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NEW TWIST – THE LADIESNOW
Don’t think for a minute that hard-boiled fiction has faded into the past. If he had to, the amazingly prolific Elmore Leonard could keep the genre alive single-handedly. Beginning with The Bounty Hunters (1953) he has given the world 39 novels by my count. Not all are detective novels, and they aren’t even all set in the present, but they are all indelibly stamped with the hard-boiled label. Several of these great stories have moved to the big screen over the years, and most successfully. Consider Hombre (1961), Mr. Majestyk (1974), Fifty-Two Pickup (1974), Stick (1983), and the just-too-much-fun Get Shorty (1990). As of this writing Tishomingo Blues (2002), his latest, is already being made into a film.
Although his work hasn’t leaped to the big screen as some of his contemporaries’ novels have, Bill Pronzini is undeniably one of the masters of hard-boiled fiction. He’s written more than 60 novels, and nearly half of them feature The Nameless Detective. Introduced in a 1986 short story, Pronzini’s hero has proven to be the most respectful salute to the roots of the genre. It took courage to follow in the footsteps of Hammett’s Continental Op with a detective who has populated a huge number of short stories and 26 novels, Starting with The Snatch (1971), without ever being introduced.
No hard-boiled detective has moved to the small screen more successfully than Spencer, the one-named brainchild of Robert B. Parker. Spencer’s been solving mysteries in Boston since The Godwulf Manuscript (1973), but not all of Parker’s 39 books to date feature that hero. Want to know how well respected he is? Raymond Chandler’s estate asked him to finish Chandler's last, unfinished Phillip Marlowe novel. Parker completed that book, Poodle Springs, in 1989. A year later he wrote his own sequel The Big Sleep entitled Perchance To Dream.
James Ellroy is another great wordsmith who understands the hard-boiled genre. Without launching a continuing series, he has written a total of 16 excellent novels, starting with Brown’s Requiem (1981). Again, you are probably most familiar with his stories which have made outstanding transfers to the screen, most notably 1990’s L.A. Confidential. Judging by The Cold Six Thousand (2001), his stories are not all told.
The most famous Black author in this category, Walter Mosley, has often been compared to Raymond Chandler. his hero, the tough but noble "Easy" Rawlins, has a lot in common with Philip Marlowe, and both operate on the seamy side of Los Angeles in the mid-1900’s. They seem to hold the same view of human nature, and Mosley’s spot-on portrayal of those times is pretty impressive. Like Chandler, Mosley has a tight, economical writing style and creates truly unforgettable characters. Rawlins first appeared in 1990's "Devil In A Blue Dress", and has solved six more mysteries since then. Mosely has moved on to a second series starring Socrates Fortlow.
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NEW TWIST – THE LADIES
Sara Paretsky writes what some consider the first female detective who fits the hard-boiled mold. She introduced V.I. Warshawski in Indemnity Only (1982) to both critical and fan acclaim. And BTW, it’s Victoria Iphigenia, for those who are curious about initials.
When Sue Grafton published "A" is for Alibi (1983), its heroine Kinsey Millhone quickly became the best known female detective in history. Now about to appear in her 17th mystery, "Q" is for Quarry (2002), Kinsey has settled firmly into the hard-boiled arena. She’s been called "a tough cookie with a soft center," and "a gregarious loner." Those descriptions could just as easily be applied to Phillip Marlowe or Spencer.
