adams (1833-1903) "Is that chain one of purely accidental coincidences, or does it point with terrible certainty to a series of crimes, in their nature and execution too horrible to contemplate?" -- Victorian P.I. Ralph Henderson gets all noir on us Forget The Moonstone (1868) by Wilkie … Continue reading Ralph Henderson
Marty Carlin (In the Blood)
Created by Paul Ledoux MARTY CARLIN worked for fifteen yeara as a detective for the Toronto cops until health problems, a botched stakeout and a dead partner had him and his wife Sharon hightailing it back to his hometown of Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he planned to pursue a calmer, quieter career as an insurance … Continue reading Marty Carlin (In the Blood)
Bill “Baron Munchausen” Tolliver
Created by Curtiss T. Gardner (1898--) BILL "BARON MUNCHAUSEN" TOLLIVER was an investigator for the Imperial Casualty Company who appeared in over a dozen short stories in the pulps in the forties, mostly in G-Men Detective. Apparently, the author, Curtis Tarring Gardner, had a thing for insurance dicks. He also wrote at least one story about … Continue reading Bill “Baron Munchausen” Tolliver
Willard P. Webb & Bruno Steele
Created by Curtiss T. Gardner (1898--) Somebody sent me this, with no explanation, but it does sound intriguing... I mean, a couple of insurance dicks, working as a team? And one of them is blind? And those names! WILLARD P. WEBB? BRUNO STEELE? Visions of some unholy, pulpy mix of Double Indemnity and Longstreet are … Continue reading Willard P. Webb & Bruno Steele