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
Tag: Insurance
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
Henry Smith
Created by Fredric Brown (1906-72) HENRY SMITH was probably the most developed of Fredric Brown's detective series in which the characters' family name wasn't Hunter. Not that Brown developed poor Henry much, although perhaps that might have actually been the point. Because Henry was a relatively generic guy, just an ordinary working stiff who just … Continue reading Henry Smith