Johnny Liddell
Created by Frank Kane (1912 - 1968, pseud. Frank Boyd)

Author Frank Kane originally created Big Apple private eye JOHNNY LIDDELL in 1944 for a pulp story, and later went on to write 29 novels and countless short stories about him. Johnny started out as an agency man, but by Bullet Proof (1951), he's out on his own with his own New York agency. A solid series, nothing really exceptional, but it gets the job done, sorta like Johnny. As Bill Crider put it on Rara-Avis in April 2000, if it's a Frank Kane book, chances are "it'll be a competent, straightforward P.I. story."

Frank Kane's brother, Vincent, was an plainclothes cop for the NYPD who sometimes provided technical advice on investigative procedures. Kane spent much time talking to his brother - and other policemen in the force - learning about crime-oriented "tough guys" and gaining insight into their motivations. Through conversations with his brother, Kane developed opinions about how real life detectives might approach those on the wrong side of the law.) In fact, he actually wrote one NYPD cop novel based on his brother's work.

In addition to the Johnny Liddell stories, he wrote one NYPD cop novel based on his brother's work. He also wrote scripts for radio (The Shadow, The Fat Man, Gangbusters) and television shows (S.A.7, The Investigators, and most notably Mike Hammer). Rumours have it that many of the Hammer scripts were just adaptations of his Liddell stories with Hammer substituted for Liddell. Kane also wrote a couple of original novels based on characters from television series, Staccato (as Frank Boyd) and The Line-Up (as Frank Kane).

NOVELS

• About Face (1947, AKA Death About Face, The Fatal Foursome)
• Green Light For Death (1949)
• Slay Ride (1950)
• Bullet Proof (1951)
• Dead Weight (1951)
• Bare Trap (1952)
• Poisons Unknown (1953)
• Grave Danger (1960)
• Red Hot Ice (1955)
• A Real Gone Guy (1956)
• The Living End (1957)
• Trigger Mortis (1958)
• A Short Bier (1960)
• Time To Prey (1960)
• Due Or Die (1961)
• The Mourning After (1961)
• Stacked Deck (1961)
• Dead Rite (1962)
• Crime Of Their Life (1962)
• Ring-a-Ding-Ding (1963)
• Hearse Class M ale (1963)
• Johnny Come Lately (1963)
• Barely Seen (1964)
• Final Curtain (1964)
• Fatal Undertaking (1964)
• The Guilt Edged Frame (1964)
• Esprit De Corpse (1965)
• Two To Tangle (1965)
• Maid In Paris (1966)
• Margin For Terror (1967)

SHORT STORIES

• "Morgue Star Final" (July 1945, Crack Detective Stories)
• "Slay Upon Delivery" (January 1946, Crack Detective Stories)
• "A Game of Murder" (1952, Mobsters)
• "The Frozen Grin" (January 1953, Manhunt)
• "Payoff" (March 1953, Manhunt)
• "Dead Drunk" (Spring 1953, The Saint Detective Magazine)
• "Gory Hallelujah" (1953, Private Eye)
• "Evidence (July 1953, Manhunt)
• "The Icepick Artists" (December 1953, Manhunt)
• "Bullets, Back to Back" (March 1954, The Saint Detective Magazine)
• "A Package for Mr. Big" (September 1954, The Saint Detective Magazine)
• "Lead Ache" (1954, Manhunt)
• "Frame" (1954, Manhunt; also 1956, Johnny Liddell's Morgue)
• "A Package for Mr. Big" (September 1954, The Saint Mystery Magazine)
• "Big Steal (December 25, 1954, Manhunt)
• "Return Engagement" (February 1955, Manhunt)
• "The Dead Stand-In" (January 1956, Manhunt)
• "Live Blonde—Dead Millionaire" (August 1957, Trapped Detective Story Magazine)
• "A Grave Matter" (August 1960, Web Detective Stories)
• "Dead Reckoning" (December 1959, Manhunt)
• "Dead Drunk" (1961, Stacked Deck)
• "Dead End" (October 1959, Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine; also 1961, Stacked Deck)
• "Dead Reckoning" (1961, Stacked Deck)
• "Dead Run" (1961, Stacked Deck)
• "Dead Set" (1961, Stacked Deck)
• "Dead Wrong" (1961, Stacked Deck)
• "The Killing" (1961, Stacked Deck)
• "Play Tough" (March 1965, Manhunt)
• "With Frame To Match" (1965, Come Seven, Come Death)
  
  
• "Play and Slay Girl" (Double Action Detective)
• "Slay Upon Delivery" (Four and Twenty Bloodhounds)

COLLECTIONS

• Johnny Liddell's Morgue (1956)
• Stacked Deck (1961)

RELATED LINKS

• Authors & Creators: Frank Kane
  This site bio and bibliography, compiled with the help of Maura Fox, Kane's grand-daughter.

Report respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith. Thanks to Jim Doherty for some of the info on this page, and a tip of the fedora to David Spencer for the heads-up. And a very special thanks to Maura Fox, Frank Kane's grand-daughter, for all the extra info.