Mexican Eyes A motley collection of native-born gumshoes and ex-pats. Tom Blane by Louis Trimble (Mexico City) El Borbah by Charles Burns Jimmy Burns by Charles Portis (Yucatán) Al Colby by David Dodge (Mexico City) Nick Grande by Bob Chinn (a "wide open city") Luke Fischer by Craig Terlson (Puerto Vallarta) Mike Land by Fred … Continue reading Down in Mexico
Tag: My Back Pages
“Secret Dead Men”
An excerpt from the novel by Duane Swierczynski The year is 1976. Meet Del Winter, hard-boiled dick. But Winter isn't like the other shamuses you find here at THRILLING DETECTIVE. For one thing, he's back from the dead. For another, he has a strange ability: Winter can absorb other recently-departed souls and store them in … Continue reading “Secret Dead Men”
“Special Delivery”
By Hugh LessigAn Alamo Barnes StoryApril/May 2000 The body arrived in the newsroom around mid-morning. It came in a reinforced cardboard box from American Bathroom Fixtures that supposedly held a recessed bathtub. At least that's what it said on the outside. No one paid any attention to it. Corporate flaks mail their stuff to … Continue reading “Special Delivery”
“The Gift of Wallace Random”
By Hugh Lessig A Picasso Smith Story January 1999 Chapter 1 Wallace Random got shellshocked at Iwo Jima, and he came home wide-eyed and full of secrets. He took government checks and wrote letters to his Aunt Tot in Eugene, Oregon, whom I suspected did not exist. He spent his nights drinking sasperella at The … Continue reading “The Gift of Wallace Random”
… and Throw Away the Key!
Locked Room & Other Impossible Crime P.I. Mysteries  S. S. Van Dine's Philo Vance, possibly the only detective more annoying than Hercule Poirot, may indeed need a kick in the pants, but there are actually plenty of locked-room capers and other impossible crimes that good ol’ regular- joe private eyes and their ilk have … Continue reading … and Throw Away the Key!
Murder, My Suite
House Dicks While you’re checking in, they’ll be checking you out... Tony Reseck by Raymond Chandler (The Windermere Hotel, Los Angeles) Marty Bond by Ed Lacy (The Grover, New York City) Gil Vine by Stewart Sterling (Plaza Royale, New York City) Johnny Killain by Dan J. Marlowe (The Duarte Hotel, New York City) Joe Grundy … Continue reading Murder, My Suite
San Diego Eyes
America’s Finest City’s Finest Eyes Max Thursday by Wade Miller Walter James by Wade Miller Rick Cahill by Matt Coyle Madison Kelly by Elizabeth Breck Harry O by Howard Rodman Pedro Gomez & Dennis "Hardball" Bakelenekoff by Bill L. Norton (Grand Slam) Joe Moran by Dale Clark Dr. Elizabeth Chase by Martha C. Lawrence Rick and … Continue reading San Diego Eyes
Under Electric Candlelight
Transgender Eyes Okay, I know they’re out there, but Merry Bell by Anthony Bidulka was the first trans eye I encountered. She certainly wasn't the first—just the first I’d come across. And she certainly won’t be the last. But who was the first? So far, it looks like P.R. Ellis’ Jasmine Frame might be the … Continue reading Under Electric Candlelight
The Maple Leaf Rag
Other Canadian Eyes "You thought the national flag was about a leaf, didn't you? Look harder. It's where someone got axed in the snow." -- Margaret Atwood THE PRAIRIES Becker by Martin Kitsch (Alberta) Merry Bell by Anthony Bidulka (Livingsky, Saskatchewan) Mike Cobb & Adam Cullen by David A. Poulsen (Calgary, Alberta) Eddie Dancer by … Continue reading The Maple Leaf Rag
My Scrapbook: The Last Three Dick Hammers
My ScrapbookThe Last Three Dick HammersWritten and drawn by Chris Wisnia  Hot-tempered, foul-mouthed, crotch-scratching DICK HAMMER is a private skulk working the web comic mean streets of Crude Bay, Southern California, written and drawn by Chris Wisnia. He first popped up in 2004 in Dick Hammer: Conservative Republican Private Investigator, a regular back-up feature in Tabloia Weekly Magazine (which … Continue reading My Scrapbook: The Last Three Dick Hammers