“Blondes, Blondes, Blondes!”

A short story by Jack Bludis Featuring Ken Sligo Winter 2006 "Girls, girls, girls!" I shouted out to the men looking for action on Baltimore's notorious Block. "Blondes, Brunettes, Redheads. Get 'em while they're hot!" It was 1947, two years since the war. The only men in uniform were cops and a few foreign sailors in … Continue reading “Blondes, Blondes, Blondes!”

Henry Goiler

Created by Tom Fassbender and Jim Pascoe For those of you who can't get enough of retro eye Benjamin Drake, check out "Faze Out," a nitty, gritty short story by Fassbender and Pascoe featuring Drake's nemesis and inter-office rival at the Always Reddy Detective Agency in Testacy City, fellow op HENRY GOILER. In this tale, the … Continue reading Henry Goiler

Allen Garver

Created by James M. Reasoner (1953--) ALLEN GARVER was Texas writer James M. Reasoner's attempt to create a more realistic detective than, for example, the white suit and fedora-sporting Nicholas Lake. Alas, he only appeared in one 1981 short story. SHORT STORIES "Outback" (April 1981, MSMM) COLLECTIONS Old Times' Sake (2007) | Buy this book! Includes … Continue reading Allen Garver

Dan Boyd

Created by James M. Reasoner (1953--) James M. Reasoner has written tons of private eye stuff, in between about a zillion Westerns. Besides the thirty-six Mike Shayne stories he wrote as "Brett Holliday" for Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine, he's highly regarded among fans of the genre for Texas Wind, a much beloved P.I. novel, and … Continue reading Dan Boyd

Nick and Holly West

Created by Joan H. Parker & Robert B. Parker "We have money. We do this because we like to." -- Holly in "Galahad, Inc." Dashiell Hammett once said "Maybe there are better writers in the world but nobody ever invented a more insufferably smug pair of characters. They can't take that away from me" The … Continue reading Nick and Holly West

Eddie Anderson

Created by Fredric Brown (1906-72) Pint-size Chicago private eye EDDIE ANDERSON, on the trail of an escaped homicidal maniac, goes undercover in a sanitarium. On his honeymoon, no less. A delightful short story and one of the relatively few short stories by Brown that features an honest-to-goodness P.I. Fredric Brown although, of course, he did write … Continue reading Eddie Anderson

Oscar Fife

Created by Jonathan Lethem Jonathan Lethem is, of course,  a big shot American writer; an acclaimed  novelist, essayist, and short story writer. His first novel, Gun, with Occasional Music (1994) was a tongue-in-cheek mish-mash of science fiction and detective fiction, featuring private "inquisitor" Conrad Metcalf and a slew of genetically modified kangaroos packing heat. Lethem may be a … Continue reading Oscar Fife