Created by Eddie Muller & Jessica Schmidt "Whichever way you turn, Fate sticks out a paw to trip you up." Anyone who trolls the waters of film noir and noir fiction knows (or ought to know) Eddie Muller. He's the Czar of Noir, the award-winning author, TCM host, and film noir expert. He's written novels … Continue reading Kitty Feral
Tag: Kiddie Pulp
Carmen Courageous
Created by Rob MacKinnon “It’s a good thing Danger is my middle name." Well, they tried. Coming off a successful crowd-sourcing campaign, hopes were high for this rollicking comic book aimed at adventure-loving kids eleven and up. CARMEN COURAGEOUS was a plucky young (twenty-something?) Seattle-based private eye looking for adventure, and whatever comes her way. … Continue reading Carmen Courageous
Quique Hache
Created by Sergio Gómez A series of Spanish language YA novels following the adventures (and misadventures) of fun-loving fifteen-year-old Chilean QUIQUE HACHE, who has a knack for solving crimes. In what I think is the second book in the series, Quique Hache, Detective (2005), Quique's just knocked off a correspondence course on becoming a private detective. … Continue reading Quique Hache
Keats, Moses Mosaic, Archie Flock & Caddy Cello (The Navigator Kids)
Created by Christopher Radke (1987--) For those of you who miss The Three Investigators, (with or without Alfred Hitchcock), Christopher Radke may have come up with a thoroughly modern solution: THE NAVIGATOR KIDS, a sly and far grittier update on the kid-run detective agency. Forget the Scooby-style "ghosts," secrets passages, haunted mansions and Jupiter Jones' … Continue reading Keats, Moses Mosaic, Archie Flock & Caddy Cello (The Navigator Kids)
Kat Dylan
Created by Chris Wieland Adding a little much-needed grit and ooomph to the middle grade reading level is KAT DYLAN, a smart, feisty 13-year-old girl detective. Kat and her kid brother Alec are the children of divorced parents (daddy's an LAPD homicide cop, mom's an Army nurse), but when Mom gets deployed, she and her … Continue reading Kat Dylan
Jack McGurk (The McGurk Organisation)
Created by E.W. Hildick (1925–2001) Adult private eye fans have plenty of books to choose from, kids have THE MCGURK ORGANISATION. It's that simple. Their comic adventures appeared in a long-running and popular series of books aimed squarely at 9-12 year olds, from 1973 to 1996, by British author E.W. Hildick. JACK P. McGURK, a ten-year-old … Continue reading Jack McGurk (The McGurk Organisation)
Flatfoot Fox
Created by Clifford Eth Pseudonym of Eth Clifford Rosenberg Illustrated by Brian Lies A series of amusing and entertaining juvenile picture books about FLATFOOT FOX, just about the "the smartest detective in the whole world," who solves woodland cases with the "assistance" of Secretary Bird and plenty of helpful clues, which observant children should have … Continue reading Flatfoot Fox
“Oh mama I got dem cosmic anthropomorphic P.I. blues again…”
Going to the dogs, the cats and worse Yeah, Chandler said "Down these mean streets a man must go." He never mentioned cats. Or hippos. Or horses. Or giraffes... The creators of the following eyes apparently didn't get the memo. But to tell the truth, the craze for anthropomorphic detectives is starting to smell a … Continue reading “Oh mama I got dem cosmic anthropomorphic P.I. blues again…”
Rider Woofson & The PI Pack (Pup Detectives)
Created by Felix Gumpaw So, does this mean that detective fiction has finally, irretrievably gone completely to the dogs? I mean, a crime solving pooch with his own series, loaded with more doggie puns than a hound dog has fleas? Okay, maybe we should throw creator a bone. These books are intended, after all, for kids. … Continue reading Rider Woofson & The PI Pack (Pup Detectives)
Jupiter Jones, Bob Andrews & Pete Crenshaw (The Three Investigators)
Created by Robert Arthur, Jr. (1909-1969) “The question mark is the universal symbol of something unknown. We are prepared to solve any puzzle, riddle, mystery, enigma, or conundrum which may be brought to us.” -- Jupiter Jones in The Secret of Terror Castle Purists may snicker, and suggest there's no real reason to include this … Continue reading Jupiter Jones, Bob Andrews & Pete Crenshaw (The Three Investigators)