Created by George P. Pelecanos (1957--) George Pelecanos produces critically acclaimed novels that are very much in the hard-boiled tradition. His series character, Greek/American licensed private investigator NICK STEFANOS tends bar (sometimes) at The Spot in Southeast Washington, D.C., struggling to make ends meet. He's a hard-livin', hard-drinkin' kinda guy (despite the fact he often … Continue reading Nick Stefanos
Tag: The Thrilling Detective Hall of Fame
Derek Strange
Created by George P. Pelecanos (1957--) Let's just play the race card, and fucking get it over with... DEREK STRANGE is BLACK. He's a former cop, now in his fifties, who runs his own Washington, D.C. detective agency. He carries a buck knife and may get a little slick at times, but he's respected in … Continue reading Derek Strange
Deets Shanahan
Created by Ronald Tierney (1944-2017) DIETRICH "DEETS" SHANAHAN is no happy camper. Especially when we first meet him. He's a cranky, semi-retired Indianapolis gumshoe within spitting distance of seventy, with a penchant for J.W. Dant bourbon, the Chicago Cubs, Delaney's Bar and horticulture. He lives in a small house with a rude overgrown mutt named … Continue reading Deets Shanahan
Terry Orr
Created by Jim Fusilli TERRY ORR is a New York City writer still devastated by the senseless death of his artist wife Marina Fiorentino and their young son, Davy, in Closing Time (2001). It seems some random looney pushed them in front of a subway train. It was an powerful and impressive debut, a first … Continue reading Terry Orr
“Mac” Robinson
Created by Thomas B. Dewey Pseudonyms include Tom Brandt and Cord Wainer (1915-81) "It may be that the recent white Anglo-Saxon Christian struggle to canonize the informer will be lost in the rivers and back streets of America, where 'rat' is still spelled with three letters and the only way to save your life is … Continue reading “Mac” Robinson
Jane Whitfield
Created by Thomas Perry (1947-2025) "I'm a guide . . . I show people how to go from places where somebody is trying to kill them to other places where nobody is." JANE WHITFIELDÂ doesn't think of herself as a private eye. She prefers to think of herself as a "guide." But what she really is … Continue reading Jane Whitfield
Jack Liffey
Created by John Shannon First Los Angeleno JACK LIFFEY lost his job as a technical writer. Then he lost his wife and, for a while, his daughter, to divorce. All he has left is his unerring ability to track down missing children, which keeps him busy for the most part, and away from booze, drugs, … Continue reading Jack Liffey
Rae Kelleher
Created by Marcia Muller (1944--) Originally the apprentice of (and later an investigator for) Marcia Muller's Sharon McCone, twenty-something rookie San Francisco private eye RAE KELLEHER has headlined a couple (so far) of pretty good short stories--although, as an employee, her boss is never quite far away. But readers who only know Rae from the … Continue reading Rae Kelleher
John Francis Cuddy
Created by Jeremiah Healy (1948-2014) Private investigator JOHN FRANCIS CUDDY is based in Boston and, at least in the early novels, seemed to have been based quite clearly on that 1980's Boston success story Spenser. He grew up in the Irish-American neighborhood of South Boston, educated by the Jesuits at Holy Cross College, and served in … Continue reading John Francis Cuddy
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