SYKM


Private Investigators
Alex Abella
  • Charlie Morell: Cuban-American private investigator turned lawyer in Los Angeles, California

J.L. Abramo
  • Jake Diamond: private investigator who is more over-easy than hard-boiled, in San Francisco, California

Richard K. Abshire
  • Jack Kyle: private investigator in Dallas, Texas

Cathy Ace
  • The WISE Enquiries Agency (women investigators from Wales, Ireland, Scotland, and England), based in Wales

Mario Acevedo
  • Felix Gomez: private investigator who became a vampire as a soldier in Iraq, in various places in the United States

Cleve F. Adams
  • Rex McBride: private eye in Los Angeles, California

Douglas Adams
  • Dirk Gently (alias of Svlad Cjelli), a holistic detective who investigates based on the fundamental interconnectedness of all things, in London, England, in this comic, sci-fi mystery series

Jane Adams
  • Ray Flowers: former police sergeant, now a private investigator, in England

Carolina Garcia Aguilera
  • Lupe Solano: private investigator in Miami, Florida

Marvin Albert
  • Pete (Pierre-Ange, Stone Angel) Sawyer: French-American private investigator in Paris, France

Neil Albert
  • Dave Garrett: disbarred lawyer turned private investigator in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

Michael Allegretto
  • Jacob Lomax: ex-cop turned private investigator in Denver, Colorado

Conrad Allen (Edward Marston)
  • George Porter Dillman: yacht-builder-turned-actor-turned-detective

Roberto Ampuero
  • Cayetano Brulé: Cuban-born private investigator based in Valparaiso, Chile

Rudolfo Anaya
  • Sonny Baca: part-time rodeo rider private investigator in Albuquerque, New Mexico

Kevin J. Anderson
  • Dan Shamble: zombie private investigator at Shamble & Die (Chambeaux & Deyer) Investigations, in the Big Uneasy

William Ard
  • Timothy Dane: private investigator in New York City
  • Lou Largo: private investigator in New York City

Anne Argula
  • Quinn: ex-cop turned private investigator, in Spokane and Seattle, Washington

Jakob Arjouni
  • Kemal Kayankaya: private investigator of Turkish background, in Frankfurt, Germany

Lori G. Armstrong
  • Julie Collins: secretary in a sheriff’s office and part-time private investigator, in western South Dakota

Ace Atkins
  • Nick Travers: ex-football star, part-time detective and full-time expert on blues in New Orleans

Leo Atkins (Clay Harvey pseudonym)
  • Connor Gibbs: private investigator running Quixote Enterprises, in Wendover, North Carolina

Kate Atkinson
  • Jackson Brodie: ex-cop, ex-husband, and private investigator, in the UK

Michael Avallone
  • Ed Noon: private investigator in New York City, later on special assignment to the President of the United States

Lori Avocato
  • Pauline Sokol: ex-nurse, now an investigator of medical fraud

E.C. Ayres
  • Tony Lowell: photographer and private investigator on the Gulf Coast of Florida

William Babula
  • Jeremiah St. John: private investigator in San Francisco, California

Robert E. Bailey
  • Art Hardin: retired colonel, now a low-keyed private investigator in Grand Rapids, Michigan

John Baker
  • Sam Turner: private investigator in York, England

Bill S. Ballinger
  • Barr Breed: private investigator in Chicago, Illinois

Franklin Bandy
  • Kevin MacInnes: the “Lie King”, a free-lance lie detector and private investigator, in Ohio and elsewhere

Oliver Banks
  • Amos Hatcher: the art world’s foremost detective

Ray Banks
  • Callum “Cal” Innes: an ex-con working as an unlicensed private investigator, in Manchester, England

Vincent Banville
  • John Blaine: private investigator in Dublin, Ireland

Linda Barnes
  • Carlotta Carlyle: cab-driving ex-cop PI, in Boston, Massachusetts
  • Michael Spraggue III: wealthy actor and ex-PI in Boston, Massachusetts

Richard Barre
  • Wil Hardesty: Vietnam Vet private investigator in Los Angeles, California

Nancy Bartholomew
  • Stella Valocchi: ex-Florida cop, now a private investigator in Chester County, Pennsylvania

Milton Bass
  • Vinnie Altobelli: ex-cop coronary survivor and private investigator, in San Bernadino, California
  • Benny Freedman: private investigator, in San Diego, California

Colin Bateman
  • The Small Bookseller with No Name who becomes an investigator when the detective agency next door goes out of business, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in the Mystery Man series

K.K. Beck
  • Jane da Silva: lounge singer and private detective in Seattle, Washington

Jean Bedford
  • Anna Southwood: private enquiry agent in Sidney, Australia

Richard Belzer with Michael Black
  • Richard Belzer: private investigator based in New York City

Larry Beinhart
  • Tony Casella: family-man and private investigator in New York City

Carol Lea Benjamin
  • Rachel Alexander: private investigator and dog trainer, and Dashiell, her pit bull, in New York City

Raymond Benson
  • \Spike Berenger: private investigator with Rockin’ Security, providing security for rock and roll stars

David Berlinski
  • Aaron Asherfield: cynical investigator with three ex-wives, in San Francisco, California

Anthony Bidulka
  • Russell Quant: ex-farmboy, half-Ukrainian, half-Irish, gay private detective, in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

John Birkett
  • Michael Rhinehart: private investigator in Louisville, Kentucky

Ruth Birmingham (Walter Sorrells)
  • Sunny Childs: private investigator with Peachtree Investigations, in Atlanta, Georgia

Cara Black
  • Aimee Leduc: owner of a detective agency specializing in corporate security, in Paris, France

Michael A. Black
  • Ron Shade: tough-guy private investigator with a soft heart, and a martial arts expert, in Chicago, Illinois

Victoria Blake
  • Samantha (Sam) Falconer: world judo champion turned private investigator at the Gentle Way investigation agency in London, working in Oxford, England

Nero Blanc
  • Rosco Polycrates: private investigator, and Annabella Graham, crossword puzzle editor for the Newcastle Evening Crier, in Newcastle, Massachusetts

Alex Bledsoe
  • Eddie LaCrosse: sword-for-hire (anything but murder) private investigator in a fantasy medieval world

Lawrence Block
  • Matt Scudder: reformed alcoholic and unlicensed private eye, in New York City

Jack Bludis
  • Brian Kane: private investigator in 1950s Hollywood, California

Todd Borg
  • Owen McKenna: ex-San Francisco homicide inspector turned private investigator, and his Harlequin Great Dane, Spot, at Lake Tahoe, California, and Nevada

D.B. Borton
  • Cat Caliban: 60-something private investigator-in-training in Cincinnati, Ohio

Mark Bouton
  • Max Austin: ex-FBI agent, now private investigator also interested in astronomy and things cosmic, in Kansas

Rhys Bowen
  • Molly Murphy: Irish immigrant in early 20th-century who wants to be a private investigator, in New York City

Elisabeth Bowers
  • Meg Lacey: private investigator in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Susan M. Boyer
  • Liz Talbot: private investigator with a ghostly sidekick, in fictional Stella Maris, South Carolina

Alistair Boyle
  • Gil Yates: private investigator, alias Malvin Stark, a nerdy, unsuccessful real estate agent, in Los Angeles, California

P.J. Brackston
  • Gretel (yes, that Gretel), now a 35-year-old private investigator, and her brother Hans, in 1770s Bavaria, Germany, in the Brothers Grimm mysteries

Gyles Brandreth
  • Oscar Wilde: poet, wit, and playwright, friend of Arthur Conan Doyle, and Robert Sherard, great-grandson of Wordsworth, investigate murders in Victorian England, Scotland, and France

Steve Brewer
  • Bubba Mabry: private investigator in Albuquerque, New Mexico

David Brierley
  • Cody: young female ex-spy and private investigator, in Europe and North Africa

D.C. Brod
  • Quint McCauley: ex-cop turned private investigator in a Chicago suburb in Illinois

Frances Brody
  • Kate Shackleton: private detective whose husband is MIA in WWI, in 1920s Bradford, Yorkshire, England

Kirsty Brooks
  • Cassidy Blair: 29-year-old amateur sleuth, later private investigator, in Australia

Carl Brookins
  • Sean “NMI” Sean: private investigator in Hennepin County, Minnesota

Christopher Brookmyre
  • Jasmine Sharp, a former actress, now a private investigator, and Catherine McLeod, a detective superintendent, in Glasgow, Scotland

Carter Brown
  • Danny Boyd: private investigator
  • Rick Holman: private investigator in Hollywood, California
  • Mavis Seidlitz: blonde private investigator with Gracie Allen tendencies

Howard Browne
  • Paul Pine: former DA’s investigator, now a private investigator, in Chicago, Illinois

Sinclair Browning
  • Trade Ellis: rancher and part-time private eye, in Arizona

Kate Bryan
  • Maggie Maguire: ex-Pinkerton agent in 1870s San Francisco, California

Patrick Buchanan (Edwin Corley)
  • Ben Shock and Charity Tucker: unlicensed private investigators in the 1970

Miles Burton (John Rhode)
  • Desmond Merrion: military intelligence officer who becomes a private detective, and Henry Arnold, a Scotland Yard inspector, in England

Christopher Bush
  • Ludovic Travers: wealthy writer and amateur sleuth, later proprietor of the Broad Street Detective Agency, along with Scotland Yard Superintendant George Wharton and later Chief Inspector Jewle, in London, England

Nancy Bush
  • Jane Kelly: reluctant private investigator, and her pug, The Binkster, in Lake Chinook, Orego

Max Byrd
  • Mike Haller: private eye specializing in missing persons in San Francisco, California

Meg Cabot
  • Heather Wells: 28 year-old former teen pop star turned private investigator, in New York City

Hamilton T. Caine (Stephen Smoke)
  • Ace Carpenter: private investigator in Los Angeles, California

Kate Calloway
  • Cassidy James: lesbian private investigator in the fictional town of Cedar Hills (near the Southern Oregon Coast about 350 miles from Portland)

Lindy Cameron
  • Kit O’Malley: former police officer, now a private investigator in Melbourne, Australia

Chester D. Campbell
  • Sid Chance: private investigator, in Nashville, Tennessee

Robert Campbell
  • Whistler: sentimental private investigator in Hollywood, California

Dorothy Cannell
  • Hyacinth and Primrose Tramwell: pair of dotty sisters and owners of the Flowers Detection Agency occasionally joining Ellie Haskell, an interior decorator, and Ben Haskell, a writer and chef

Victor Canning
  • Rex Carver: English spy turned private investigator, in Europe

Patricia Carlon
  • Jefferson Shields: private detective, in 1960s Australia

Massimo Carlotto
  • Marco “Alligator” Buratti: former blues singer and ex-con, working as a private investigator in Venice, Italy

J.D. Carpenter
  • Campbell Young: racetrack-loving homicide detective, later a private investigator, and his friend Priam Harvey, a racetrack journalist, mostly in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Tori Carrington
  • Sofie Metropolis: Greek-American private investigator, in Queens, New York City

C.J. Carver
  • Jay McCaulay: former captain in the Paras, now working with TRACE, tracking down missing children in war zones

Thomas B. Cavanagh
  • Mike Garrity: 40-something retired police detective, now a private investigator, with a brain tumor named Bob, in Orlando, Florida

Peter Chambers
  • Mark Preston: private investigator in Monkton City, California

Raymond Chandler
  • Philip Marlowe: private eye on the mean streets of Los Angeles, California
  series continued by Robert B. Parker

Leonard Chang
  • Allen Choice: Korean-American Silicon Valley investigator, in Los Angeles, California

Sally Chapman
  • Juliet Blake: computer fraud investigator in Silicon Valley, California

James Hadley Chase
  • Dave Fenner: reporter turned private eye
  • Vic Malloy: private investigator in California

Thomas Chastain
  • J.T. Spanner: private investigator, NYPD inspector, and Max Kauffman, an NYPD inspector, in New York City

Sean Chercover
  • Ray Dudgeon: former newspaper reporter turned private investigator, in Chicago, Illinois

Peter Chester (Peter Chambers)
  • Johnny Preston: private investigator

Peter Cheyney
  • Slim Callaghan: tough private investigator in England

Agatha Christie
  • Hercule Poirot: Belgian private detective in London, England

Jim Christy
  • Gene Castle: private investigator in late 1930s to 1945 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Carole Higgins Clark
  • Regan Reilly: private investigator in Los Angeles, California

John Clarkson
  • Jack Devlin: ex-Secret Service Agent turned security firm investigator, in the USA

Liza Cody
  • Anna Lee: private investigator in London, England

Tucker Coe (Donald E. Westlake)
  • Mitch Tobin: ex-cop private investigator in Queens, New York

Mark Coggins
  • August Riordan: jazz bass-player and private investigator, and his cross-dressing friend and assistant, Chris Duckworth, in San Francisco, California

Mark Cohen
  • Pepper Keane: former federal prosecutor, now a private investigator in Colorado

Curt Colbert
  • Jake Rossiter: private investigator, and Miss Jenkins, a “Gal Friday” in post-World War II Seattle, Washington

Cathy Cole
  • Nicola Sharpe: tall, tough 29-year-old private investigator, in the Balmain area of Sydney, Australia

David Cole
  • Laura Winslow: the false identity of a part-Hopi cyber-investigator, on the Arizona border

Reed Farrel Coleman
  • Dylan Klein: insurance investigator in New York City
  • Moe (Moses) Prager: ex-cop private investigator in 1980s New York City

Max Allan Collins
  • Nate Heller: 1930s ex-cop turned private eye, in Chicago, Illinois

Michael Collins
  • Dan Fortune: one-armed Polish-Lithuanian private investigator in New York City

Jennifer Colt
  • The McAfee twins (Kerry and Terry): fledgling investigators in Southern California

John Connolly
  • Charlie “Bird” Parker: ex-NYPD detective turned private investigator in cases taking him to locations in North America

Kent Conwell
  • Tony Boudreaux: private investigator based in Austin, Texas

Bruce Cook (Bruce Alexander)
  • Antonio “Chico” Cervantes: private eye in Los Angeles, California

Glen Cook
  • Garrett: 30-something human private investigator in fantasy TunFaire

Thomas H. Cook
  • Frank Clemons: homicide detective in Atlanta, Georgia, later a private eye in New York City

Lesley Cookman
  • Libby Sarjeant: middle-aged actress and private investigator, in Kent, England

Basil Copper
  • Mike Faraday: hard-boiled private eye, in Los Angeles, California

Gary Corby
  • Nicolaos: investigator in classical Athens, beginning in 461 BCE

Michael Cormany
  • Dan Kruger: 30-something ex-cop and former rock musician, now a private investigator, in Chicago, Illinois

Lucha Corpi
  • Gloria Damasco: Hispanic detective in the San Francisco Bay Area, in California, in the Brown Angel mysteries

Peter Corris
  • Richard Browning: private investigator with Hollywood ties, in Sydney, Australia
  • Cliff Hardy: private investigator in Australia

Elizabeth Cosin
  • Zen Moses: cancer survivor and private investigator, in Santa Monica, California

Matt Coyle
  • Rick Cahill: former Santa Barbara cop falsely accused of killing his wife, now a private investigator in the San Diego suburb, La Jolla, California

Robert Crais
  • Elvis Cole and Joe Pike: pair of Hollywood private eyes, in Los Angeles, California

Bill Crider
  • Truman Smith: private investigator in Galveston, Texas

James Crumley
  • Milo Milodragovitch: ex-Army spy and private eye in Montana
  • C.W. Sughrue: ex-Army spy turned private eye, in Montana

Clive Cussler
  • Isaac Bell: no-nonsense private investigator with the Van Dorn Detective Agency, in early 20th century America

Stan Cutler
  • Rayford Goodman: jaded, once-famous private investigator, and Mark Bradley, a gay writer of celebrity biographies, in Los Angeles, California
Don Dahler
  • Huck Doyle: pro golfer and non-practicing lawyer working as a private investigator, in Los Angeles, California

Catherine Dain
  • Freddie O’Neal: private investigator in Reno, Nevada

Carroll John Daly
  • Vee Brown: private investigator who writes songs as Vivian Brown (his real name), in New York City
  • Race Williams: the original hard boiled private investigator, in New York City

David Daniel
  • Alex Rasmussen: wise-cracking ex-cop private investigator in Lowell, Massachusetts

J. Madison Davis
  • Delbert “Dub” Greenert and Vonna Saucier: white and black private investigators, in New Orleans, Louisiana

Kenn Davis
  • Carver Bascombe: black poet and private investigator, in San Francisco, California

Lindsey Davis
  • Marcus Didius Falco: “informer” for Emperor Vespasian in 1st century Rome
  • Flavia Albia: adopted daughter of Marcus Didius Falco, born in Britain, working as a private investigator during the reign of Emperor Domitian, in ancient Rome

Thomas D. Davis
  • Dave Strickland: private investigator in San Jose, California

Janet Dawson
  • Jeri Howard: private investigator in Oakland, California

Marele Day
  • Claudia Valentine: private investigator, in Sydney, Australia

William DeAndrea
  • Matt Cobb: investigator for network television in New York City

Phillip DePoy
  • Flap Tucker: finder of lost things, and a private investigator who uses meditation instead of a gun, in Atlanta, Georgia

Daniel Depp
  • David Spandau: former movie stuntman, now a private investigator who specializes in serving Hollywood’s elite, in Los Angeles, California

August Derleth
  • Solar Pons: an acknowledged imitation of Sherlock Holmes
  Solar Pons mysteries by Basil Copper

P.T. Deutermann
  • Cam Richter: former lieutenant in a sheriff’s office, now running a private detective agency, in Manceford County, North Carolina

Thomas B. Dewey
  • Mac: ex-cop private investigator, in Chicago, Illinois, and later in Los Angeles, California
  • Pete Schofield: private investigator, and his wife Jeannie, in Los Angeles, California

Eileen Dewhurst
  • Phyllida Moon: private eye on television, in London, England

David Dickinson
  • Lord Francis Powerscourt: ex-Indian army intelligence officer and Irish peer, working as an investigator in the late Victorian period, in England and elsewhere

Peter Dickinson
  • James Pibble: Scotland Yard Superintendent, later a private investigator, in London, England

Laura DiSilverio
  • Charlotte “Charlie” Swift: former Air Force investigator, now working as a private investigator, in Colorado Springs, Colorado

Doris Miles Disney
  • Jeff DiMarco: insurance investigator in Boston, Massachusetts

Stephen Dobyns
  • Charlie Bradshaw: ex-cop turned detective in Saratoga Springs, New York

Gaylord Dold
  • Mitch Roberts: private investigator in 1950s Wichita, Kansas

Jerome Doolittle
  • Tom Bethany: former political consultant and wrestler working as a private investigator, in Boston, Massachusetts

Anabel Donald
  • Alex Tanner: freelance TV researcher and part-time private investigator, in London, England, in the Notting Hill mysteries

Felicia Donovan
  • The Spider Women — ex-cop Katie Mahoney, computer forensics expert Alexandria Axelrod, office manager Margo Norton, and financial whiz Jane Landers — of the Black Widow Agency, who right the wrongs done to innocent women by dastardly men, in New Hampshire

Lauren Wright Douglas
  • Caitlin Reece: lesbian private investigator, in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Arthur Conan Doyle
  • Holmes, Sherlock: a detective in London, England
  Sherlock Holmes mysteries by Rick Boyer
  Sherlock Holmes mysteries by Carole Buggé
  Sherlock Holmes mysteries by Philip J. Carraher
  Sherlock Holmes mysteries by Loren D. Estleman
  Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes mysteries by Laurie R. King
  Sherlock Holmes and Shadwell Rafferty mysteries by Larry Millett
  Sherlock Holmes mysteries by Wayne Worcester

David Duffy
  • Turbo Vlost: an ex-KGB operative, now a private investigator in New York City

Margaret Duffy
  • Joanna McKenzie: former CID turned private investigator in Bath, England

Stella Duffy
  • Saz Martin: lesbian private investigator in London, England

Sarah Dunant
  • Hannah Wolfe: private investigator in London, England

Alice Duncan
  • Mercy Allcutt: former Boston Brahmin, working for a down-on-his luck private investigator, in 1920s Hollywood, California

Sharon Duncan
  • Scotia MacKinnon: former police officer turned private eye in Friday Harbor, San Juan Island, Washington

W. Glenn Duncan
  • Rafferty: ex-cop turned private investigator, in and around Dallas, Texas

Wayne D. Dundee
  • Joe Hannibal: blue-collar private investigator based in Rockford, Illinois

Susan Dunlap
  • Kiernan O’Shaughnessy: former San Francisco medical examiner turned private investigator, in La Jolla, California

Francis Durbridge
  • Paul Temple: crime writer turned private investigator in London, England

Robert Edric
  • Leo Rivers: private investigator in Hull, England, in the Song Cycle trilogy

Grace F. Edwards
  • Mali Anderson: black female ex-NYPD cop, turned sleuth in Harlem, New York

Åke Edwardson
  • Jonathan Wide: divorced ex-policeman turned private detective, in Gothenburg, Sweden

Selma Eichler
  • Desiree Shapiro: a 5' 2" queen-sized private investigator in New York City

Stanley Ellin
  • John Milano: private investigator

Richard Ellington
  • Steve Drake: former actor turned private investigator, based in New York City

Ron Ellis
  • Johnny Ace: DJ with a controversial phone-in radio show who runs “Ace Investigations” in his spare time in Liverpool, England

P.S. Elsner
  • Nick Dallas: young but retired cop, now a private investigator in 1950s Detroit, Michigan

Earl Emerson
  • Thomas Black: bicycling enthusiast private investigator in Seattle, Washington
  • Mac Fontana: ex-firefighter and arson investigator in Staircase, Washington

Howard Engel
  • Benny Cooperman: private investigator in Grantham, Ontario, Canada

Paul Engleman
  • Phil Moony: ex-fireman private investigator, in Chicago, Illinois
  • Mark Renzler: ex-baseball player private investigator, in Chicago, Illinois

Loren D. Estleman
  • Amos Walker: private investigator and Vietnam vet in Detroit Michigan

Liz Evans
  • Grace Smith: private investigator in Seatoun, England

Crabbe Evers
  • Duffy House: ex-sportswriter turned private investigator in Chicago, Illinois

David Everson
  • Robert (Bobby) Miles: minor league baseball player turned private investigator and troubleshooter for the Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives

Terence Faherty
  • Scott Elliott: 1940s failed actor turned private investigator in Hollywood, California

Gillian B. Farrell
  • Annie McGrogan: actor and private investigator in New York City

Gordon Ferris
  • Danny McRae: former spy turned private investigator who suffers from memory problems due to war injuries, in post-WWII London, England

G.G. Fickling
  • Honey West: private eye combination of Marilyn Monroe and Mike Hammer, mostly in southern California

Robert L. Fish
  • Schlock Homes: of 211B Bagel Street, a Sherlockian pastiche with a Yiddish perspective, in London, England

Bruno Fischer
  • Ben Helm: ex-cop turned private investigator in New York City

Barbara Fister
  • Anni Koskinen: ex-cop private investigator, in Chicago, Illinois

Bill Fitzhugh
  • Rick Shannon: FM rock disc jockey and private investigator in the Mississippi Delta

Richard Fliegel
  • Shelly Lowenkopf: Jewish police sergeant, later a private investigator, in the Bronx, New York

Clyde W. Ford
  • Charlie Noble: ex-Coast Guard officer turned marine private investigator

G.M. Ford
  • Leo Waterman: wisecracking private investigator in Seattle, Washington

Dick Francis
  • Sid Halley: injured steeplechase jockey turned private eye in England

Valerie Frankel
  • Wanda Mallory: owner of the Do It Right Detective Agency, in Times Square, New York City

Eugene Franklin (Franklin Bandy)
  • Berkeley Barnes: lawyer, hypochondriac, and private investigator, and Larry Howe, his “Archie,” in New York City

Jack Fredrickson
  • Vlodek “Dek” Elstrom: private investigator with a failed marriage and battered reputation, in Chicago, Illinois

Gwen Freeman
  • Fifi Cutter: bi-racial, 20-something, freelance insurance investigator, in Los Angeles, California

Christy Tillery French
  • Natasha Chamberlain: young investigator, and Jonce Striker, founder of Investigative Services, Inc., in Knoxville, Tennessee

James N. Frey
  • Joe Zanca: ex-boxer private investigator working for The Agency, in San Francisco, California

David Fulmer
  • Valentin St. Cyr: Creole private detective in the early 20th century, in the Storyville district of New Orleans, Louisiana

Ruthe Furie
  • Fran Kirk: ex-battered wife turned private investigator working for an insurance company, in Buffalo, New York

Jim Fusilli
  • Terry Orr: newly-licensed private investigator, and his daughter Bella, in Manhattan, New York

Reg Gadney
  • Alan Rosslyn: private investigator in England and elsewhere in Europe

Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling)
  • Cormoran Strike: private detective, and his secretary/assistant Robin Ellacott, in London, England

Kate Gallison
  • Nick Magaracz: private investigator in Trenton, New Jersey

Eric Garcia
  • Vince Rubio: velociraptor, and private investigator in Los Angeles, California

Carolina Garcia-Aguilera
  • Lupe Solano: private investigator in Miami, Florida

William Campbell Gault
  • Brock (The Rock) Callahan: former professional football player turned upscale private investigator, in Los Angeles, California
  • Joe Puma: big, tough private investigator, in Los Angeles, California

Alison Gaylin
  • Brenna Spector: missing persons investigator in New York with Hyperthymestic Syndrome, the ability to remember her own past with all five senses

Susan Geason
  • Syd Fish: former political press secretary, now a private investigator, in Sydney, Australia

Ed Goldberg
  • Lenny Schneider: hardboiled Jewish private investigator, based in New York City

Steven Gore
  • Graham Gage: cop turned private investigator, caught up in international intrigue, based in San Francisco, California

Robert Gott
  • William Power: would-be private detective leading a troupe of incompetent Shakespearean actors during World War II, in Australia

Ron Goulart
  • John Easy: private investigator in Hollywood, California

James Grady
  • John Rankin: private investigator in Washington DC

Sue Grafton
  • Kinsey Millhone: sassy private eye in Santa Teresa, California

Heather Graham
  • The Flynn Brothers: private investigators inheriting a haunted mansion in New Orleans, Louisiana

Sara Gran
  • Claire DeWitt: the world’s foremost private investigator, in post-Katrina New Orleans, Louisiana

Ann Granger
  • Fran Varady: out-of-work actress turned private investigator, in London, England

Linda Grant
  • Catherine Sayler: private investigator in San Francisco, California

Maxwell Grant
  • “The Shadow”: private investigator in the USA

Lesley Grant-Adamson
  • Laura Flynn: private investigator in London, England

Malcolm Gray (Ian Stuart)
  • Alan Craig: ex-Scotland Yard detective, now a private enquiry agent, in England

Norman Green
  • Alessandra (Al) Martillo: assistant to Marty Stiles, an ex-NYPD cop turned PI, in New York City

Stephen Greenleaf
  • John Marshall Tanner: non-practicing attorney and private investigator in San Francisco, California

Dorien Grey
  • Dick Hardesty: gay detective

Nicola Griffith
  • Aud Torvingen: half-American, half-Norwegian lesbian ex-Atlanta cop and self-defense teacher

Frank Gruber
  • Otis Beagle: flashy private detective

Isidore Haiblum
  • James Shaw: Jewish private investigator in New York City
  • Morris Weiss: Yiddish detective at Weiss and Weiss, in 1950s New York City

James W. Hall
  • Thorn: eco-avenger private investigator in Key Largo, Florida

Linda Hall
  • Teri Blake-Addison: private investigator in Maine
  • Jake Rikker: private investigator, kayak adventurer, and whale-watching tour guide specializing in salvage operations, in the mostly Christian town of Fog Point, Maine

Parnell Hall
  • Stanley Hastings: actor and private investigator in New York City

Russ Hall
  • Travis: the Blue-Eyed Indian, a private investigator, in and around Austin, Texas

Tarquin Hall
  • Vish Puri, the portly Punjabi founder of Most Private Investigators Ltd., a detective agency in Delhi, India

Brett Halliday (and others)
  • Michael Shayne: red-haired, hard-boiled private detective in Miami, Florida

Timothy Hallinan
  • Simeon Grist: four-degreed private investigator in Los Angeles, California

Steve Hamilton
  • Alex McKnight: former Detroit cop, now a private investigator running a hunting camp built by his late father, in Paradise Michigan on the shore of Lake Superior

Joseph Hansen
  • Dave Brandstetter: gay death-claims investigator in Los Angeles, California

Phil Hardwick
  • Jack Boulder: private investigator in Mississippi

C.S. Harris
  • Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin: investigator in Regency England

Mike Harrison
  • Eddie Dancer: ex-cop private investigator in Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Will Harriss
  • Cliff Dunbar: former English professor turned private investigator, in Los Angeles, California

Carolyn G. Hart
  • Max Darling: investigator, and Annie Laurance, a mystery book store owner, in Broward’s Rock, South Carolina, in the Death on Demand series

John Harvey
  • Scott Mitchell: private investigator in England

Michael Harvey
  • Michael Kelly: ex-cop private investigator, in Chicago, Illinois

Richard Hawke (Tim Cockey)
  • Fritz Malone: private investigator, and bastard son of a former police commissioner, in New York City

Gar Anthony Haywood
  • Aaron Gunner: black private investigator in Los Angeles, California

Jeremiah Healy
  • John Francis Cuddy: Army police lieutenant turned private investigator in Boston, Massachusetts

Daniel Hearn
  • Joe Noonan: ex-cop, Vietnam vet, private investigator, in New York City

Martin Hegwood
  • Jack Delmas: private investigator from the Mississippi Gulf Coast

Veronica Heley
  • Bea Abbot: recently widowed and trying to retire from the Abbot Agency, which specialized in cases where clients wanted to avoid police involvement, in London, England

Libby Fischer Hellmann
  • Georgia Davis: ex-cop private investigator, in Chicago, Illinois

Richard Helms
  • Eamon Gold: private investigator in San Francisco, California

Peter Helton
  • Chris Honeysett: artist and private investigator, in and around Bath, England

Patty Henderson
  • Brenda Strange: lesbian private investigator of the weird, in Tampa, Florida

Tom Henighan
  • Sam Montcalm: middle-aged, lone wolf private investigator in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Gabriella Herkert
  • Sara Townley: investigator for a law firm in Seattle, Washington, in the Animal Instinct mysteries

Greg Herren
  • Chanse MacLeod: gay private investigator in New Orleans, Louisiana

Mick Herron
  • Zoë Boehm: 40-something private investigator in Oxford, England

Lynn S. Hightower
  • Lena Paget: private investigator in Lexington, Kentucky

Richard Hilary
  • Ezell “Easy” Barnes: former prize fighter and cop turned private investigator, in Newark, New Jersey

Kaye C. Hill
  • Lexy Lomax: an accidental private detective, and Kinky, her Chihuahua attack dog, in Clopwolde-on-Sea, on the Suffolk Coast of England

Reginald Hill
  • Joe Sixsmith: private detective in Luton, England

David Hiltbrand
  • Jim McNamara: former record company insider turned insurance investigator specializing in hardcase rockers, on the road in the USA

Doug Hornig
  • Loren Swift: laid-back Vietnam veteran private investigator, in Charlottesville, Virginia

David Housewright
  • Rushmore McKenzie: former St. Paul cop who becomes a smart-talking, unlicensed private investigator in St. Paul, Minnesota
  • Holland Taylor: ex-cop turned private investigator in St. Paul, Minnesota

Melodie Johnson Howe
  • Claire Conrad: tall, elegant private investigator, and her sassy assistant, Maggie Hill, in Los Angeles, California, and New York City

Richard Hoyt
  • James Burlane: ex-CIA operative turned private investigator in the USA

Frederick D. Huebner
  • Matt Riordan: burned-out lawyer turned investigator in Seattle, Washington

Tanya Huff
  • Vicki Nelson: ex-cop turned private investigator, with a vampire lover, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Roy Huggins
  • Stuart Bailey: private investigator based in Los Angeles, California

Declan Hughes
  • Ed Loy: Irish private investigator who has been living in Los Angeles, returning home to Dublin, Ireland

Harry Hunsicker
  • Lee Henry Oswald: Gulf War vet, loner, and private investigator, in Dallas, Texas

Charlie Huston
  • Joe Pitt: rogue private investigator, and vampire, in Manhattan, New York City

Jack Iams
  • Stanley “Rocky” Rockwell: private investigator based in Ohio

Robert Irvine
  • Moroni Traveler: non-Mormon ex-football player and private investigator in Salt Lake City, Utah

Nancy Baker Jacobs
  • Devon MacDonald: private investigator in St. Paul, Minnesota

John Jakes
  • Johnny Havoc: pint-sized (5'1") unlicensed private investigator

Darrell James
  • Del Shannon: a young, female missing-persons investigator, based in Tucson, Arizona

P.D. James
  • Cordelia Gray: fledgling private investigator in London, England

Quintin Jardine
  • Oz Blackstone: private investigator in London, England

William Jaspersohn
  • Peter Boone: former Red Sox pitcher turned private investigator, in rural Vermont

H. Paul Jeffers
  •

Harry MacNeil: ex-cop private investigator who wants to be a jazz clarinetist, in 1930s New York City


Barbara Johnson
  • Colleen Fitzgerald: insurance investigator in Rehobeth Beach, Delaware

Bett Reece Johnson
  • Cordelia Morgan: lesbian hit artist turned sleuth, in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado

Paul Johnston
  • Quintilian Dalrymple: private investigator in 2020s Edinburgh, Scotland
  • Alex Mavros: half-Greek, half-Scottish private investigator in Greece

Darynda Jones
  • Charlotte “Charley” Davidson: part-time private investigator helping the police with her ability to contact the dead in her full-time role as the Grim Reaper, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in a paranormal romantic suspense series

Tobias Jones
  • “Casta” Castagnetti: loner, bee-keeping private investigator in northern Italy

Daniel Judson
  • Declan (Mac) MacManus: struggling 30-something part-time private investigator living above a bar, in Southampton, New York
Stuart M. Kaminsky
  • Lew Fonesca: down and out process server for in Sarasota, Florida
  • Toby Peters: 1940s Hollywood private investigator in Los Angeles, California
  • James Rockford: low-rent private investigator in Los Angeles, California

Rob Kantner
  • Ben Perkins: ex-union strike-buster turned private investigator, in Detroit, Michigan

M.R.C. Kasasian
  • Sidney Grice: London’s most famous personal detective, and his goddaughter and ward, March Middleton, in 1880s London, England, in the Gower Street Detective series

Jon Katz
  • Kit DeLeeuw: Wall Street shark turned suburban detective, in Rochambeau, New Jersey

Thomas Kaufman
  • Willis Gidney: former con-artist, now a private investigator in Washington, DC

Dan Kavanagh
  • Nick Duffy: bisexual ex-cop turned private investigator in London, England

Marne Davis Kellogg
  • Lilly Bennett: ex-detective private investigator in Roundup, Wyoming

Mary Kelly
  • Hedley Nicholson: private investigator in England

Paul Kemprecos
  • Aristotle Plato Socarides: ex-cop part-time fisherman and private investigator, in Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Baynard Kendrick
  • Captain Duncan Maclain: blinded by gas in WWI, working as a detective, assisted by his wife Rena, and Spud Savage, in New York City

Jerry Kennealy
  • Nick Polo: private investigator in San Francisco, California

Christobel Kent
  • Sandro Cellini: a disgraced ex-cop, now a private investigator, in Florence, Italy

Philip Kerr
  • Bernie Gunther: German private eye who hates the Nazis, in Berlin, Germany, 1936-47

Karen Kijewski
  • Kat Colorado: bar-tending private investigator in Sacramento, California

Laurie R. King
  • Mary Russell: student and then wife of Sherlock Holmes

Michael Kirk (Bill Knox)
  • Andrew Laird: international marine insurance claim investigator

Andrew Klavan
  • Scott Weiss: ex-cop owner of Weiss Investigations, and Jim Bishop, an operative at Weiss Investigations with a penchant for violence and a mysterious military past, in San Francisco, California

Zachary Klein
  • Matt Jacob: former social worker, now private investigator, with a drug problem, in Boston, Massachussets

Steve Knickmeyer
  • Steve Cranmer: ex-cop who walks with a cane, now a private investigator, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Charles Knief
  • John Caine: Navy SEAL turned private investigator in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

Phyllis Knight
  • Lil Richie: ex-rocker lesbian private investigator in coastal Maine, Charlottesville, Virginia, and elsewhere

Ronald A. Knox
  • Miles Bredon: insurance investigator for the Indescribable Insurance Company, in England

Ed Kovacs
  • Cliff St. James: a former cop, martial arts expert, and private investigator, in post-Katrina New Orleans, Louisiana

Michael Koryta
  • Markus Novak: private investigator working for a Florida law firm that specializes in exonerating death row inmates
  • Lincoln Perry and Joe Pritchard: private investigators in Cleveland, Ohio

Mary Kruger
  • Matt Devlin: private eye, and Brooke Cassidy, a mystery writer, in 1890s Newport, Rhode Island

Ken Kuhlken
  • Tom Hickey: private investigator, in California and Nevada, and the next generation, Clifford Hickey

Mercedes Lackey
  • Diana Tregarde: investigator of unnatural events in Hartford, Connecticu

Ed Lacy
  • Toussaint Moore: black postal worker turned private detective

J.J. Lamb
  • Zachariah Tobias Rolfe III: private investigator specializing in gambling-related crimes, based in Las Vegas, Nevada

Barry Lancet
  • Jim Brodie: bilingual part-owner of Brodie Investigations, a detective agency founded by his father in Tokyo, and the operator of a Japanese art and antique gallery in San Francisco, California

Andrew Lanh (Ed Ifkovic)
  • Rick Van Lam: an Amerasian (Vietnamese mother & American G.I. father) insurance investigator in Hartford, Connecticut

John Lantigua
  • Willie Cuesta: private investigator based in the Little Havana section of Miami, Florida

Betty Sullivan La Pierre
  • Tom Casey: private investigator in Medford, Oregon, in the Hawkman mysteries

Janet LaPierre
  • Patience and Verity Mackellar: mother and daughter private investigators, or Meg Halloran, a teacher, and her husband, police chief Vince Gutierrez, and others, in the Port Silva (California) mysteries

K.J. Larsen
  • Cat DeLuca: private investigator operating the Pants On Fire Detective Agency specializing in cheating spouses, in Chicago, Illinois

Jonathan Latimer
  • Bill Crane: private detective in Chicago, Illinois

Hilda Lawrence
  • Mark East: private investigator from New York City, and spinsters Beulah Pond and Bessy Petty, in New England

Martha C. Lawrence
  • Dr. Elizabeth Chase: Stanford-trained parapsychologist turned private investigator in San Diego, California

Frank Lean
  • David Cunane: private investigator, and son of a cop, in Manchester, England

Wendi Lee
  • Angela Matelli: ex-Marine turned private investigator in Boston, Massachusetts

W.W. Lee (Wendi Lee)
  • Jefferson Birch: former Texas ranger working for Tisdale Investigations, in the American West in the second half of the 19th century

Dennis Lehane
  • Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro: private investigators in Dorchester, Massachusetts

John Lescroart
  • Wyatt Hunt: private investigator, and Devin Juhle, a homicide detective, part of the Hunt Club, in San Francisco, California

John Leslie
  • Gideon Lowry: 50-something, piano-playing private detective, in Key West, Florida

David Levien
  • Frank Behr: ex-cop private investigator, in Indianapolis, Indiana

Allan Levine
  • Sam Klein: street-wise Jewish immigrant and private investigator, in 1911-1919 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Machael Z. Lewin
  • The Lunghi family: three-generation private eye family in Bath, England
  • Albert Samson: middle-aged, low-key private investigator in Indianapolis, Indiana

Elliott Lewis
  • Fred Bennett: ex-cop, unlicensed private investigator in Los Angeles, California

Robert Lewis
  • Robin Llewellyn: Welsh private investigator with a fondness for drink, in Bristol, England, and Swansea, Wales

Diane Wei Liang
  • Mei Wang: modern, independent woman, and private investigator, in Beijing, China

Irene Lin-Chandler
  • Holly-Jean Ho: bisexual Anglo-Chinese computer fraud consultant and private investigator, in London, England

Thomas Lipinski
  • Carroll Dorsey: private investigator in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Laura Lippman
  • Tess Monaghan: private investigator in Baltimore, Maryland

Steve Liskow
  • Zach Barnes: private investigator in Hartford, Connecticut

Michael Lister
  • Jimmy Riley, working as a private detective in 1940s Panama City, Florida, after losing an arm while on the police force

Jack Livingston
  • Joe Binney: deaf private investigator, in New York City

Dick Lochte
  • Leo Bloodworth: grumpy 50-something private investigator, and Serendipity Dahlquist, a gum-snapping 15-year-old girl, in Los Angeles, California
  • Terry Manion: private investigator in New Orleans, Louisiana

Gabrielle Lord
  • Gemma Lincoln: private investigator specializing in insurance traces, in Sydney, Australia

Randye Lordan
  • Sydney Sloan: lesbian private investigator in New York City, in the Stonewall Inn mysteries

John Lutz
  • Fred Carver: private investigator in Del Moray, Florida
  • Alo Nudger: private investigator in St. Louis, Missouri
  • E.L. Oxman and Art Tobin: private investigators

Lisa Lutz
  • Isabele “Izzy” Spellman: 28-year old sleuth working for her parents’ private investigation firm, in San Francisco, California

Jack Lynch
  • Peter Bragg: former reporter turned private investigator and part-time bartender, in Sausalito and San Francisco, California, and elsewhere

Ed Lynskey
  • Frank Johnson: private investigator in Virginia and then West Virginia

Arthur Lyons
  • Jacob Asch: Jewish-Episcopal ex-reporter private investigator in Los Angeles, California

J.T. MacCargo (Peter Rabe)
  • Joe Mannix: private investigator in Los Angeles, California, in “Mannix” TV series novelizations

John D. MacDonald
  • Travis McGee: adventurer, philosopher, and private investigator, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Ross MacDonald
  • Lew Archer: ex-cop and private investigator in Los Angeles, California

T.J. MacGregor
  • Quin St. James and Mike McCleary: wife and husband private investigator team in Florida

Jassy Mackenzie
  • Jade de Jong: private investigator returning home 10 years after her police commissioner father was killed, and police superintendent David Patel, in Johannesburg, South Africa

Charlotte MacLeod
  • Max Bittersohn: art detective, and his socially connected wife, Sarah Kelling, in Boston, Massachusetts

Adrian Magson
  • Frank Palmer: ex-military policeman and private investigator, and Riley Gavin, a freelance journalist, in London, England

Jaye Maiman
  • Robin Miller: lesbian romance novel and travel writer turned private investigator, in New York City

Tim Maleeny
  • Cape Weathers: reporter turned private investigator, in San Francisco, California

Larry Maness
  • Jake Eaton: private investigator, and Watson, his super-dog, in Cambridge, Massachusetts

Jean Marcy
  • Meg Darcy: working-class lesbian private investigator, and police detective Sarah Lindstrom, in St. Louis, Missouri

Phillip Margolin
  • Dana Cutler: private detective in Washington DC, and Brad Miller, a law clerk in Oregon

Paul D. Marks
  • Duke Rogers: private investigator in early 1990s Los Angeles, California

David Markson
  • Harry Fannin: private detective in 1960s New York City

Dan J. Marlowe
  •

Johnny Killain: hotel detective at the Hotel Duarte and part-time private investigator, in New York City


Stephen Marlowe
  • Chester Drum: ex-FBI agent private investigator, venturing around the world

James E. Martin
  • Gil Disbro: young, conservative, non-drinking private investigator, in Cleveland, Ohio

Andrew Masterson
  •

Joe Panther: drug dealer, killer, messiah, and private investigator, in Melbourne, Australia


Edward Mathis
  • Dan Roman: private investigator in east Texas

John R. Maxim
  • Paul Bannerman, and a group of former contract agents (assassins, interrogators, electronics specialists, etc.), retired in Westport, Connecticut

Thomas Maxwell (Thomas Gifford)
  • Lew Cassidy: former pro football player, now a private detective, in 1940s New York City

Keith McCafferty
  • Sean Stranahan: painter, fly fisherman, and private investigator, and Sheriff Martha Ettinger, in Montana

Taylor McCafferty (Barbara Taylor McCafferty)
  • Haskell Blevins: private investigator in Pigeon Fork, Kentucky

Wendell McCall (Ridley Pearson)
  • Chris Klick: dropout songwriter turned private investigator in Idaho

Alexander McCall Smith
  • Mma Precious Ramotswe: owner of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, in Botswana

Lise McClendon
  • Dorie Lennox: new private investigator in Kansas City, Missouri

Lorena McCourtney
  • Cate Kinkaid: fledgling private investigator in Eugene, Oregon

Grant McCrea
  • Rick Redman: lawyer, drinker, rookie investigator, father, and poker hound, in New York City

V.L. McDermid (Val McDermid)
  • Kate Brannigan: private investigator in Manchester, England

Edmund McGirr (Kenneth Giles)
  • Jim Piron: private investigator at the Detective Agency run by the Old Man, in New York City

Ralph M. McInerny
  • “The Brothers Knight”: a New York PI, Philip Knight and his brother, Roger Knight, a philosophy professor in South Bend, Indiana, in the Notre Dame mysteries

G.A. McKevett
  • Savannah Reid: ex-cop private investigator in southern California

Helen McCloy
  • Basil Willing: psychiatrist and sleuth, in New York, and later Boston, Massachusetts

Bridget McKenna
  • Caley Burke: 30-something private investigator, in northern California

Russel D. McLean
  • J. McNee: former cop, now private investigator, in Dundee, Scotland

Claire McNab
  • Kylie Kendall: lesbian manager of a pub in tiny Wollegudgerie, Australia, who inherits 51% of her father's private detective agency in Los Angeles, California

Vivian Meyer
  • Abby Faria: bike courier and fledgling private investigator based in the Kensington Market area of Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Martin Meyers
  • Patrick Hardy: private eye in New York City

Penny Mickelbury
  • Phil Rodriquez: Puerto Rican ex-cop private investigator, and his partner, computer whiz Yolanda Aguillera, in New York City

Margaret Millar
  • Dr. Paul Prye: psychiatrist detective

Sam Millar
  • Karl Kane: private investigator in Belfast, Northern Ireland

Wade Miller
  • Max Thursday: ex-cop private investigator, and Austin Clapp, a police lieutenant, in San Diego, California

Larry Millett
  • Sherlock Holmes: British detective, and Shadwell Rafferty, an Irish saloonkeeper, in Minnesota

George Milner
  • Ronald Anglesea: private investigator in England and Scotland

James Mitchell
  • Ron Hoggett: private investigator with expertise at finding lost things, based in London, England

James C. Mitchell
  • Roscoe Brinker: former INS agent, now a private investigator, in Tuscon, Arizona

Manual Vazquez Montalban
  • Pepe Carvalho: ex-CIA agent, former communist, and gourmet private investigator, in Barcelona, Spain

David Montrose
  • Russell Teed: hard-drinking private investigator, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Christopher G. Moore
  • Vincent “Vinee” Calvino: disbarred American lawyer turned private investigator, in Bangkok, Thailand, and elsewhere in Southeast Asia

L.A. Morse
  • Sam Hunter: crude private investigator, in Los Angeles, California

Walter Mosley
  • Easy Rawlins: black WWII veteran living in 1940s–1950s Los Angeles, California
  • Leonid McGill: black ex-boxer, old-school private investigator, in New York City

Marcia Muller
  • Sharon McCone: legal investigator and private eye, in San Francisco, California

Marcia Muller & Bill Pronzini
  • Sabina Carpenter: a former Pinkerton operative, and her detective partner, ex-Secret Service agent John Quincannon, in late 1890s San Francisco, California

Katy Munger
  • Casey Jones: unlicensed private eye in North Carolina

Haughton Murphy
  • Reuben Frost: retired Wall Street super-lawyer and private investigator

Shirley Rousseu Murphy
  • Joe Grey: a cat and a private investigator

Lynne Murray
  • Josephine Fuller: queen-sized investigator in Seattle, Washington

Reggie Nadelson
  • Artie Cohen: Moscow-born NYPD cop, later a private investigator, based in New York City

Kris Nelscott
  • Smokey Dalton: African-American unlicensed private investigator, in Memphis, Tennessee

Francis M. Nevins
  • Milo Turner: con-man and private investigator in St. Louis, Missouri

William F. Nolan
  • Bart Challis: hard-boiled private investigator, and his half-brother Nick, in Los Angeles, California
  • Sam Space: private eye on Mars

Geoffrey Norman
  • Morgan Hunt: Vietnam vet, ex-con, private investigator working for a crusading lawyer, in Pensacola, Florida

Maxine O’Callaghan
  • Delilah West: private investigator in Orange County, California

Lillian O’Donnell
  • Gwenn Ramadge: private investigator in New York City

Maria-Antònia Oliver
  • Lònia Guiu: fiercely feminist private investigator based in Barcelona, Spain

Steve Oliver
  • Scott Moody: an ex-mental patient cab-driving private investigator in the late 1970s, in Spokane, Washington

Diana Orgain
  • Kate Connolly: office manager, private investigator, and new mother, in San Francisco, California, in the Maternal Instincts series

George Ogan
  • Johnny Bordelon: former New Orleans cop, now a private investigator, in Louisiana

Roger Ormerod
  • David Mallin: and sometimes George Coe, private detectives in England

Denise Osborne
  • Queenie Davilov: struggling screenwriter and investigator, in Hollywood, California

Orland Outland
  • Doan McCandler: gay private investigator. and Binky Van de Kamp, his sidekick. in San Francisco, California
Abigail Padgett
  • Blue McCarron: independent social psychologist and private investigator living outside San Diego, California

Sharon Pape
  • Rory (Aurora) McCain: former police sketch artist, now a private investigator sharing a house with the ghost of Federal Marshal Zeke (Ezekiel) Drummond in Huntington, Long Island, New York, in the Portrait of Crime mysteries

Sara Paretsky
  • V.I. Warshawski: attorney turned private eye in Chicago, Illinois

Robert B. Parker
  • Sunny Randall: private eye in Boston, Massachusetts
  • Spenser: ex-boxer, ex-state cop turned private eye, in Boston, Massachusetts

James Pattinson
  • Sam Grant: of the Peking Inquiry Agency and later the Grant Inquiry Agency

George P. Pelecanos
  • Nick Stefanos: bartender and private eye, in Washington DC
  • Derek Strange: black and successful, and Terry Quinn, white and barely holding on, ex-cops turned private investigators, in Washington DC

Don Pendleton
  • Joe Copp: private investigator in Hollywood, California
  • Aston Ford: former naval intelligence officer, now psychic private investigator

Ritchie Perry
  • Frank MacAllister: swashbuckling private investigator in Brazil

Thomas Perry
  • Jack Till: retired LAPD homicide detective, now working as a private investigator in Los Angeles, California

Ellis Peters
  • George, Bunty, and Dominic Felse: family of detectives in Comerford, Shropshire, England

W.R. Philbrick
  • T.D. Stash: unlicensed private investigator, in Florida

Judson Philips
  • Carole Trevor: private investigator, and her ex-husband, Max Blythe

Gary Phillips
  • Ivan Monk: African-American private investigator in Los Angeles, California

David M Pierce
  • Vic Daniel: 6-foot-7+ cut-rate private investigator, driving a Nash Metropolitan, in Los Angeles, California

Elizabeth Pincus
  • Nell Fury: lesbian private investigator in San Francisco, California

Edgar Allan Poe
  • C. Auguste Dupin: detective in the first “real” detective story

Talmage Powell
  • Ed Rivers: private investigator in Tampa, Florida

Jo-Ann Power
  • Mr. Jones: bodyguard and private investigator, and Carly Wagner, a Texas congresswoman in Washington, DC

Manjiri Prabhu
  • Sonia Someth: owner of Stellar Investigations Detective Agency, and a master of Verdic astrology, in Pune, India

Richard Prather
  • Shell Scot: ex-Marine private investigator, in Los Angeles, California

Bill Pronzini
  • the Nameless Detective: private investigator in San Francisco, California
  • John Quincannon: 19th century private investigator in San Francisco, California

Sandra West Prowell
  • Phoebe Siegel: private investigator in Billings, Montana

Malcolm Pryce
  • Louie Knight: private investigator in Aberystwyth, Wales, in a comic Welsh noir series

Amanda Quick (Jayne Ann Krentz)
  • Lavinia Lake and Tobias March: lovers and partners-in-crime investigators in Regency London, England

Elizabeth Quinn
  • Lauren Maxwell: Ph.D. naturalist and investigator for the Wild America Society in Anchorage, Alaska

Peter Quinn
  • Fintan Dunne: hard-boiled detective in pre-World War II New York City

Simon Quinn (Martin Cruz Smith)
  • Francis Xavier Killy (“The Inquisitor”): lay brother investigator for the Vatican

Spencer Quinn (Peter Abrahams)
  • Chet, the dog, the faithful companion of private investigator Bernie Little in the Chet and Bernie series

T.R. Ragan
  • Lizzy Gardner: private investigator who was once terrorized by a serial killer, in Sacramento, California

Michael Raleigh
  • Paul Whelan: 40-something cop turned private investigator in Chicago, Illinois

Misa Ramirez
  • Lola Cruz: budding private investigator at Camacho and Associates, in Sacramento, California

Robert J. Randisi
  • Nick Delvecchio: private investigator in Brooklyn, New York
  • Miles Jacoby: boxer turned private investigator in New York City

Julian Rathbone
  • Chris Shovelin: down-at-the-heals 50-something British private investigator, in California and Kenya

Randy Rawls
  • Arthur Conan (ACE) Edwards: private investogator in Dallas, Texas

Robert J. Ray
  • Matt Murdock: hard-boiled private investigator based in Newport Beach, California

Leigh Redhead
  • Simone Kirsch: private investigator in Melbourne, Australia, who stripdances as “Vivien Leigh”

J.M. Redmann
  • Micky Knight: lesbian private investigator in New Orleans, Louisiana

Robert Reeves
  • Cellini Smith: accountant for the Mob in New York City, turned honest private investigator in Los Angeles, California

Mike Resnick
  • Eli Paxton: former Chicago cop now barely making it as a private investigator in Cincinnati, Ohio

Herbert Resnicow
  • Ed and Warren Baer: father and son detective team in Long Island, New York

Shelly Reuben
  • Isaac “Ike” Blessing: private detective, and Fritillary “Tilly” Quilter, an arson investigator, in New York City

William J. Reynolds
  • Nebraska: part-time private investigator trying to write in Omaha, Nebraska

Kat Richardson
  • Harper Blaine: private investigator who can see ghosts, zombies, and the like, after being dead for two minutes, in Seattle, Washington, in the Greywalker series

Linda L. Richards
  • Kitty Pangborn: secretary to private eye Dexter J. Theroux, in 1930s Los Angeles, California

J.W. Rider (Shane Stevens)
  • Ryder Malone: private investigator in Jersey City, New Jersey

Rick Riordan
  • Jackson “Tres” Navarre: Tai Chi master and unlicensed private investigator, in San Antonio, Texas

W.L. Ripley
  • Wyatt Storme: ex-NFL star, Vietnam vet, and private investigator, in Branson, Missouri

Ronald Clair Roat
  • Stuart Mallory: private investigator in Lansing, Michigan

Gillian Roberts
  • Emma Howe: 50-something owner of a private detective agency, and Billie August, a young single mother, in Tiburon (Marin County), California

John Maddox Roberts
  • Gabe Treloar: burned-out LAPD veteran on the way to a PI job in Cleveland, ending up in his old hometown, Monticello, Ohio

Les Roberts
  • Milan Jacovich: blue-collar Slovenian private eye with a master’s degree in Cleveland, Ohio
  • Saxon: actor and private eye in Los Angeles, California

Lynda S. Robinson
  • Lord Meren: chief investigator for Pharaoh Tutankhamun in ancient Egypt

Kinley Roby
  • Harry Brock: private investigator, as well as an amateur painter and naturalist, on an island in southwest Florida

A.E. Roman
  • Chico Santana: wisecracking private investigator on the outs with his wife, in the Bronx, New York

Anthony Rome (Marvin Albert)
  • Tony Rome: gambler and private investigator in Miami, Florida

Richard Rosen
  • Harvey Blissberg: ex-major league baseball player turned private eye, in Boston Massachusetts

Erik Rosenthal
  • Dan Brodsky: an unemployed mathematician who pays the rent as a private investigator, based in San Francisco, California

Laura Joh Rowland
  • Sano Ichiro: samurai and private investigator for the shogun, in the 1600s in Edo, Japan

S.J. Rozan
  • Lydia Chin: 30-something Chinese American private eye, and Bill Smith, a 40-something Army brat private eye in New York City

Alan Russell
  • Am Caulfield: hotel detective in San Diego, California
  • Stuart Winter: private eye in San Francisco, California

Craig Russell
  • Lennox: shady private investigator in 1950s Glasgow, Scotland

Robert O. Saber (Milton K. Ozaki)
  • Carl Good: hort 40-something private investigator, in Chicago, Illinois

Mark Sadler
  • Paul Shaw: private investigator, and partner in Thayer, Shaw, and Delaney, in New York City and Los Angeles, California

James Sallis
  • Lew Griffin: black private investigator in New Orleans, Louisiana

Charles Salzberg
  • Henry Swann: private investigator subsisting on skip-tracing in Manhattan, New York City

Lawrence Sanders
  • Archy McNally: playboy private investigator in Palm Beach, Florida
  Series continued by Vincent Lardo

Walter Satterthwait
  • Joshua Croft: wise-cracking private investigator in Santa Fe, New Mexico

Mary Saums
  • Willie Taft: former back-up singer and private investigator, in the South

Eric Sauter
  • Robert Lee Hunter: wealthy 30-something private investigator, in New Jersey

Angela Savage
  • Jayne Keeney: 30-something Australian, former English teacher and private investigator, in Bangkok, Thailand

Dorothy L. Sayers
  • Lord Peter Wimsey: pianist, book collector, and criminologist in London, England

Steven Saylor
  • Gordianus the Finder: private investigator in the 1st century BCE in Rome, Italy

Bernard Schopen
  • Jack Ross: private investigator in Reno, Nevada

Mark Schorr
  • Simon Jaffe, known as “Red Diamond,” a taxi-driver, pulp fiction collector, and private investigator, in New York City, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas
  • Robert Stark, private investigator

Benjamin Schutz
  • Leo Haggerty: rough and tough private investigator in Washington DC

Sandra Scoppettone
  • Lauren Laurano: lesbian private investigator in Manhattan, New York
  • Faye Quick: private investigator in 1940s New York City

Trevor Scott
  • Tony Caruso: private investigator working out of his home-office in an old Ford pickup, with his German-trained bomb-sniffing dog Panzer, a Giant Schnauzer, in Bend, Oregon

Barry Shannon
  • Revelations St. Jones: private investigator in the manner of Sam Spade and Phillip Marlowe, in San Francisco, California

John Shannon
  • Jack Liffey: private investigator in Los Angeles, California

William Shatner
  • Jack Cardigan: 22nd century ex-cop private investigator in Los Angeles, California

Simon Shaw
  • Grace Cornish: private investigator in London, England

Jeff Shelby
  • Noah Braddock: surfer and private investigator in San Diego, California

Lynn Shepherd
  • Charles Maddox: former Metropolitan police officer now working privately as a thief taker (detective) in 1850s London, England

David J. Sherman
  • Jack Murphy: ex-cop turned private investigator, in Los Angeles, California

Steve Sherman
  • Hugh Quint: ex-cop private investigator in New Hampshire

Anna Shone
  • Ulysses Finnegan Donaghue: Shakespeare scholar and private eye in Provence, France

Sharon Gwyn Short
  • Patricia Delaney: private investigator in Cincinnati, Ohio

Howard Shrier
  • Jonah Geller: private investigator, and his partner, Jenn Raudsepp, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

M.K. Shuman (Malcolm Shuman)
  • Micah Dunn: private investigator in New Orleans, Louisiana

Dan Simmons
  • Joe Kurtz: ex-private eye, ex-con in Buffalo, New York

Roger L. Simon
  • Moses Wine: private investigator in Los Angeles, California

Michael Siverling
  • Victoria and Jason Wilder: mother and son private investigator team in River City, California

Gillian Slovo
  • Kate Baeier: Portuguese journalist turned private investigator, in London, England

M. Louise Smith
  • Middy Brown: mature liberated woman, a consultant for StarWay Beauty Products, and an assistant to a private investigator in Denver, Colorado

Thomas E. Sniegoski
  • Remy Chandler: angel turned private investgator, in Boston, Massachusetts, in an urban fantasy series

Teresa Solana
  • Eduard Martíez and Borja Masdéu, non-identical twins and partners in Frau Consultants, an extralegal investigative agency, in Barcelona, Spain

Stephen Solomita
  • Stanley Moodrow: cop turned private investigator, in New York City

Bart Spicer
  • Carney Wilde: private investigator based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Peter Spiegelman
  • John March: black sheep of a staid merchant-banking family, now an ex-deputy sheriff working as a private investigator, in Manhattan, New York City

Mickey Spillane
  • Mike Hammer: private eye in New York City

Tony Spinosa (Reed Farrel Coleman)
  • Joe Serpe: disgraced NYPD narcotics detective, now driving a heating oil delivery truck and doing some private investigating with his nemesis Bob Healy, the retired Internal Affairs officer, in New York City

Michelle Spring
  • Laura Principal: academic turned private investigator in London, England

Gunnar Staalesen
  • Varg Veum: private investigator in Bergen, Norway

Dana Stabenow
  • Kate Shugak: native Alaskan ex-DA investigator in Alaska

Cath Staincliffe
  • Sal Kilkenny: single-mother private eye in Manchester, England

Kelli Stanley
  • Arcturus: the Roman governor’s doctor and investigator, in 83 AD Londinium, Britain
  • Miranda Corbie: private investigator, Spanish Civil War nurse, and ex-escort, in 1940s San Francisco, California

Domenic Stansberry
  • Dante Mancuso: private investigator, AKA the Pelican, in the North Beach area of San Francisco, California

Neville Steed
  • Johnny Black: private detective in 1930s England

Reed Stephens
  • Mick “Brew” Axbrewder: unlicensed private investigator in Puerta del Sol, California

Richard Stevenson
  • Donald Strachey: gay private investigator, and Timothy Calahan, a legislative aide for a New York state senator, in Albany, New York

Eric Stone
  • Ray Sharp: American expatriate journalist and detective in east Asia

Michael Stone
  • Streeter: bounty hunter and private investigator, in Denver, Colorado

Nick Stone
  • Max Mingus: ex-cop private investigator, in Miami, Florida, and Haiti

T.A. Stone
  • Jonathan Kraag: former FBI profiler now a PI, Director of Security, ADMS in Ravensburg, Illinois

Rex Stout
  • Nero Wolfe: private investigator, orchid cultivator, and gourmet, and his assistant, Archie Goodwin, in New York City
  Nero Wolfe mysteries by Robert Goldsborough

Andy Straka
  • Frank Pavlicek: ex-NYPD cop, now a private investigator and falconer, in Charlottesville, Virginia

John Straley
  • Cecil Younger: alcoholic private investigator in Sitka, Alaska

Dorothy Sucher
  • Sabina Swift: a detective agency owner in Washington DC

Winona Sullivan
  • Cecile Buddenbrooks: licensed private investigator and heiress-nun in Boston, Massachusetts

James Swain
  • Jack Carpenter: former head of Broward County (Florida) Missing Persons Unit, now a private investigator in south Florida
  • Tony Valentine: ex-cop investigator specializing in catching casino cheats in Las Vegas, Nevada

Doug J. Swanson
  • Jack Flippo: private investigator in Dallas, Texas

Kate Sweeney
  • Kate Ryan: middle-aged, accident prone, ex-private investigator, who later returns to Ryan, Costello, and Winfield Investigations, in Chicago, Illinois

Leann Sweeney
  • Abby Rose: private investigator in Houston, Texas, in the Yellow Rose Mysteries

Paco Ignacio Taibo II
  • Hector Belascoaran Shayne: one-eyed, half-Irish, half-Basque, Coca-Cola-swilling private investigator in Mexico City

Elizabeth Atwood Taylor
  • Maggie Elliott: ex-filmmaker and private investigator, based in San Francisco, California

Bernard J. Taylor
  • Terrell Newman: detective in San Antonio, Texas

Jean Taylor
  • Maggie Garrett: young, lesbian private investigator, in San Francisco, California

Jaden Terrell
  • Jared Mckean: ex-cop in his mid-30s, now a private investigator, with a fondness for horses, a son with Down Syndrome, and an ex-wife, in Nashville, Tennessee

Jane Tesh
  • Madeline “Mac” Maclin: divorced former local beauty queen, and struggling private investigator, in Celosia, North Carolina
  • David Randall: private detective, and his psychic friend Camden, in Parkland, North Carolina, in the Grace Street mysteries

Richard J. Thomas
  • D.B. Murphy: ex-blacksmith private investigator in the 1920s-1930s, in the Georgian Bay port town of Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada

Will Thomas
  • Cyrus Barker: private detective, and his assistant, Thomas Llewelyn, an ex-student and ex-thief, in Victorian London, England

L.L. Thrasher
  • Zachariah Smith: private investigator in Mackie, Oregon

Ernest Tidyman
  • John Shaft: tough, black private detective in New York City

Ronald Tierney
  • Carly Paladino: private investigator formerly with a large security firm, and Noah Lang, a streetwise PI, in San Francisco, California
  • Dietrich “Deets” Shanahan: 70-something former Army intelligence officer and semi-retired private investigator, in Indianapolis, Indiana

Mark Timlin
  • Nick Sharman: hard-living ex-cop private eye in London, England

Phillip Tomasso
  • Nicholas Tartaglia: private investigator in Spencerport, New York

Teona Tone
  • Kyra Keaton: aristocratic lady private investigator running her own agency in 1899-1907 Washington, DC

Tom Topor
  • Kevin Fitzgerald: private investigator in New York City

Paul Tremblay
  • Mark Genevich: narcoleptic private investigator in South Boston, Massachusetts

Miles Tripp
  • John Samson: private investigator in London, England

Bob Truluck
  • Duncan Sloan: private investigator in Florida

Robert Upton
  • Amos McGuffin: hard-drinking, golf-playing private investigator, based in San Francisco, California (also in Los Angeles and New York City)

Andrew H. Vachss
  • Burke: outlaw soldier-of-fortune investigator in New York City

Jonathan Valin
  • Harry Stoner: private investigator in Cincinnati, Ohio

S.S. Van Dine
  • Philo Vance: art connoisseur and private investigator in New York City

Judith Van Gieson
  • Neil Hamel: attorney and investigator in Albuquerque, New Mexico

David J. Walker
  • Malachy P. Foley: jazz piano-playing private investigator in Chicago, Illinois
  • Kirsten: owner of the Wild Onion, Ltd, a private detective agency, and her husband Dugan, a lawyer, in Chicago, Illinois

Robert W. Walker
  • Marcus Rydell: retired police detective working as a private investigator, and Dr. Katrina “Kat” Holley, in Atlanta, Georgia

Patricia Wallace
  • Sydney Bryant: private investigator in San Diego, California

Dave Warner
  • Andrew “Lizard” Zirk: former rock star turned private investigator, based in Australia

Hillary Waugh
  • Simon Kaye: private investigator in New York City
  • Sheridan Wesley: private investigator in New York City

Betty Webb
  • Lena Jones: of Desert Investigations in Scottsdale, Arizona

Pat Welch
  • Helen Black: ex-cop lesbian private investigator, based in Berkeley, California

Carolyn Wells
  • Alan Ford: connoisseur and gentleman private investigator, in New York City
  • Fleming Stone: bookish private investigator, frequently called in to help the police solve a crime, in New York City
  • Pennington “Penny” Wise: psychic private investigator, and his female sidekick Zizi, in New York City and New England

Patricia Wentworth
  • Miss Maud Silver: retired governess and teacher who becomes a professional private detective, in London, England

Valerie Wilson Wesley
  • Tamara Hayle: black ex-cop turned private investigator in Newark, New Jersey

John Wessel
  • Harding: unlicensed private investigator in Chicago, Illinois

Robert Westbrook
  • Howard Moon Deer: private investigator in San Geronimo, New Mexico

Peter Whalley
  • Harry Sommers: former bouncer and con man, now a private investigator, based in London, England

Dave White
  • Jackson Donne: ex-cop private investigator, or night security guard when times are hard, in New Brunswick, New Jersey

Gloria White
  • Veronica “Ronnie” Ventana: Mexican-Anglo private investigator, in San Francisco, California

Stella Whitelaw
  • Jordan Lacey: ex-cop, start-up private investigator, in Latching, England

Sam Wiebe
  • Dave Wakeland: ex-cop turned private investigator in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Collin Wilcox
  • Alan Bernhardt: actor-director private investigator in San Francisco, California

Michael Wiley
  • Joe Kozmarski: private investigator in Chicago, Illinois

Kate Wilhelm
  • Charlie Meiklejohn: ex-arson investigator private investigator, and Constance Leidl, a psychologist, in New York

Amanda Kyle Williams
  • Keye Street: Chinese-American private investigator, booted out of the FBI for alchoholism, in Atlanta, Georgia

Derek Wilson
  • Nathanial Gye: paranormal investigator based in Cambridge, England
  • Tim Lacy: security expert investigating crime and fraud in the international art world

F. Paul Wilson
  • Repairman Jack: free-lance investigator regularly working outside the law

Chris Wiltz
  • Neal Rafferty: third-generation cop turned private investigator, in New Orleans, Louisiana

Mary Wings
  • Emma Victor: private investigator in San Francisco, California, (Boston, Massachusetts, in the first book)

Don Winslow
  • Neal Carey: youthful pickpocket turned private investigator, in New York City
  • Boone Daniels: private investigator who would rather be surfing, in San Diego, California

Jacqueline Winspear
  • Maisie Dobbs: psychologist and investigator based in 1920s and 1930s London, England

K.J.A. Wishnia
  • Filomena Buscarsela: NYPD cop from Ecuador, who becomes an apprentice private eye, in New York City

Steve Womack
  • Harry James Denton: ex-newspaper reporter turned private investigator, in Nashville, Tennessee

Eric Wright
  • Lucy Trimble Brenner: private investigator and librarian in Toronto, Canada

Wade Wright
  • Paul Cameron: private investigator in southern California
  • Bart Condor: tough private investigator in New York City

James Yaffee
  • Dave: ex-cop investigator, and Mom, Dave’s mother, in Mesa Grande, Colorado

Richard Yancey
  • Teddy Ruzak: who failed police academy and wants to be a private investigator, in Knoxville, Tennessee

Joyce Yarrow
  • Jo Epstein: private investigator and performance poet, based in Brooklyn, New York

P.B. Yuill
  • James Hazell: tough private investigator in the East End of London, England

Vincent Zandri
  • Jack Marconi: warden of the maximum security Green Haven Prison, later a private investigator, in New York
  • Dick Moonlight: former police detective turned private investigator and massage therapist, in Albany, New York

Sharon Zukowski
  • Blaine Stewart: ex-cop turned private investigator in New York City

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