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
Tag: Shamus Finalist
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, 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
Shane Cleary
Created by Gabriel Valjan He used to box. He used to be a soldier. He used to be a cop. He used to be a lot of things. But when we meet private investigator SHANE CLEARY in his promising debut, the appropriately titled Dirty Old Town (2020), he’s not exactly setting the world on fire. … Continue reading Shane Cleary
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
Lisa Jamison
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
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