By Stephen D. Rogers Winter/Spring 2002 I watched the cars speeding around the rotary, paid special attention to ones that veered off to head over the canal. Despite the "Cape Cod Tunnel" stickers that locals bought to infuriate the tourists, there were only two ways off the Cape. Since I couldn't see him going out … Continue reading “Bourne Again”
Tag: Massachusetts
Julius Katz & Archie
Created by Dave Zeltserman Pseudonyms include Jacob Stone Hoo-boy, I can't believe it took me so long to get around to doing an entry on this Shamus and Derringer-winning series... JULIUS KATZ is possibly Boston's most brilliant detective -- tougher than Spenser and slicker than Banacek -- even if he does say so himself. Which … Continue reading Julius Katz & Archie
Benoit Blanc (Knives Out)
Created by Rian Johnson "When people get desperate, the knives come out." Screenwriter and director Rian Johnson has already seriously mucked around with the mystery genre back in his feature film debut Brick, which transported the classic hard-boiled/film noir detective flicks of the forties to a contemporary high school in the endless sun-bleached suburban sprawl of … Continue reading Benoit Blanc (Knives Out)
Andy Roark
Created by Peter Colt Not to get all Springsteeny or anything, but when ANDY ROARK came marching home from Vietnam, it wasn't the greatest of homecomings. And ten years or so burning down that road, he's still trying to find his way in the world. He's back home in Boston, circa 1982, working as a … Continue reading Andy Roark
Tom Bethany
Created by Jerome Doolittle (1933-2023) "That particular spring day, fooling around in the library, I was interested in why good intentions so often end up making things worse than they were before. consequently I was taking notes on a great reform called the Federal Electyion Act of 1971, which gave us political action committees. Before … Continue reading Tom Bethany
Ace Mifflin
Created by Ted Slampyak "Private eyin's what I do. It's a dirty job. That's why I like it." He ain't scuzzy--he's just drawn that way. Here's another private eye spawned during the 1980's comic book/graphic novel boom/renaissance. In the "jazz age" of 1926 Boston, ALEXANDER C. "ACE" MIFFLIN is a scruffy private detective who appeared … Continue reading Ace Mifflin
Doc Adams
Created by Rick Boyer (1943--) A hard-boiled dentist? I shit thee not... CHARLIE "DOC" ADAMS is a Concord, Massachusetts-based oral surgeon who keeps getting drawn into investigations. Most are pretty hard-boiled (in the first, Billingsgate Shoals, he defeats a pursuing black hat by dropping a broken chunk of cast iron pipe down an enclosed exterior … Continue reading Doc Adams
Harry McGraw (The Law and Harry McGraw)
Created by Peter S. Fischer HARRY McGRAW first showed up as a recurring character on Murder, She Wrote, a slightly shady working class gumshoe from Boston who earned the respect of Cabot Cove's very own mystery novelist/amateur sleuth Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) for his detective skills and his not-quite-hidden heart of gold. As played by … Continue reading Harry McGraw (The Law and Harry McGraw)
Alex Rasmussen
Created by David Daniel ALEX RASMUSSEN used to be a cop in the industrial town of Lowell, Massachusetts, a town almost as battered and beat down as he is. His dismissal from the force and a divorce have left him a little dazed, not to mention lonely and occasionally a little too fond of drink. … Continue reading Alex Rasmussen
Sister Cecile
Created by Winona Sullivan Talk about your sister in crime! SISTER CECILE BUDDENBROOK is a Ferrari-driving, independently wealthy nun with a CIA background who serves God her way -- with a P.I. ticket. Her investigator's licence hangs on the wall proudly beside a reproduction of the Sistine Chapel MadonnaA at the Convent of Our Lady … Continue reading Sister Cecile