Archives: private eye

The ‘private eye’ in literature begins with the real-life character of Eugene Francois Vidocq

January 25, 2018 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: fiction, history, journalism, Private eye, writing.

The place to look for the origins of the literary private eye is in 19th century France with the character of Eugene Francois Vidocq.

Tags: ballistics, crime-scene investigation, criminal identification, criminal investigative unit, Dashiell Hammett, Edgar Allan Poe, Eugene Francois Vidocq, finger-printing, Kinsey Millhone, Lew Archer, Mike Ashley, Murders at the Rue Morgue, Phillip Marlowe, private detective, private eye, Raymond Chandler, Ross Macdonald, Sam Spade, Strand Magazine, Sue Grafton

Readers track down more crimes against English; Ross Macdonald; newsletter, Jan. 19, 2018

January 22, 2018 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: newsletter.

This newsletter was sent to everyone on Jim’s email list (4,379) on Friday, Jan. 19, 2018. Hi, Winter has settled in in a big way in my part of the world. Plenty of time for indoor activities, the most important of which is reading. But that’s not the only one. Some writing and some painting • Read More »

Tags: caricatures, Charles McGrath, crimes against English, Dashiell Hammett, Dirty John, Lew Archer, Lincoln-Douglas debates, New York Times, Philip Roth, Phillip Marlowe, podcasts, private detective, private eye, Raymond Chandler, Ross Macdonald, Sam Spade, The Plot Against America, true crime podcasts, verbs, watercolor, writing life

Raymond Chandler and the development of the ‘private eye’; newsletter, Jan. 12, 2018

January 15, 2018 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: journalists, newsletter, watercolor.

This newsletter was sent to everyone on Jim’s email list (4,500) on Friday, Jan. 12, 2018. Special note: If you have unsubscribed to this list previously, I apologize for this email. I had some problems with the list over the past couple of weeks — due mainly to my incompetence — and some unsubscribers may have • Read More »

Tags: Alabama, Atlanta child murders, Atlanta Monster, baseball, Bear Bryant, crimes against English, detective fiction, English spellings, Georgia, J.D. Salinger, JPROF.com, lectern, libel, mystery, Noah Webster, Payne Lindsey, podium, private detective, private eye, public figure, Raymond Chandler, spelling, spring training, Sue Grafton, Tenderfoot TV, The Big Sleep, The Long Goodbye, U.S. Supreme Court, Up and Vanished, Victoria Comella, Wally Butts, watercolor

Raymond Chandler: a troubled author who raised the level of hard-boiled detective fiction

January 10, 2018 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: fiction, journalism, Private eye.

Raymond Chandler brought a level of emotional complexity to his characters that had never been seen before in hard-boiled detective fiction.

Tags: Dashiell Hammett, detective fiction, Earl Stanley Gardner, Frank McShane, hard-boiled, Phillip Marlowe, private eye, pulp magazines, Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep, The Long Goodbye, watercolor, William Marling

The ‘private eye,’ in the beginning: Dashiell Hammett

December 27, 2017 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: journalism, Private eye, writers, writing.

Dashiell Hammett knew what a private detective should be. He knew because he had been one, and he had been taught by the very best. Born in Maryland in 1894, Hammett had failed at most everything he tried in the first two decades of his life. Intelligent, tall, and handsome, he did not finish school, • Read More »

Tags: Continental Op, Dashiell Hammett, Detnovel.com, Diane Johnson, hard-boiled, Lillian Hellman, private detective, private eye, Raymond Chandler, Sam Spade, William Marling

The private eye’s business is trouble; newsletter, Dec. 22, 2017

December 25, 2017 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: newsletter, Private eye.

This newsletter was sent to everyone on Jim’s email list (4,466) on Friday, Dec. 22, 2017. Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy New Year. Tis the season to celebrate, and there are lots of good greetings out there. I wish you good fellowship, good friends and family, good food, good music, and • Read More »

Tags: Ambrose Bierce, Casefile, crimes against English, Crimetown. Gimlet Media, detective fiction, Detnovel.com, grammar, James Thurber, Kris Kristofferson, Leonardo da Vinci, Marc Smerling, Merlin Olsen, Movie Set, Murder on the Movie Set, podcasts, private detective, private eye, Providence Rhode Island, real crime, Real Crime Profile, Sandi Scott, Sword and Scale, The Devil's Dictionary, Trouble is My Business, True Crime All the Time, Walter Isaacson, watercolor

Trouble is their business: the ‘private eye’ and the writers who created them

December 21, 2017 | By Jim Stovall | 2 Comments | Filed in: Private eye, writers, writing.

The opening scene of Raymond Chandler’s story Trouble is My Business tells you a lot in a very few words about Chandler’s “private eye,” Phillip Marlowe. Marlow is talking to a woman who runs a detective agency, a big one with several agents. But none of her people is suitable for the job she has. • Read More »

Tags: Dashiell Hammett, detective fiction, detective stories, hard-boiled, Jame Cain, Phillip Marlowe, private detective, private eye, Raymond Chandler, Sam Spade, Trouble is My Business