Private Eyes Archives - Page 2 of 3

02.17.16 Bill Crider on “The Black Glove”

When we launched Brash Books, one of the smartest things we did was reach out to Bill Crider, award-winning author and one of the most knowledgeable people around about crime novels, for his "wish list" of out-of-print books we absolutely had to republish to live up to our motto ("we publish the best crime novelist in existence"). Geoffrey Miller's Edgar Award finalist The Black Glove was one of books on that list (as are many of our past and future titles). Now Bill shares why he believes The Black Glove a must-read for noir fans. Terry Traven is an L. A. private-eye, a man who chose his profession because of his admiration for the work of Hammett and Chandler, knowing all along that... more

05.06.15 Andy Straka: A Bird’s Eye View of the Private Eye Genre

Written by Andy Straka

Andy Straka is the author of the award-winning and beloved Frank Pavlicek series... about an ex-NYPD cop who becomes a PI and falconer in Virginia... which kicks off with our new Brash Books' releases of A Witness Above and A Killing Sky. Here he talks about how he created the series... How did I fall into this gig anyway? All I ever wanted to do was write the world's greatest private eye novels and have someone pay me gazillions of dollars to live happily ever after. But I had two problems. Problem number one: How could I possibly contribute anything new to such a classic private eye genre replete with masterful voices? Problem number two: Private eye novels most often feature... more

02.04.15 Building the Too-Perfect Protagonist

Written by Gar Anthony Haywood

One of the questions we writers get all the time is: “Is your protagonist you?“ I’ve heard a lot of different answers to this question, some long and some short, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone just come out and say what we all know to be true: “Of course he is!” Because really, is there ever any doubt? Why create a heroic character — especially one who triumphs in the end — if you can’t live vicariously through him? And how can you live vicariously through a character who’s totally removed from yourself? Has anyone ever read a Charlie Fox thriller and not seen Zoë Sharp herself doing all that ass-kicking? I didn’t think so. Sure,... more

09.22.14 The Bragg Novels: Paladin of the Dispossessed

Written by Brash Admin

Jared Shurin reviews books for one of our favorite websites, Pornokitsch. Today he shares his admiration for the Bragg series of novels by Jack Lynch. There's no feeling in the world better than discovering a new series. Not just a good book, but a vast array of them. And, in this case, the series is Jack Lynch's Peter Bragg- a San Francisco private investigator who combines angst and wit in the perfect proportion. If that sounds familiar - perhaps like my beloved Travis McGee (John D. MacDonald) - it is, and part of the appeal of the Bragg series is that he is a West Coast McGee - a scarred-but-tender, manly-but-sensitive paladin of the dispossessed. The series is... more

09.15.14 Creating Delilah West: Can’t swim? Dive in Anyway

Written by Maxine O'Callaghan

Death is Forever by author Maxine O'Callaghan

When I began writing my first novel, I was blissfully ignorant of that sage piece of advice: Write what you know. I wasn't a cop, or a pathologist, or a special agent for the FBI. Besides a stint in the Marine Corp Reserve, I was, first, a secretary, then a stay-at-home housewife and mother who read. A lot. Mostly mysteries and suspense with an emphasis on private eye fiction. So it seemed perfectly natural to me that when one of my first short stories, A Change of Clients, appeared in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine in 1974, it featured a private detective. My only concession to the write-what-you-know maxim was to make my detective a woman, because, well, I was one. It really... more

09.10.14 Michael Stone on Writing The STREETER Novels

Written by Michael Stone

Low End Of Nowhere by author Michael Stone

I’ve always loved the write. I was a newspaper reporter for twelve years before I started my private investigations business. I also took a whack at writing a mystery/crime fiction novel back in the mid 1980s. I really liked noir crime movies so I tried to write a novel along those lines. I got some interest from a fairly well-known New York agent. She liked my writing but not the book I wrote. Go figure. She asked me what crime fiction authors I read. I thought about and realized I never actually read any crime fiction or mystery novels. The agent was surprised. She made two suggestions. One, keep writing and, two, start reading novels in the genre. Get the feel for what makes a good... more

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