Mystery Scene's Top 100 Private Eyes

I was at the library yesterday—a different branch than usual—and like I do every time I have occasion to go to this particular branch I thumbed through the most recent issue of Mystery Scene magazine. It's the 100th issue, and there were several celebratory types articles: a short essay by Ed Gorman on where the magazine came from, Lawrence Block’s five favorite novels, and my favorite, the Top 100 Eyes of the of the Mystery Scene Era by Kevin Burton Smith.

The only rule Mr. Smith followed was the private eye had to appear during the period Mystery Scene has been in publication—1985 to the present. They are listed in alphabetical order, and it is an impressive list indeed. A few of my favorites included are: Sam McCain, Veronica Mars, Burke, Adrian Monk, and Dave Robicheaux.

A couple I would add, and don't laugh because you will hurt my feelings, are: Joe Copp by Don Pendleton and Murdock by Robert J. Ray. The Joe Copp series was cheesy, but damn I loved those books as a teenager, and I have the same fond memories of the Murdock books. They were good old fashioned southern California fun.

It is a list well worth taking a look at, and luckily Mystery Scene has the article posted online as a PDF—to check it out click Here.

Click Here to go to the Mystery Scene website.