Private Detectives in Fiction

My current manuscript features a female private investigator trying to uncover who—or what—is behind a string of car vandalisms at a country club in 1937 Des Moines, Iowa.

Querying my latest novel has prompted me to reflect on the legacy of private investigators in fiction. Many believe Edgar Allan Poe introduced the first fictional private investigator in his short story The Murders in the Rue Morgue (1841). For the next fifty years, male characters dominated the genre until Catherine Louisa Pirkis introduced Loveday Brooke, a female detective, in 1894.

The Golden Age of Detective Fiction spans three decades (1930s–1950s). This era introduced hard-boiled detectives, inquisitive elderly women, and morally ambiguous individuals who solved crimes in unconventional ways.

Although the Golden Age has passed, others and I continue to revive the genre with fresh and inventive twists. This year, I’m paying tribute to past and present authors who celebrate my favorite genre.

The Rules

1. Must have a detective in the story (The character may not think they’re one, but they must be in search of a crime).
2. Each book much be from a different decade (1890s-2020s).
3. Post reviews (Substack & website).

Books:

• The Experiences of Loveday Brooke, Lady Detective by Catherine Louisa Pirkis (1894).
• The Clue by Carolyn Wells (1909).
• The Capture of Paul Beck by Matthias McDonnell Bodkin (1911).
• The House Without a Key by Earl Derr Biggers (1925).
• The Conjure-Man Dies by Rudolph Fisher (1932).
• The Case of the Buried Clock by Erle Stanley Gardner (1943).
• Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson (1952).
• A Stranger in my Grave by Margaret Millar (1960).
• Skinflick by Joseph Hansen (1979).
• Indemnity Only by Sara Peretsky (1982).
• Blanche on the Lam by Barbara Neely (1992).
• Still Life by Louise Penny (2005).
• Don’t Dare a Dame by M. Ruth Myers (2013).
• The Princess & the P.I. by Nikki Payne (2025).

I like to start each year with a reading goal. For example, last year I focused on historical mysteries published within the last five years to get me in the mood for adding applicable comps to my upcoming query (I found two great ones BTW).

Rules for 2025 Reading List:

1. The movie must be an adult book adaptation.
2. If I’ve watched the movie, I can’t have read the book.
3. If I’ve read the book, I can’t have watched the movie.
4. The movie premiered in the same decade the book was published.
5. Read the book and watch its movie adaptation from 1920 – 2019.
6. Post reviews of the book & movie on Substack, & my reviews page.

Reading List:

Book	Publication Date	Movie	Premiere Date
The Wind	1925	The Wind	1928
Gone With the Wind	1936	Gone With the Wind	1939
Mildred Pierce	1941	Mildred Pierce	1945
Peyton Place	1956	Peyton Place	1957
Rosemary’s Baby	1967	Rosemary’s Baby	1968
Jaws	1974	Jaws	1975
Less Than Zero	1985	Less Than Zero	1987
Devil in a Blue Dress	1990	Devil in a Blue Dress	1995
Mystic River	2001	Mystic River	2003
Light Between Oceans	2012	Light Between Oceans	2016