Created by Scott Pendergast A disappointingly underwhelming TV show that smothers its own potential cleverness and wit with a thick, warm blanket of comfy family drama that never quite pays off, at least until the seventh episode—coincidentally a Thanksgiving-themed episode. Your enjoyment of So Help Me Todd (2022, CBS/Paramount) will depend on your tolerance for having … Continue reading Todd Wright (So Help Me Todd)
Tag: Oregon
Zachariah Smith
Created by L.L. (Linda) Thrasher "That's me, Arrow Investigations. I wanted to change the name to Cat's-Paw, Incorporated, but my sister said no one would get it. It's from an old fable about a cat sleeping by a fire where a monkey was roasting some chestnuts. When the nuts were done, the monkey used the … Continue reading Zachariah Smith
Mackenzie “Mac” Laughlin/River Glen
Created by Nancy Bush Although it's billed as the “River Glen” series, which began with The Baysitter (2020), subsequent books in the series have detailed not just the lives and loves of the residents of the allegedly sleepy Portland, Oregon suburb, but also the adventures of local MACKENZIE “MAC” LAUGHLIN. A ex-cop, formerly with the River Glen PD, (she … Continue reading Mackenzie “Mac” Laughlin/River Glen
John Denson
Created by Richard Hoyt "I'm a gentleman and a scholar; would you care for some screw-top?" -- Denson greets a client in Decoys Consider him Gonzo-lite. Or maybe a New Age Northwest reincarnation of Shell Scott. Or just a hippy-dippy eye who has certainly inhaled. But there's no denying that Pacific Northwest private eye JOHN … Continue reading John Denson
Lennox Cooper
Created by Lily Gardner Evidently, Portland, Oregon police detective LENNOX COOPER didn't get the memo: You don't shit where you eat. And you don't fuck where you work. When we meet her in A Bitch Called Hope (2013), it's been a year since an affair with a married fellow officer got her turfed from the Portland … Continue reading Lennox Cooper
Kelly Pruett
Created by Mary Keliikoa "Portland, Oregon has as many parts as the human anatomy. Like the body, some are more attractive than others." Add Portland, Oregon's KELLY PRUETT to the small but ever-growing pool of Mom P.I.s. In a genre where so many protagonists are apparently incapable of reproduction, despite active (or even hyper-active) sex … Continue reading Kelly Pruett
Billie Bly
Created by Don Weston A series of breezy, lightweight, straight-to-Kindle novels about BILLIE BLY, an ex-cop turned tough eye from Portland who comes with a complicated backstory (Boyfriends! Brothers! Exploding garbage!), a startling lack of social skills, and her very own psychic to help her sort it all out. After living in Portland, Oregon for … Continue reading Billie Bly
Garrison Gage
Created by Jack Nolte Pseudonym of Scott William Carter Beat up, knocked down and pretty much totally physically and emotionally shredded after the murder of his wife, New York private eye GARRISON GAGE leaves it all behind, and settles in the small coastal town of Barnacle Bluffs, Oregon, intent on nothing more than recuperating from … Continue reading Garrison Gage
Maddie Hughes/Maddie Frost
Created by Bruce Holland Rogers Pseudonyms include Hanovi Braddock (1958--) MADDIE HUGHES has appeared only in two short stories to date, but changed her name in between. In the first, "Hollywood Considered As a Seal Point in the Sun" (1994), Maddie, originally from the Midwest, is living in Los Angeles, where she'd moved to become … Continue reading Maddie Hughes/Maddie Frost
Cal Claxton
Created by Warren C. Easley CAL CLAXTON is a former LA prosecutor and widower who now runs a small law office in Portland's "Old City" which he's dubbed Café Central. But all in all he'd rather be fishing for rainbow. Or drinking wine. Or just chilling in the old farmhouse he owns high up in … Continue reading Cal Claxton