Created by Dick Lochte Call it tongue-in-cheek noir, I guess. SoCa gumshoe LEO BLOODWORTH talks tough and drinks hard, and the last thing in the world he thinks he wants is some smartass, roller-blading 14-year old girl for a partner. But when SERENDIPITY DAHLQUIST hires Leo to find her missing pitbull Groucho, that's exactly what … Continue reading Leo Bloodworth & Serendipity Dahlquist
Tag: Southern California
Wil Hardesty
Created by Richard Barre It’s not all fun, fun, fun... Presenting the surfer dude as angst-ridden P.I., SoCal's WIL HARDESTY made an auspicious debut in 1995's The Innocents, scooping up a Shamus for Best First Novel, and praise from folks like Michael Collins, Stephen Greenleaf, James Crumley and Ross Thomas. Wil's a Vietnam vet still … Continue reading Wil Hardesty
Harvey Mapes
Created by Lee Goldberg Just what the world needs now: an over-educated and under-employed slacker twenty-something security guard with private eye wet dreams. HARVEY MAPES works for Bel Vista Estates, one of those ubitquious SoCal gated communities, working the night shift and not exactly setting the world on fire. Though having a stapler that works … Continue reading Harvey Mapes
Matt Singer & Jamal Wade
Created by Jack Polo "Sleuthin' ain't pretty." -- Matt warns a potential client Trouble may be their business, but it doesn't pay well enough for SoCal private detectives MATT SINGER and JAMAL WADE, so they come up with what they hope will be a slam dunk side hustle: real estate. But flogging McMansions in the … Continue reading Matt Singer & Jamal Wade
Pedro Gomez & Dennis “Hardball” Bakelenekoff (Grand Slam)
Created by Bill L. Norton In this extremely short-lived action/adventure series, comic Paul Rodriguez and John "Dukes of Hazzard" Schneider starred as PEDRO GOMEZ and DENNIS "HARDBALL" BAKELENEKOFF, bounty hunters for competing firms who eventually team up to nail a ruthless South American drug dealer, and end up going into business together, despite the fact they … Continue reading Pedro Gomez & Dennis “Hardball” Bakelenekoff (Grand Slam)
Gus Slavin (Loophole)
Created by Dwight V. Babcock and George Bricker This time out, he's GUS SLAVIN, an LA-based investigator for a bonding service, who's putting the screws on war hero turned nice guy bank teller Mike Donovan (Barry Sullivan, the star of the show, playing the classic noir bonehead/doofus to perfection). Gus is convinced Donovan had something … Continue reading Gus Slavin (Loophole)
Mort Hagen
Created by Whit Masterton Pseudonym of Robert Wade (1920-2012) and Bill Miller (1920-61) Other pseudonyms include Wade Miller, Dale Wilmer, & Will Daemer "He didn't look like a detective or much like anything else either, which was a great advantage to him." A cynical divorce detective, baking his ass off under the harsh sun of … Continue reading Mort Hagen
Robin Bishop
Created by Geoffrey Homes Pseudonym of Daniel Mainwaring (1902-77) ROBIN BISHOP is one of those pesky reporters with a nose for news who acts like a private eye, but isn't. He works for a rag in Los Pinos in southern California, and isn't even particularly tough or wise-cracking, but he manages to get himself into … Continue reading Robin Bishop
Mark Hull
Created by Norbert Davis Pseudonyms include Harrison Hunt, Cedric Titus (1909-1949) "She was one of the real mysteries of Hollywood. She was thin and flat-chested, with a complexion like yellow paste. Her black hair was lifeless and dull. Her features were assembled in regular enough order, but her face gave a queer blank effect, as … Continue reading Mark Hull
Tom Aragon
Created by Margaret Millar (1915-94) A young Chicano lawyer who values his independence and often ends up doing his own investigating, TOM ARAGON, was one of Margaret Millar's's few P.I characters, but she must have liked him -- he was the hero of three novels. A junior partner in a swank southern California law firm, … Continue reading Tom Aragon