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: Portland
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
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
Ginger Mitchell
Created by Eric Ugland Drawn back to her hometown of Portland by her mom's apparent suicide, GINGER MITCHELL chucks her gig as a Vegas "dancer." But I guess nobody told Ginger you can't go back home again. Sure, Portland's all hip and cool, but there's an underside to the city that's dark and nasty, and … Continue reading Ginger Mitchell
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
“Slightly Tarnished Armor”
By Christopher Mills Featuring Matthew Dain May 1999 "I'm afraid the son of a bitch is going to kill me." Her voice was hard, cold; as completely devoid of emotion as a telephone operator's. She took another long drag on her cigarette and closed her eyes as she exhaled. I took another sip of coffee … Continue reading “Slightly Tarnished Armor”
“Hit and Run”
By Christopher Mills Featuring Matthew Dain October 2008 I was sitting in my '65 Ford Mustang with a thermos of hot coffee between my legs to keep my nuts from freezing, wincing at the icy wind that howled in off Casco Bay and through the half-open window. I hate stakeouts anyway, and sitting in a thirty-year … Continue reading “Hit and Run”
Matthew Dain
Created by Christopher Mills From Stephen King country comes thirty-something ("Too young to be called a baby boomer and too old for Generation X") private eye MATTHEW AARON DAIN. Matt walks the not-so-mean streets of Portland, Maine, although his work (and his personal life, such as it is) takes him all over the Pine Tree … Continue reading Matthew Dain
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