THE 14 BEST PRIVATE EYE NOVELS OF ALL TIME
The April 2012 P.I. Poll Results
To mark this site's fourteenth anniversary, we compiled a list of our fourteen favourite private eyes.
The results, as of 12:01 AM, PST, April 1st, 2012, when we closed the poll, are here...
THE FOURTEEN
In descending order...
 
   
   
   
Not bad, eh? I do think the votes reflect an interesting balance of literary merit and plain old popularity. Of course, did anyone really expect the Black Bird not to win? The surprise, for me at least, was how close The Long Goodbye came to toppling The Falcon. We're talking a handful of votes here.
The next three, Farewell, My Lovely, Devil in a Blue Dress and L.A. Requiem were also close, and again almost too close to call, but also several votes ahead of the rest of the pack, who were similarly clumped together. Of course, prolific authors were penalized in this poll, in that votes for their work were often spread over several novels, while those with relatively sparse output reaped the benfits. Chandler and Hammett were easily most popular (and were in fact tied with the exact same number of votes), followed very closely by Ross Macdonald, Mickey Spillane and Robert B. Parker, in that order. A few other authors with particularly strong showings were James Crumley, John Evans/Howard Browne, Lawrence Block, Joe Gores and Jonathan Latimer.
The James Deans by Reed Farrel Coleman (Moe Prager)
True Detective by Max Allan Collins (Nate Heller)
The Million Dollar Wound by Max Allan Collins (Nate Heller)
Stolen Away by Max Allan Collins (Nate Heller)
Flying Blind by Max Allan Collins (Nate Heller)
Act of Fear by Michael Collins (Dan Fortune)
Every Dead Thing by John Connolly (Charlie Parker)
The Monkey's Raincoat by Robert Crais (Elvis Cole)
Dancing Bear by James Crumley (Milo Milodragovitch)
The Valley of Fear by Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes)
The Eighth Circle by Stanley Ellin (Murray Kirk)
Every Brilliant Eye by Loren Estleman (Amos Walker)
A Smile on the Face of the Tiger by Loren Estleman (Amos Walker)
Halo for Satan by John Evans (Paul Pine)
The Convertible Hearse by William Campbell Gault (Brock Callahan)
32 Cadillacs by Joe Gores (Dan Kearney & Associates)
Interface by Joe Gores (Neal Fargo)
The Autumn Dead by Ed Gorman (Jack Dwyer)
"G" is for Gumshoe by Sue Grafton (Kinsey Millhone)
"S" is for Silence by Sue Grafton (Kinsey Millhone)
Sleep with Slander by Dolres Hitchens (Jim Sader)
Falling Angel by William Hjortsberg (Harry Angel)
The Wrong Kind of Blood by Declan Hughes (Ed Loy)
Murder on the Wild Side by Jeff Jacks (Shep Stone)
An Unsuitable Job for a Woman by P.D. James (Cordelia Gray)
March Violets by Philip Kerr (Bernie Gunther)
A Quiet Flame by Philip Kerr (Bernie Gunther)
Tonight I Said Goodbye by Michael Koryta (Lincoln Perry)
Mucho Mojo by Joe R Lansdale (Hap Collins & Leonard Pine)
Moonlight Mile by Dennis Lehane (Patrick Kenzie & Angela Gennaro)
City of the Sun by David Levien (Frank Behr)
The Killing Floor by Arthur Lyons (Jacob Asch)
Hard Trade by Arthur Lyons (Jacob Asch)
Castles Burning by Arthur Lyons (Jacob Asch)
The Dark Blue Goodbye by John D. MacDonald (Travis McGee)
The Green Ripper by John D. MacDonald (Travis McGee)
The Blue Hammer by Ross Macdonald (Lew Archer)
Find A Victim Ross Macdonald (Lew Archer)
The Way Some People Die by Ross Macdonald (Lew Archer)
The Zebra Striped Hearse by Ross Macdonald (Lew Archer)
Mather by Joseph Monninger (Mather Edson)
Leave a Message for Willie by Marcia Muller (Sharon McCone)
Indemnity Only by Sara Paretsky (V.I. Warshawski)
Killing Orders by Sara Paretsky (V.I. Warshawski)
The Godwulf Manuscript by Robert B. Parker (Spenser)
The Judas Goat by Robert B. Parker (Spenser)
Early Autumn by Robert B. Parker (Spenser)
Mortal Stakes by Robert B. Parker (Spenser)
A Firing Offense by George Pelecanos (Nick Stefanos)
Down by the River Where the Dead Men Go by George Pelecanos (Nick Stefanos)
Right as Rain by George Pelecanos (Derek Strange & Terry Quinn)
Hell to Pay by George Pelecanos (Derek Strange & Terry Quinn)
Soul Circus by George Pelecanos (Derek Strange & Terry Quinn)
The Cut by George Pelecanos (Spero Lucas)
Down in the Valley by David M. Pierce (Vic Daniel)
Shackles by Bill Pronzini (Nameless)
Texas Wind by James Reasoner (Cody)
Big Red Tequila by Rick Riordan (Tres Navarre)
Stone Quarry by S.J. Rozan (Bill Smith & Lydia Chin)
Roman Blood by Steven Saylor (Gordianus the Finder)
Blues for the Prince by Bart Spicer (Carney Wilde)
Naked Moon by Domenic Stansberry (Dante Mancuso)
The Doorbell Rang by Rex Stout (Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
The Mother Hunt by Rex Stout (Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
Blue Belle by Andrew Vachss (Burke)
Death in a Bowl by Raoul Whitfield (Ben Jardinn)
Way Past Dead by Steven Womack (Harry James Denton)
CODA
"That's my fourteen, a frustratingly short list from a genre rich in excellent writers, too many of the best left unmentioned."
-- Dick Lochte on his choices
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RELATED LINKS
PWA founder Randisi's own personal P.I. Series & P.I. Novel Survey Results from the Spring of 1997, which he conducted on rec.arts.mystery. The results -- and some of Randisi's comments -- are pretty interesting.
My personal look back at the eyes who I felt had left their mark on the shamus game since Mystery Scene first hit the streets in 1985, published in conjunction with Mystery Scene's 100 issue in 2007.
Drop a dime. Your comments, suggestions, corrections and contributions are always welcome.
"...and I'll tell you right out that I'm a man who likes talking to a man that likes to talk."
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