Brady Coyne
Created by William Tapply

BRADY COYNE is a Boston lawyer, but the books have nothing to do with legal hijinks. He gets involved in a lot of shit, sometimes as a corollary to his legal practice, but more often as a favor to a friend or out of simple curiosity/outraged sense of honor, as in the latest, Cutter's Run, arguably the best and certainly the toughest of the series. His favorite fishing buddy is the Rick Boyer's hardboiled dentist Doc Adams, who has yet to appear in a Coyne novel, but is mentioned in every book in the series.

Both characters qualify as private eyes by your definition and certainly by mine "one involved in an investigation for a private party or for private reasons." Like early Perry Mason, Brady seems to favor a hands-on approach to criminal justice.

BY THE WAY...

• "I was in contact with William Tapply recently, and asked him if Brady Coyne (his character) and Doc Adams (Rick Boyer's character) were ever going to get together in a book...to which he said he didn't know...distance, both so busy etc. But he did say that around spring of 2002, a book entitled First Flight will be coming out that will feature Brady Coyne and Philip R. Craig's JW Jackson. Thought you would like to know."
  (Mike Morris)

NOVELS

• Death at Charity's Point (1984)
• The Dutch Blue Error (1984)
• Follow the Sharks (1984)
• The Marine Corpse (1986; AKA A Rodent of Doubt)
• Dead Meat (1987)
• The Vulgar Boatman (1987)
• A Void in Hearts (1988)
• Dead Winter (1989)
• Client Privilege (1990)
• The Spotted Cats (1991)
• Tight Lines (1992)
• The Snake Eater (1993)
• The Seventh Enemy (1995)
• Close to the Bone (1996)
• Cutter's Run (1998)
• Muscle Memory (1999). Buy this book
• Scar Tissue (2000) ..Buy this book
• Past Tense (2001) .Buy this book
• First Flight (2001; with Philip R. Craig's J.W. Jackson) .Buy this book
• A Fine Line (2002) .Buy this book
• Shadow of Death (2003).. Buy this book
• Second Sight (2005; with Philip R. Craig's J.W. Jackson) .Buy this book
• One-Way Ticket (2007) ..Buy this book
• Third Strike: (2007; with Philip R. Craig's J.W. Jackson) ..Buy this book
• Hell Bent: (2008).. Buy this book
  

Thanks to Paul Bergin for this one, and thanks, Mike, for the tip.