Who wants to buy a PI novel?

They're talking about it at Rara-Avis. It's spreading to other lists, message boards and email discussions. Though it seems to take place on an annual basis, for whatever reason, the age-old question of whether private eye fiction is dead seems to have taken on an extra urgency.

But what's missing is some hard data, even of the anecdotal variety. Sure, people can name all sorts of established writers who sell well, but if you're trying to shop a novel of your own in any genre, the best means of comparison is to look at what debuts are out right now, or have been released in the last year.

And for PI fiction, well, there just isn't very much. After the jump, I compile a list of upcoming and recent debuts (read: 2004 and later) and make some sort of vaguely generalized comments. And if there are books missing (especially those due out in late 2006 and 2007), by all means, tell me and I'll add them to the list. But enough conjecture, optimism and speculation. This is about data, pure and simple.

Sean Chercover, BAD CITY, BAD BLOOD (William Morrow, 2007)
Lisa Lutz, THE SPELLMAN FILES (Simon & Schuster, 2007 - young PI working for her dysfunctional family's firm)
Tim Maleeny, STEALING THE DRAGON (Midnight Ink, 2007)
Tom Cavanagh, title TBA (Thomas Dunne/SMP, 2007)
Ray Banks, SATURDAY'S CHILD (UK deal with Polygon, 2006, Manchester PI Cal Innes, with another to follow)
Nick Stone, MR. CLARINET (William Morrow, 2006 -- already out in the UK with Penguin/Michael Joseph)
Miriam Auerbach, DIRTY HARRIET(Harlequin/Next, 2006)
Thomas F. Monteleone and Rick Hautala, EDDIE POE, PI (Borderlands Press, 2006)
Mario Acevedo, THE NYMPHOS OF ROCKY FLATS (Rayo/HarperCollins, 2006 -- vampire PI in Denver)
Declan Hughes, THE WRONG KIND OF BLOOD (William Morrow, 2006 -- Irish PI)
Charlie Huston, ALREADY DEAD (Del Rey, 2006 with vampire PI Joe Pitt --also 2 earlier novels in 2004 and 2005)
Steve Hockensmith, HOLMES ON THE RANGE (SMP, 2006 -- not strictly PI but they sure act like them)
Harry Hunsicker, STILL RIVER (SMP, 2005 -- followed by THE NEXT TIME YOU DIE and 2 more)
Jeff Shelby, KILLER SWELL (Dutton, 2005, with more to follow)
Duane Swierczynski, SECRET DEAD MEN (Point Blank Press, 2005, now moved over to SMP for standalones)
Michael Kronenwetter, FIRST KILL (SMP, 2005)
James R. Winter, NORTHCOAST SHAKEDOWN (Quiet Storm, 2005, with 2 to follow)
Dan Vining, THE QUICK (Berkley, 2004, followed by THE NEXT -- paranormal PI)
Richard Aleas, LITTLE GIRL LOST (Five Star/Hard Case Crime, 2004)
Will Thomas, SOME DANGER INVOLVED (Touchstone, 2004 -- followed by TO KINGDOM COME and 2 more)
Michael Koryta, TONIGHT I SAID GOODBYE (SMP, 2004, followed by SORROW'S ANTHEM and 2 more)
Michael Siverling, THE STERLING INHERITANCE (SMP, 2004, to be followed by THE SORCERER'S CIRCLE)

Now, which of these books got the most money? Lutz's is probably tops at the moment with the "significant" deal, but that's because there are film rights and it's a fairly high concept idea. Koryta just got a good deal for his next 2 books, as did Hughes and Hockensmith for their initial forays. Nick Stone was pre-empted, but Penguin has been pushing this book like crazy since it was published in Britain earlier this year.

So why did those books get more money and the other ones not? Perception of mass appeal, the fact that these books are probably more thriller than mystery, take your pick. Sure, dress them differently and they could be standard PI novels, or take out the twist -- like Charlie Huston's vamp-PI and other paranormal PIs that are following in his wake -- but then you lose the hook.

Which is the bottom line. No hook, no money, and most people --especially women -- who are making their debuts as crime writers seem to want to find their hooks elsewhere, not within the PI subgenre.

Still, I'd say the PI novel isn't dead, just resting -- and there are up-and-comers interested in writing stories and even novels featuring that patented PI. But the subgenre is a hell of a lot deader than procedurals or "ordinary/extraordinary" thrillers or paranormal tales or chick lit mysteries or cozies.

Comments

[Stacey Cochran]

I read Hockensmith's Holmes on the Range last week. It kicks butt!

[Lesa Holstine]

What about Richard Hawke's Speak of the Dead or Sandra Scoppetone's This Dame for Hire? These are both PI novels that came out in 2005 or 2006. Scoppetone's is the first in a series.

[Steve Hockensmith]

I definitely think the hook/gimmick/high concept/whatever for HOLMES ON THE RANGE -- "cowboys try to copy Sherlock Holmes" -- has made a huge difference. If my first novel had been about a tough P.I. getting in over his/her head while investigating XYZ, I don't think I would've lucked into a review in Entertainment Weekly, for instance.

Not that I don't love some "tough P.I. gets in over his/her head" novels. There are just a lot of them.

Oh, and by "his/her" I mean "his or her," of course. But it makes me wonder: Has anyone done a transgender P.I. yet? Now there's a gimmick for you. Somebody pick that up and run with it.

-Steve

P.S.: Thanks for the thumbs up, Stacey!

[Sarah]

Lesa, you're right, but this is the fifth novel for Hawke (aka Tim Cockey) and Sandra Scoppettone's been writing since the early 1960s. My point is who is brand new -- because that's what unpublished writers should be comparing themselves to, not veterans who began when the publishing climate was quite different.

[Stacey Cochran]

Transgender PI?

That's just wrong.

Although, now that I think about it, I could see Jennifer Colt pulling it off to hilarious affect.

SC

[Sandra Scoppettone]

I'm on the best first P.I. for the Shamus. Good to see what I'll be getting.

But don't assume because I've been writing for a long time that I automatically get published. Not true. I think This Dame got published because of when it was set, etc.

There is a transgender P.I. which Carroll & Graf will publish. Probably not until 2007. Can't say more about it now. No, I didn't write it.

And what kind of money are we talking about?

[Steven]

I'm waiting for Russel McLean's book. No joke. Love his stories.

Hockensmith, I was going to be the first to point out how great your book is, but I got beat to the punch. Sorry.

[Steve Hockensmith]

No sweat, Steven. I'm very accommodating. Anyone is welcome to tell me how absolutely wonderful my book is, no matter where they happen to land in line....

-Steve

[Bryon Quertermous]

I don't think the PI novel is dead, I just think it needs a new take. I'm still waiting for the official post-modern PI, which of course I'm also writing.

I also think a spinoff character of the PI that will find a huge market is the bounty hunter/PI character.

It's one of the fastest growing career tracks and even with all of the science and technology etc. these guys still rely on straight up leg work to find their man. It also lends itself more to the thriller element that is probably essential for high sales.

[Daniel Hatadi]

Thanks for the leg-work, Sarah. Very interesting.

Now, what the hell is my 'hook' going to be?

[Mary R]

How do you make doing online searches as narratively fulfilling as a stakeout or tailing a suspect?

PIs used to be brought in when there was a shocking secret (incest, a child given up for adoption, drug addiction) that might be uncovered. In the age of Springer and Dr. Phil, how do you make that work? Heck, women write literary memoirs about having sex with their father and put their name on it!

The best PI fiction isn't just about the PI him/herself, but family secrets. And families don't have secrets in the same way.

But it will swing back around. We'll start being horrified by personal failings again.

[Clair Lamb]

I have a client who's working on a transgender PI novel... that's not the book I worked with him on, but just so you know, Steve, it's out there.

[Stephen D. Rogers]

Swell. Not only do I have to complete this book, I have to prove the industry wrong.

[Lee Goldberg]

You forgot my THE MAN WITH THE IRON-ON BADGE (2005, Five Star)...though the hero isn't officially a "PI," he just thinks he is.

[Tara Gelsomino]

A lot of romance authors crossing into mystery are testing the PI waters it seems--lots of Evanovich knockoffs out there. Tori Carrington's Sofie Metropolis series from St. Martin's (though I guess she's not an official PI, she works for her uncle's detective agency). Marian Keyes is also planning a PI book for one of the sisters of her Walsh family series, Helen, (her newest release about a different Walsh sister coming out in June, in fact, has a big subplot featuring Helen's PI work). I just read about a new TV pilot for a sitcom featuring a single mom who becomes a bounty hunter too (not based on a book).

[Donna]

Thanks for the list Sarah. I love PI novels and hope that many many more are published. There are several I have read and enjoyed on here (Hughes, Stone, Swierczynski and Aleas in particular) and a couple I'm really looking forward to (notably Messrs Banks and Hockensmith).

Here's another one - THE LAST LLANELLI TRAIN by Robert Lewis (2005) which is set in Bristol and is, apparently a noir black comedy (my favourite!).

How about Al Guthrie's TWO-WAY SPLIT which I suppose is not, strictly speaking, PI, but there ARE PIs in it. Besides, it's a bloody good read :o)

Donna

[Adrian Magson]

P.I. genre dead? Hell, I hope not, as I'm in the middle of a series - NO PEACE FOR THE WICKED(2004), NO HELP FOR THE DYING (2005) and out in August 06 - NO SLEEP FOR THE DEAD (Creme de la Crime) - all featuring Riley Gavin, a young female investigative reporter teamed up with Frank Palmer, a male P.I. From the response I've had - especially from women readers - it ain't dead yet and they do like the combo of female/male main leads.

[Rebecca]

"How do you make doing online searches as narratively fulfilling as a stakeout or tailing a suspect?"

Well, for all of us who love research (see earlier thread), that's pretty easy. Anyone who's ever googled a name knows that some of the matches are hilarious. (I once did research about El Cid, the eleventh century Spanish exile. When I typed in his name - "Rodrigo Diaz" - I got a bunch of hits for a young engineering student in Chile.) For a recent book that makes a search via telephone compelling, see Javier Cercas' "Soldiers of Salamis" (2003). Although not a PI novel, it makes the secrets/missing persons thing pretty exciting.

[Richard Helms]

Bryon Quertermous said:
>

In my third Eamon Gold title, the protag begins the book as a bounty hunter, and ends it hunting down the remains of the loot from a twenty-year-old armored car heist for 10% from the insurance company. Neither are 'traditional' PI pursuits but, as has already been noted, you need a new twist.

Now, if I can just work in that transgender thing...

Count me in the group that doesn't believe that the PI novel is dead. It does seem, however, that it is on life support and waiting for some kind of transplant.

I think there is a market out there for the old-fashioned, knuckles-and-know-how, street-savvy freebooter, but as time flies I become more and more concerned that this audience is dwindling.

Thank goodness I'm not in this just for the money...
R

[PK the Bookeemonster]

I'm just a reader but I read just about every type of crime fiction and actually manage to read quite a bit in a year. There haven't been as many PI novels out there to really choose from but they do seem to be from the same mold. The ones I liked focused more on the procedural aspects rather than the angst or hook. Show me the Law and Order version of a PI series and I'd love it.

[Ingrid (I.J.Parker)]

After my protagonist made a name for himself as a P.I. several years ago, he began to drift into other types of involvement with crime solving. His position in his culture makes it natural that he should also at times work as an official investigator (as in a police procedural) and as an amateur detective(or rather, pro bono). It drives those people crazy who like to fit him into a firm category but may just end up being convenient for me if the rumors are true. :)

[Jennifer Colt]

Terry and Kerry McAfee (The Butcher of Beverly Hills 2005, The Mangler of Malibu Canyon 2006) are traditional PI's, if by that you mean licensed investigators who solve crimes.

They are non-traditional in they are young and female, and the stories are broadly comedic (all of which makes your point, I guess), but new takes on the stock PI are inevitable as times change.

I mean, Westerns will never be the same after Brokeback Mountain, right? (Nor after Holmes on the Range, apparently, which I'm just now hearing about.) I love traditional mysteries, but I'm also in favor of letting in a little air.

Bring on the transgendered vampires and the Sherlockian cowpokes!

[mhs]

I don't think the genre's dead. It just needs to be shook up a little (i.e. Charlie Huston's ALREADY DEAD). I've read Tim Maleeny's STEALING THE DRAGON and he basically does for the PI novel what Quentin Tarantino did for the Kung Fu movie genre with KILL BILL. That is, he reinvents the genre as a comic fever dream.

I'm looking forward to more books that do that.

[Mark Coggins]

Taking the baton from Sarah, here's a little more analysis that might be interesting to read:

http://riordansdesk.blogspot.com/2006/02/death-of-pi-novel.html

[Christopher G. Moore]

I have been following the debate on whether the private eye novel has hit a wall. Writing a private eye series overseas has its own challenges but there is no indication that readers are losing interest. Since 1992 I have authored eight private eye novels in the Vincent Calvino series. Perhaps more private eyes should move abroad if they are looking for a new audience.

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