Created by James R. Langham (1912-99) Yet another detecting couple, apparently married to it, SAMMY and ETHEL ABBOTT appeared in two clever, lightly humorous, noir-tinged novels, Sing a Song of Homicide (1940) and A Pocketful of Clues (1941). Sammy was a special investigator for the Santa Monica DA — a quasi-legal private eye who carries … Continue reading Sammy & Ethel Abbott
Tag: Married to It!
Andy & Sue MacVeigh
Created by Sue MacVeigh Pseudonym of Elizabeth Custer Nearing (1898-1960) "Last October Andy... solved the murder of Winthrop Mason in Slocum, New York, almost single-handed. Because I'm Andy's wife and was in on the kill I got a small slice of the credit." — Sue in Grand Central Murder What hath Nick and Nora … Continue reading Andy & Sue MacVeigh
Vince Pope
Created by Michael A. Black Author Black riffs on Hammett's The Thin Man with a string of short stories featuring former private eye VINCE POPE and his sexy (and very wealthy) socialite wife Laura. Set in the years immediately following World War II, Vince, a returning vet, decides to shuck his gig as a "pretty … Continue reading Vince Pope
Richard and Grace Duvall
Created by Arnold Fredericks Pseudonym of Frederic Arnold Kummer (1873-1943) "Good Lord, Chief, am I losing my senses? What is this affair, anyway, a joke?" -- Richard, sharp as a tack as always, in The Blue Lights An early sleuthing couple, preceded only in the genre as far as I can tell, by M. McDonnell … Continue reading Richard and Grace Duvall
Roger & Suzanne Bowman
Created by Jerold Last A globe-trotting married couple who find trouble wherever they go? If you were expecting Frances Crane’s Pat and Jean Abbott, you’d be wrong. This is a more modern itineration. Plus dogs! Former patent attorney and police officer ROGER BOWMAN and UCLA biochemist SUZANNE FOSTER are boyfriend/girlfriend visiting Montevideo, Uruguay, when we first … Continue reading Roger & Suzanne Bowman
Pete & Jeanne Schofield
Created by Thomas B. Dewey Pseudonyms include Tom Brandt and Cord Wainer (1915-81) The thing about San Fernando Valley post-war private eye PETE SCHOFIELD and his "beautiful little redhead" wife JEANNE is that they're married--happily! Well, more or less. Trust me, in private detective fiction, particularly for those times, there weren't many happily married couples, … Continue reading Pete & Jeanne Schofield
Robin Bishop
Created by Geoffrey Homes Pseudonym of Daniel Mainwaring (1902-77) ROBIN BISHOP is one of those pesky reporters with a nose for news who acts like a private eye, but isn't. He works for a rag in Los Pinos in southern California, and isn't even particularly tough or wise-cracking, but he manages to get himself into … Continue reading Robin Bishop
Greg and Jill McKenzie
Created by Chester D. Campbell Church-going sixty-something GREG McKENZIE was simply a retired Air Force OSI investigator who, with the aid of his long-suffering wife, JILL, showed a penchant for solving crimes for two books. But in the third book of the series, Deadly Illusions (2005), the detecting duo turned pro, opening up McKenzie Investigations in a … Continue reading Greg and Jill McKenzie
Carney Wilde
Created by Bart Spicer Pseudonym of Jay Barbette (1918-1978) "If Bart Spicer's been forgotten, it's a real shame. He was one of the best writers of private-eye fiction in the last century." -- Bill Crider Philladelphia's CARNEY WILDE was one of the few P.I.'s who ever seemed to make money and remain respectable. Over the … Continue reading Carney Wilde
Frank Malloy
Created by Victoria Thompson Although FRANK MALLOY has been a central figure in Victoria Thompson's long-running and bestselling "Gaslight Mystery" series since Book One (1999's Murder on Astor Place), it wasn't until the nineteenth book in the series, Murder in Morningside Heights (2016) that he becomes a "confidential inquirer". That's the book where the former … Continue reading Frank Malloy