Kevin Smith wrote:
> With all this talk of Lawrence Block's Matt Scudder
series, I thought
> I'd mention, that as it now stands, Scudder is
leading, by a hefty
> margin, in my survey of Best Private Eyes on the
nineties. He's the only
> eye that everyone seems to agree on. John Marshall
Tanner by Stephen
> Greenleaf is also doing surprisingly well, as is Pepe
Carvalho by Manuel
> Vazquez Montalban (based entirely on votes from
Europe).
>
> > > The case of Greenleaf is paradoxical: he
has outdone Ross Macdonald at his
> > > own game (and did it early, in State's
Evidence, a brilliant tour de force
> > > in which there are so many skeletons in the
closet that nobody is who you
> > > think at the beginning of the book); as a
stylist he is second to none in
> > > the mystery field. Yet he is not nearly as
popular as his talent and
> > > achievements would suggest.
> > > Greenleaf is VERY good and I've enjoyed
everything that I've read by him.
> > > Some a little more than others, but that's
true of nearly every writer.
>
> I agree with Mario, too. Greenleaf is one of the best
of the breed, and
> it's a damn shame he may have written off his
character, due to poor
> sales. Still, he's left us twelve books, which as a
whole, rank as one
> of the best-written and most powerful P.I. series and
the last thirty
> years or so. And Death Bed has one of the most
chilling murder method's
> I can think of.
>
> > I unhesitatingly recommend THE LIME PIT, FINAL
NOTICE and DEAD LETTER to
> > any members of this list.
>
> Then again, I'm surprised that Jonathan Valin's Harry
Stoner hasn't
> placed at all, having been replaced by some of the
newer, shinier eyes.
> Like Greenleaf, Valin has left us some powerful
books, and some even
> more harrowing scenes (Life's Work and The Lime Pit
come to mind).
>
> There's still a week or so to vote, and if Bill
doesn't mind, I'll post
> the results here in a few weeks. And if anyone
doesn't have www access,
> feel free to e-mail me with your top five
picks.
>
>
----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Kevin Smith
> The Thrilling Detective Web Site
> http://www.colba.net/~kvnsmith/thrillingdetective
>
> and don't forget to vote in The P.I. Poll!
> April Topic: The Best P.I. of the Nineties
>
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