Created by Lori Duffy Foster When she got pregnant at fifteen, single mom LISA JAMISON vowed her daughter Bridget would have a better life than she did, and then set about getting her one. It took a while, but she cut ties with her own drug-addled parents and Marty, Bridget's father. Lisa worked her ass … Continue reading Lisa Jamison
Tag: Shamus Finalist
Dek Elstrom
Created by Jack Fredrickson Wry, spry and "creatively unemployed," Chicago's VLODEK "DEK" ELSTROM is a hapless, soft-boiled private eye in a hard-boiled world, scrounging to pay the rent on his fixer-upper turret and feed his junk food habit. And he's not suffering from an abundance of pride or ego. So... whatever it takes. As long … Continue reading Dek Elstrom
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
Sharon McCone
Created by Marcia Muller (1944--) "Marcia Muller is the founding mother of the contemporary female hard-boiled private eye." -- Sue Grafton Generally credited with being the first liberated female private detective of the modern era, Marcia Muller's SHARON McCONEÂ paved the way for the subsequentsuccess of Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone, Sara Paretsky's V.I. Warshawski, Laura Lippmann's … Continue reading Sharon McCone
Rae Kelleher
Created by Marcia Muller (1944--) Originally the apprentice of (and later an investigator for) Marcia Muller's Sharon McCone, twenty-something rookie San Francisco private eye RAE KELLEHER has headlined a couple (so far) of pretty good short stories--although, as an employee, her boss is never quite far away. But readers who only know Rae from the … Continue reading Rae Kelleher
Nebraska
Created by William J. Reynolds (1956- At last! The wait is over! Omaha, Nebraska finally has its own private eye! All you protesters can go home. Sorry about the pepper spray... Actually, the aptly-named NEBRASKA (one name only, please, just like Spenser) is a writer and former private investigator who comes out of shamus retirement … Continue reading Nebraska
John Francis Cuddy
Created by Jeremiah Healy (1948-2014) Private investigator JOHN FRANCIS CUDDY is based in Boston and, at least in the early novels, seemed to have been based quite clearly on that 1980's Boston success story Spenser. He grew up in the Irish-American neighborhood of South Boston, educated by the Jesuits at Holy Cross College, and served in … Continue reading John Francis Cuddy
Mitch Roberts
Created by Gaylord Dold (1947-2018) Brooding MITCH ROBERTS is the hero of one of the best--and most criminally overlooked--private eye series of the 1980's. The first six books in the series were all paperback originals, the first put out by Avon, the next five by Ivy Books, that seemed to have vanished with barely a trace. … Continue reading Mitch Roberts
The Twenty-Year Death Trilogy
Created by Ariel S. Winter "I had on my good suit, a navy blue so deep it looked black, with a pressed white shirt, a red-and-blue-striped tie, a red handkerchief, and freshly polished loafers. I'd had a shower and a shave." -- Dennis Foster calls on his client, in The Falling Star "Yeah, I'd always … Continue reading The Twenty-Year Death Trilogy
Albert Samson
Created by Michael Z. Lewin (1942--) Hard-boiled detective fiction has always claimed to be superior to other sub-genres, based on its realism. Since Raymond Chandler, hard-boiled authors have claimed that their work deals with real social issues, life as it is truly lived in the underbelly of society. As thinking readers should know, this is … Continue reading Albert Samson