# socal (blogs) — RSS Amplifier Recent posts from the 1 feeds in the RSS Amplifier directory that cover socal. Page: Feed: --- ## [Desmond Shannon](https://thrillingdetective.com/2026/08/20/desmond-shannon/) _2026-08-20 · kevinburtonsmith · The Thrilling Detective Web Site_ Created by M.V. Heberden Pseudonyms include Charles L. Leonard (1906-65) DESMOND SHANNON is supposedly the “highest paid private eye in New York City.” He appears in a fast-paced, tough series of novels from the forties and fifties written, perhaps surprisingly for the time, by a woman: Mary Violet Heberden (although she initially kept her gender … Continue reading Desmond Shannon → ## [Billy Weber & Joe Soperton (Palmdale)](https://thrillingdetective.com/2026/08/14/billy-weber-joe-soperton-palmdale/) _2026-08-14 · kevinburtonsmith · The Thrilling Detective Web Site_ Created by Kirk Fox Billed as a “dirtbag noir,” comedian Kirk Fox‘s first novel, Palmdale (2026), features two local private eyes from the high desert SoCal suburban shithole of the title who get tangled up in the murder of a wealthy heir, amidst enough criminal stupidity to fill an Elmore Leonard novel. Or at least … Continue reading Billy Weber & Joe Soperton (Palmdale) → ## [Cate Harlow](https://thrillingdetective.com/2026/08/11/cate-harlow/) _2026-08-11 · kevinburtonsmith · The Thrilling Detective Web Site_ Created by Kristen Houghton Affable jeans-and-sneakers-clad CATE HARLOW is a New York City P.I. with more than a few irons in the fire. Her best friend, Melissa, is a hooker; she’s bouncing back and forth between two men (her ex-husband Will, a former NYPD detective, and Giles, a hunky ME who works for the city), … Continue reading Cate Harlow → ## [Havelock Harper](https://thrillingdetective.com/2026/08/10/havelock-harper/) _2026-08-10 · kevinburtonsmith · The Thrilling Detective Web Site_ Created by Oliver K. Langmead Okay, this eye’s a little different… London gentleman detective HAVELOCK HARPER speaks for the trees. Yep, he’s sorta like Dr. Suess‘s Lorax, or at least that’s the turf he’s covering in his series launch, 2026’s wonderfully weird mystery/fantasy hybrid The Killing of a Chestnut Tree, wherein Havelock and his partner, … Continue reading Havelock Harper → ## [Chachu](https://thrillingdetective.com/2026/08/09/chachu/) _2026-08-09 · kevinburtonsmith · The Thrilling Detective Web Site_ Created by Iman Vellani (2002–) It’s 1979, and Hollywood-obsessed Leila, a 19-year-old Pakistani-Canadian college student, is a long way from home. She’s in Tinsel Town, hoping to hook up with with her estranged uncle — her “Chachu,” the brother of her late father. I have no idea what his real name is — Leila simply … Continue reading Chachu → ## [Murder in the Library: True Crime](https://thrillingdetective.com/2026/08/08/murder-in-the-library-true-crime/) _2026-08-08 · kevinburtonsmith · The Thrilling Detective Web Site_ What? You thought I made this all up, or ripped it off from Wikipedia? Nope. Here are some of the books that inspired me to create this site, and the books I’ve used to cobble it together over the years, as well as the ones I’ve discovered along the way. If you like this site, … Continue reading Murder in the Library: True Crime → ## [Tubby Dubonnet](https://thrillingdetective.com/2026/08/07/tubby-dubonnet/) _2026-08-07 · kevinburtonsmith · The Thrilling Detective Web Site_ Created by Tony Dunbar “Never screw a client and never lie to a judge… That’s all of the so-called legal ethics that make sense to me. The rest of it is just so many little rules you can twist around to suit whatever you want to do.” — Tubby on the legal profession in Crooked … Continue reading Tubby Dubonnet → ## [Ginny Dugan](https://thrillingdetective.com/2026/08/06/ginny-dugan/) _2026-08-06 · kevinburtonsmith · The Thrilling Detective Web Site_ Created by Olesya Lyuzna It’s the Roaring Twenties, the Jazz Age, and even if Prohibition kicked in back in 1920, New York City is still bopping. Nightclubs, gambling joints, showgirls, speakeasies… And wandering through it all are private eyes GINNY DUGAN and her partner, Jack Crawford. Jack is hunky but troubled, and gal-about-town Ginny, formerly … Continue reading Ginny Dugan → ## [My Scrapbook: Become a Fingerprint Expert!](https://thrillingdetective.com/2026/08/04/my-scrapbook-become-a-fingerprint-expert/) _2026-08-04 · kevinburtonsmith · The Thrilling Detective Web Site_ My Scrapbook Become a Fingerprint Expert! Back cover ad from gawdknowswhere I JUST LOVE these corny old ads offering dubious products and services that can be found in old magazines, comics and even now on late night television and those “free” streaming services. I’m not sure where I stumbled across this one (Did someone send … Continue reading My Scrapbook: Become a Fingerprint Expert! → ## [Raymond C. Schindler](https://thrillingdetective.com/2026/08/03/raymond-c-schindler/) _2026-08-03 · kevinburtonsmith · The Thrilling Detective Web Site_ Real-Life Private Eye (1882-1959) Although he’s almost forgotten now, RAYMOND C. SCHINDLER was once one of the world’s most famous private detectives, and he wasn’t shy about letting you know it. For almost fifty years, he wallowed in his celebrity status, living it up and regularly appearing on television and in countless “true crime” magazines … Continue reading Raymond C. Schindler → ## [Realtime AI Arbitrage Terminal (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/zycrRUWdXH93) _2026-08-03 · **Sponsored**_ Realtime auto-trading across exchanges with scored setups, backtesting, and risk controls. ## [My Scrapbook: That Cover. Again!](https://thrillingdetective.com/2026/07/26/my-scrapbook-that-cover-again/) _2026-07-26 · kevinburtonsmith · The Thrilling Detective Web Site_ My Scrapbook That cover. Again! Glenn Grohe’s much-used cover From the March 1954 issue of Bluebook. Take a look. If you’ve been poking around the Shamus Game (or even just this site) for a while, chances are you’ve seen that chisel-jawed, hard-boiled private dick somewhere before, resplendent in the obligatory trenchcoat-and-fedora, skulking around the corner … Continue reading My Scrapbook: That…