“Big Jim” Foote

Created by Tom Bredehoft This private eye is a little different—he ain't human! Nope, “BIG JIM” FOOTE is the genre’s first Sasquatch Shamus, a fact not immediately recognized by the good citizens of Morgantown, West Virginia. They simply don’t suspect that the friendly local P.I with the rather large feet is “one of them,” living … Continue reading “Big Jim” Foote

Sam Quinton

Created by Kevin R. Doyle “If you’d been ready for it, I would have hit you a whole lot harder and you’d still be down.” Well, it takes all kinds. SAM QUINTON is a former professional wrestler of all things, turned part-time private investigator and full-time owner of The Blaster gym in Providence, Missouri, trading … Continue reading Sam Quinton

Kate Myles

Created by Alex Kenna When we first meet her, in her Shamus-nominated debut, What Meets the Eye (2022), KATE MYLES is really up the junction. Two years ago, she was a happily married, a dedicated artist and a hot-shot detective for the LAPD, married to fellow detective John Bennett.  Then her police car, part of … Continue reading Kate Myles

Lola Wicks

Created by Gwen Florio Cranky, sharp-tongued Baltimore Express foreign correspondent LOLA WICKS goes where the action is, be it Afghanistan, where she's just gone through more than enough crap to last a lifetime, or Montana, where she's planning to just chill for a while (and consider her career options) at her friend's remote mountain cabin, … Continue reading Lola Wicks

Vivian Marlow

Created by Lori Armstrong Pseudonyms include Lorelei James In 2023, it may seem a little odd to come across a short story  referring to private investigation as "No Place for a Dame,” since we’re not exactly bereft of female gumshoes these days, but since the story’s set in 1942, so I guess we can cut it … Continue reading Vivian Marlow

Sophie Stevenson

Created by by Carolina Garcia-Aguilera We first meet Havana private eye SOPHIE STEVENSON (and her partner  Big Pete) in the amusing (and Shamus-nominated) short story “The Pearl of Antilles,” which made its debut in the 2022 anthology Edgar & Shamus Go Golden. Sophie is a former Navy intelligence officer (she was a Code Girl) who’d been stationed in … Continue reading Sophie Stevenson

Milan Jacovich

Created by Les Roberts Cleveland? You’re soaking in it. It’s the stomping ground for tough, likable, Kolbasa-loving blue collar private eye MILAN JACOVICH (pronounced MY-lan YOCK-ovich) an ordinary joe kinda guy, in this solid series. He's an ex-football player, well-educated, and fiercely proud of his Slovenian heritage, his working class roots and—make no mistake—his hometown. … Continue reading Milan Jacovich

Jack Gannon

Created by Rick Mofina JACK GANNON is a reporter for the Buffalo-based World Press Alliance who's never been quite able to escape his blue collar roots--or the disappearance of his sister Cora decades ago. His first recorded case, Vengeance Road (2009), was all toughness and grit; as terse and hard-boiled as they come, as Gannon … Continue reading Jack Gannon

Ray Wyatt

Created by Rick Mofina A new thriller by Mofina is always good news, but a new trilogy? Sign me up.  RAY WYATT is a seasoned reporter, one of the go-to guys for the First Press Alliance, a wire service based in Manhattan that covers the world, which is why Ray seems to always have his … Continue reading Ray Wyatt

Julie Collins

Created by Lori G. Armstrong JULIE COLLINS is stuck in a dead-end secretarial job with the Bear Butte County Sheriff's office in western South Dakota, working part-time as a P.I. with her childhood friend Kevin Wells. Still grieving over the unsolved murder of her Lakota half-brother, Julie counters her bone-deep cynicism with tequila, cigarettes, and dangerous men. She's usually … Continue reading Julie Collins