Created by Bill Crider Pseudonyms include Nick Carter, Jack MacLane, Jack Buchanan (1941-2018) Galveston is the unique turf of TRUMAN SMITH, retired Dallas private eye. Pushing forty, obsessed with the disappearance of his sister, his only living relative, Truman quits the shamus game and moves back home to Galveston, off the Texas coast. There, he … Continue reading Truman Smith
Tag: Texas
Lee Henry Oswald
Created by Harry Hunsicker Talk about your double-barrelled names! LEE HENRY OSWALD (Call him "Hank."... PLEASE!) is a Dallas PI with one hell of a monicker. He apparently was given his jaw-dropping name in a parental attempt to toughen him up, sorta like on the Johnny Cash song "A Boy Named Sue". It seems to … Continue reading Lee Henry Oswald
“Moe Ron” Boyette
Created by Michael Bracken (1957 --) MORRIS RONALD BOYETTE ("MOE RON"Â to his friends) is a hard-boiled, hardcore P.I. working out of an office behind Millie's Tattoos and Piercings, just down the hall from Big Mac's Bail Bonds in Waco, Texas. Boyette, is a life-long resident, divorced, with a son with a fondness for SF magazines. … Continue reading “Moe Ron” Boyette
Delpha Wade & Tom Phelan
Created by Lisa Sandlin "Still got nine fingers left. Aim to keep them" -- Tom, when asked why he quit working on oil rigs and became a P.I. Let's get this straight. TOM PHELAN is the private eye, and MISS DELPHA WADEÂ is his secretary, but she gets top billing on the cover? What's going on … Continue reading Delpha Wade & Tom Phelan
Tres Navarre
Created by Rick Riordan Rick who? TRES NAVARRE is many things -- an unlicensed TexMex private eye, a tequila drinker, a tai chi master and an outcast from academia with a pretty much useless PhD in medieval studies and the proud owner of a cat called Robert Johnson. After ten years in the City by … Continue reading Tres Navarre
Charlie Gants
Created by Terry Marlowe Joint pseudonym of Richard Abshire and William Clair Things going bump in the night? He's on it! CHARLIE GANTS is a troubled ex-homicide detective from Dallas working as a private eye, who appeared in two well-received books with definite supernatural overtones, written by real-life Dallas cops Richard Abshire and William Clair. … Continue reading Charlie Gants
Jack Kyle
Created by Richard Abshire JACK KYLE is an ex-cop turned Dallas gumshoe, who served in Vietnam as a sniper and seems to know way more than he should about explosives. During his cop days he earned the nickname "Turnaround Jack" for his ability to "turnaround" a case. But he's pretty much your typical hard-boiled operative: … Continue reading Jack Kyle
Billy Bob Holland & The Holland Family Saga
Created by James Lee Burke Writer James Lee Burke, best known for Cajun almost-P.I. Dave Robicheaux cracked open a new series with Deaf Smith, Texas attorney BILLY BOB HOLLAND. Like his more famous creation, Billy Bob is a troubled gent, haunted by the violence of his ancestors (a few of whom have starred in books … Continue reading Billy Bob Holland & The Holland Family Saga
Jenny Gordon & C.J. Gunn
Created by Jan Grape Originally from Houston, private eye JENNY GORDON and her partner and pal C.J. GUNN (also known as "Cinnamon") are more than just a "coupla good ol' girls." They're also one of the few female duos in the genre in the nineties, appearing in a string of strong and always-entertaining short stories … Continue reading Jenny Gordon & C.J. Gunn
Kinky Friedman
Created By Kinky Friedman (1944-2024) "Kinky is the best whodunit writer to come along since Dashiell what's-his-name." -- noted literary critic Willie Nelson, in Mystery Scene #41 The former Texas Jewboy, and tongue-in-cheek country singer was reborn as tongue-in-cheek Greenwich Village private eye KINKY FRIEDMAN in this tongue-in-cheek detective series (and that's an awful lot of … Continue reading Kinky Friedman