My Scrapbook"We'd Like You to Follow a Star" I dunno. There's just something about this gag Christmas card that made me smile — a perfect little blend of seasonal greetings and the Shamus Game. The cartoon is by Stan Eales, and it's printed on recycled paper, and it's available on the Nobleworks.com web site, where … Continue reading My Scrapbook: “We’d Like You to Follow a Star”
The Latest Posts
Lanie Lawton (The Christmas Thief)
Created by Joany Kane In this 2021 seasonal rom-com/mystery, LANA "LANIE" LAWTON is a lawyer-turned-rookie PI trying to make a name for herself by solving a rash of burglaries that have been plaguing her predictably picturesque hometown. Stepping in to help are Nick, a hunky (naturally!) local police detective already working the case and Teddy, … Continue reading Lanie Lawton (The Christmas Thief)
Biff Basham (Help! My Gumshoe’s an Idiot!)
Created by Michael Webb Clueless young New Orleans private eye BIFF BASHAM stumbles into a dumpster fire of a case in Help! My Gumshoe’s an Idiot!, a low-budget 2018 comedy that attempts to do to the Shamus Game what Airplane! did to air travel. Nope. Not even close, although it does have its moments. With … Continue reading Biff Basham (Help! My Gumshoe’s an Idiot!)
Asher Bockhorn
Created by Barney Cohen (1944--) and Jim Baen (1943-2006) One of the earliest sci-fi eyes is ASHER BOCKHORN, a tough, cynical, jasper-smoking world-weary op for the MexAmerica and Pacific Security Company who has a rather nifty hobby: he collects old (ie: 20th century) detective and science fiction paperbacks. Bockhorn appeared in just two novels, The … Continue reading Asher Bockhorn
Hank Howard (Pizza Detective)
Created by Robert Venditti and David Lapham "Just because pizza is round doesn't mean you can cut corners." HANK HOWARD isn't a man you meet every day. No matter how you slice it. Sure, he's a private eye, a hard-boiled and slightly rumpled doofus right out of central casting, complete with the obligatory fedora and … Continue reading Hank Howard (Pizza Detective)
Kitty Feral
Created by Eddie Muller & Jessica Schmidt "Whichever way you turn, Fate sticks out a paw to trip you up." Anyone who trolls the waters of film noir and noir fiction knows (or ought to know) Eddie Muller. He's the Czar of Noir, the award-winning author, TCM host, and film noir expert. He's written novels … Continue reading Kitty Feral
Joe Standard
Created by Dan A. Sproul (1982-2004) Here's a good bet: Dan A. Sproul's race track tales to place. Most of these pleasantly pulpy short stories, published from 1989 to 2004 in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine have to do, in one way or another, with horse racing, or more precisely, betting on horse racing. And most … Continue reading Joe Standard
Errol Black
Created by Simon Swift It's the thirties (and the forties and the fifties), and New York City gumshoe ERROL BLACK talks the talk and walks the expected walk, in a proposed trilogy of "indie" books by Simon Swift. I say "proposed," because the third book, the "much anticipated" The Gold Gate Goodbye, never surfaced, although … Continue reading Errol Black
Edison Bixby & Wally Nash
Created by Lee Goldberg Ex-cop turned insurance investigator EDISON BIXBY is brilliant. Just ask anyone. Hell, just ask him. He's rich and handsome; a certified genius when it comes to cracking seemingly impossible crimes. He's also possibly just plain certifiable, obsessed with a crackpot theory (or is it?) about environmental design and how it affects … Continue reading Edison Bixby & Wally Nash
Dick Fish (“Farewell, My Lamprey”)
Created by Ray Catfish "It was a tale as old as the sea, of things that go bump under the waves, and a fish that took the bait." So shoot me. I'm a sucker for stories like these, especially when they show a little wit. Not all of them do, of course, but "Farewell, My … Continue reading Dick Fish (“Farewell, My Lamprey”)