Created by Dean Hargrove (1938--) Why does The Manchu Eagle Murder Caper Mystery even exist? The 1975 film "comedy," co-written and directed by Dean Hargrove, has no real stars, few real laughs and little plot. And then the penny dropped. Two of the "stars" of this 1975 gobbler, Gabriel Dell and Huntz Hall, were previously … Continue reading Malcolm (The Manchu Eagle Murder Caper Mystery)
Tag: Small Town
Annie McIntyre
Created by Samantha Jayne Allen "Life is long. Hard to see a shape or any kind of arc while you're living it." --Next of Kin A newly minted college grad finds herself back in her small hardscrabble hometown of Garnett, Texas, ANNIE McINTYRE is tired of waitressing and a life seemingly going nowhere (career opportunities … Continue reading Annie McIntyre
Samuel Craddock
Created by Terry Shames The former police chief of the small town of Jarrett Creek, Texas, SAMUEL CRADDOCK, finds out retirement isn't going to be quite as peaceful as he'd hoped. Seems his replacement is a hopeless drunk who couldn't "investigate his way out of an outhouse with two doors," according to a local attorney. … Continue reading Samuel Craddock
Raimo Jarvi
Created by Robert White Pseudonyms include Terry White, Robb White Finnish-American small town private eye RAIMO "RAY" JARVI would probably be happy plying his trade in Northtown, Ohio, a relatively quiet rust-belt town on the shores of Lake Erie, dealing with his usual "unfaithful wives and petty personal disputes." He owns the two-story building on … Continue reading Raimo Jarvi
Tim Smith
Created by Donald Westlake (1933-2008) "This is my town. Mine. I don't run away from it, nobody chases me out." -- Tim SmithWinston, New York, is a town of about 40,000 souls that has seen fit to license one--and only one--private eye. That's because TIM SMITH, the man they've licensed, knows every even halfway sordid … Continue reading Tim Smith
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
Abe Applebaum (The Kid Detective)
Created by Evan Morgan "It's difficult to accept the difference between who you are in your head and who you are in the world." Most coming-of-age films don't follow a man in his thirties, but the quirky, creepy indie The Kid Detective sure does. ABE APPLEBAUM became the pride and joy of his small hometown … Continue reading Abe Applebaum (The Kid Detective)
Deacon Riis
Created by John Jantunen To say that bumbling newshawk DEACON RIIS is the hero of No Quarter (2018) would be misleading. In this thriller, the first of a proposed trilogy by Canadian writer John Jantuen, Deacon, the only full-time reporter for local paper The Chronicle, is nobody's hero. Not even that of Rain, the woman twenty years … Continue reading Deacon Riis
Ben Abbott
Created by Justin Scott Pseudonyms include Paul Garrison, J.S. Blazer Bill Bryson was telling us something about small town America at the start of The Lost Continent when he wrote "I come from Des Moines. Somebody had to." Justin Scott, in placing his BEN ABBOTT P.I. series in Newbury, Conneticutt, is probably trying to tell us … Continue reading Ben Abbott