Guns, Dames and Private Eyes

Raymond Chandler's immortal private detective Philip Marlowe first appeared in a magazine called Black Mask in the 1930s. But Black Mask was not the only pulp magazine of the period to publish crime fiction. There were newsstands full of them with titles like Dime Detective, Spicy Mystery Stories and Ten Detective Aces. And there were plenty of other private eyes in action. This was the era in which the hard-boiled American detective was born and Nick Rennison's anthology gathers together an exciting selection of stories about the rivals of Philip Marlowe.

From the intriguingly named Cellini Smith to the two-fisted female crime-solver Violet McDade, from the Filipino detective Jo Gar to the quick-witted, fast-shooting Marty Quade, these characters have their own style and originality. Authors like Norbert Davis, reputedly the favourite crime author of the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, Raoul Whitfield and Robert Reeves may not have the reputations of Chandler and Dashiell Hammett, another famous name who began his career writing for the pulps, but they knew how to tell a thrilling story. They deserve to be remembered and admired, and this collection highlights more than a dozen of them.

Praise for Nick Rennison:

'Fascinating and highly readable' – Daily Mail

'The exemplary editorial notes are often as entertaining as the stories' – Times (Crime Club)

'Entertaining and thoroughly readable canter through the events of a century ago… Fascinating' – Observer

'Vivid… In this enjoyable slice of popular history, Rennison assembles a month-by-month almanac, including all the most notable moments from science, politics, art and culture' – Guardian

'[An] intriguing anthology' – Mail on Sunday

'A book which will delight fans of crime fiction' – Verbal Magazine