Created by Roger Torrey Pseudonyms include Sam Drake, Samuel Drake, John Ryan, R.D. Torrey (1901-46) First published in 1938 (and reprinted by Dennis McMillan in 1988, and numerous times since), 42 Days For Murderwas the only novel by Black Mask regular Roger Torrey. It featured SHEAN CONNELL, who fits the classic mold of the hard-drinking, … Continue reading Shean Connell
Tag: Nevada
Cassie Gibson
Created by Floyd Mahannah (1911-76) In The Yellow Hearse (1950; aka "No Luck for a Lady"), redhead CASSIE GIBSON is just trying to keep her father's detective agency from falling apart when she stops to pick up a hitchhiker named Nap Lincoln. Later she realizes that there is a dead woman in the trunk of … Continue reading Cassie Gibson
Joe Riddick
Created by Grant Bywaters In Farewell, Las Vegas (2020), former New England cop JOE RODDICK is now a Sin City private op, tough enough to get by, but human. His daughter Kaylee seems set on stepping into her father's footsteps, and she's already occasionally helping him out on his cases, mostly with computer stuff. But … Continue reading Joe Riddick
“Baddle Ax” Baddalach
Created by Norman Partridge "Get your hands in the air...and give me that chihuahua!" Former light heavyweight champ JACK "BADDLE AX" BADDALACH has lost his last match, so he's not too fussy about taking the odd job from Freddy G., owner of the Casbah Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. And odd is the operative … Continue reading “Baddle Ax” Baddalach
Clay Dakota
Created by Gilbert Ralston (1912-1999) Much like Ralph Dennis' Hardman series, it's difficult to see the six novels Gilbert Ralston wrote featuring CLAY DAKOTA, a half Piegan, half Shoshoni ex-Marine and ex-cop turned Nevada rancher, rodeo rider and private detective, as part of the 1970s Men's Adventure craze. But that's how they were marketed by … Continue reading Clay Dakota
Cricket West
Created by Fred Zackel Former federal agent and current Las Vegas private eye Cricket West, a "broken nose blonde on the dark side of thirty," is reeling with "euphoria" after getting her second shot of the COVID-19 vaccine, in 2021's Drunk in Blood. "Lockdown was a bitch," is the way she puts it. But that feeling … Continue reading Cricket West
Trevor Oaks
Created by Percy Spurlark Parker Las Vegas P.I. TREVOR OAKS only appeared once, in Percy Spurlark Parker's 2009 novel, The Good-Looking Dead Guy. Trevor's a big guy, weighing in at somewhere around "two hundred and sixty pounds of black muscle," which means the former University of Nevada Las Vegas football player can handle the occasional bodyguard … Continue reading Trevor Oaks
Dan Reno
Created by Dave Stanton "As we came off the mountain and glided onto the desert floor outside of Carson City, a jackrabbit darted in front of the car so quickly that Edward didn’t have time to react. We ran straight over it... I wondered if it was an omen." Hard-luck DAN RENO (pronounced "Renault"), who … Continue reading Dan Reno
Nick & Sue Burney
Created by Edward Churchill Pseudonym o Edward C. Off (1902-1960) The Rock City correspondent for the Las Verdes Sentinel, tall thin NICK BURNEY has an"unruly mop of black hair," a beat-up but reliable Ford pick-up, and a habit of drinking and driving. He also has a wife, SUE BURNEY, an outdoorsy type who's "slim and boyish" with … Continue reading Nick & Sue Burney
Henry Goiler
Created by Tom Fassbender and Jim Pascoe For those of you who can't get enough of retro eye Benjamin Drake, check out "Faze Out," a nitty, gritty short story by Fassbender and Pascoe featuring Drake's nemesis and inter-office rival at the Always Reddy Detective Agency in Testacy City, fellow op HENRY GOILER. In this tale, the … Continue reading Henry Goiler