The April 1998 P.I. Poll Results The question was: Who is the best private eye of the nineties (so far)? More specifically, I guess what I mean is the best private eye active in the nineties. List your five favorites, and feel free to comment on your choices. And don't limit yourself to series heroes or even books. Eyes from film, television and any other media are also welcome. Well, the results of the very first P.I. Poll are in. Sixty-one of you voted, although not everyone listed five eyes, and some of your nominations were too much of a stretch, even for me, to be considered private eyes. A vote is a vote. No extra points for first place. Of course, this is not really a listing of the best; it's a popularity contest. You don't have to tell me that. According to your votes, the Best Nineties Eyes are: Matthew Scudder by Lawrence Block (32 votes) Elvis Cole by Robert Crais (18) Easy Rawlins by Walter Mosley (14) Kinsey Millhone by Sue Grafton (14) Nameless by Bill Pronzini (14) Spenser by Robert B. Parker (14) Sharon McCone by Marcia Muller (12) V.I. Warshawski by Sara Paretsky (11) Thomas Black by Earl Emerson (10) John Marshall Tanner by Stephen Greenleaf (9)  John Francis Cuddy by Jeremiah Healy (9) Dave Robicheaux by James Lee Burke (8) Amos Walker by Loren D. Estleman (8) Pepe Carvalho by Manuel Vazquez Montalban (8) Patrick Kenzie & Angie Gennaro by Dennis Lehane (8) Harry Stoner by Jonathan Valin (7) Nate Heller by Max Allan Collins (6) Burke by Andrew Vachss (6) The Runners-Up (Five Votes or Less) Kate Brannigan by Van McDermid Ben Perkins by Rob Kantner Lew Griffin by James Sallis Streeter by Michael Stone Stephanie Plum by Janet Evanovich Carlotta Carlyle by Linda Barnes Ivan Monk by Gary Phillips Gordianus by Steven Saylor Daniel Kearney & Associates by Joe Gores Wyatt Storme Other Write-Ins Toby Peters by Stuart Kaminsky Bernie Gunther by Philip Kerr Laura Principal by Michelle Spring Aaron Gunner by Gar Anthony Haywood Milan Jacovitch by Les Roberts Jeri Howard by Janet Dawson Mongo by George C. Chesbro Cooper MacLeish by Sam Reaves Nick Sharman by Mark Timlin Harry James Denton by Steven Womack Will Hardesty by Richard Barre Tom Bethany by Jerome Doolittle Morgan Hunt by Geoffery Norman Milo Milodragovitch by James Crumley C.W. Shugrue by James Crumley Grijpstra & De Gier by Van de Wetering Neal Carey by Don Winslow Leo Waterman by G.M. Ford Myron Bolitar by Harlan Corben Nick Stefanos by George Pellecanos Mike Hammer by Mickey Spillane Simeon Grist by Timothy Hallinan Jake Lassiter by Paul Levine Archie McNally by Lawrence Sanders Comments Well, first of all, I'm blown away by the response. Secondly, there's some interesting changes since Robert Randisi's very thorough 1997 PI Survey. His poll was conducted via e-mail on rec.arts.mystery, a newsgroup that covers the entire mystery genre, while (I'm assuming) most of the visitors to this site tend toward the traditional, male-dominated hardboiled end of the spectrum, which may explain why McCone, Warshawski and Millhone didn't fare quite as well as in Randisi's poll. Rec.arts' audience no doubt features many non-P.I. readers who may, nevertheless, read Grafton, Paretsky and Muller, but might not read (or wouldn't be caught dead reading) a male P.I. And evidently a lot of you guys really don't like Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum. Lawrence Block's Matt Scudder lead the poll from the very beginning, and most of the rest of the top finishers more or less paralelled Randidi's list. I was pleased to see Stephen Greenleaf's Tanner do so well, glad to see Spenser hanging in there (even if the last few books have really not been that well-received) and very surprised that the critically-acclaimed up to here eyes of James Crumley barely even made it on to the list. It was also great to see that one of my personal favorites, Rob Kantner's Ben Perkins, hasn't been forgotten. Evidently, there are more than a few of us out there hoping he'll return. Whether Dave Robicheaux qualifies as a P.I. or not remains an open question. Evidently enough of you believe he does to place him near the top of the list. Unfortunately, I was a bit vague in specifying the criteria for a P.I. of the 90's, and thus many people took it to mean a series written in the nineties. Therefore, votes for retro eyes were also accepted. The top retro eyes, then, were: Easy Rawlins by Walter Mosley Nate Heller by Max Allan Collins Gordianus by Steven Saylor Toby Peters by Stuart Kaminsky Bernie Gunther by Philip Kerr Several series have been going on for years. The top five top long-established eyes (say, um, published pre-1990) are: Matthew Scudder by Lawrence Block Elvis Cole by Robert Crais Kinsey Millhone by Sue Grafton Nameless by Bill Pronzini Spenser by Robert B. Parker and the top five "new" eyes (first appearance in 1990 or later) Easy Rawlins by Walter Mosley (although Easy's almost an "old" eye now) Patrick Kenzie & Angie Gennaro by Dennis Lehane Kate Brannigan by Van McDermid Lew Griffin by James Sallis Streeter by Michael Stone Stephanie Plum by Janet Evanovich and the Hang-In-There, Baby Award goes to Mike Hammer by Mickey Spillane (I'm not sure if those who voted for Hammer were doing so because of the TV show, or his one novel in the nineties, but it's still nice to see him in the list. Maybe Mickey will be encouraged to start writing again.) Anyway, this was our first poll, and I had a lot of fun with it. Evidently, some of you did, as well. Check out some of the participants comments . And while you're here, why not vote in this month's poll. And don't forget to drop by often. There's new stuff happening all the time, and your comments are always welcome. For Voter's Comments