Private Eyes

BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Jonathan Kellerman's Guilt. NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The voice belongs to a woman, but Dr. Alex Delaware remembers a little girl. It is eleven years since seven-year-old Melissa Dickinson dialed the hospital help line for comfort—and found it in therapy with Alex Delaware. Now the lovely young heiress is desperately calling for the psychologist’s help once more. Only this time it looks like Melissa’s deepest childhood nightmare is really coming true. “A page-turner from beginning to end.”—Los Angeles Times Twenty years ago, Gina Dickinson, Melissa’s mother, suffered a grisly assault that left the budding actress irreparably scarred and emotionally crippled. Now her acid-wielding assailant is out of prison and back in L.A.—and Melissa is terrified that the monster has returned to hurt Gina again. But before Alex Delaware can even begin to soothe his former patient’s fears, Gina, a recluse for twenty years, disappears. And now, unless Delaware turns crack detective to uncover the truth, Gina Dickinson will be just one more victim of a cold fury that has already spawned madness . . . and murder.

Private Eyes is the complete map to what Raymond Bhandler called "the mean streets," the exciting world of the fictional private eye. It is intended to entertain current PI fans and to make new ones.

L.A. Private Eyes examines the tradition of the private eye as it evolves in films, books, and television shows set in Los Angeles from the 1930's through the present day. This book explores the metamorphosis of the solitary detective figure and the many facets of the genre itself.

This book is based on interviews with eight top investigators with different specialties, describing how they became private eyes and solve their cases. It's a behind the scenes look at investigating murder and mayhem, using high-tech listening or spying devices, tailing someone, going undercover, conducting interrogations, using public records, and working with police and government agencies.

Despite efforts of contemporary reformers to curb the availability of dime novels, series books, and paperbacks, Pioneers, Passionate Ladies, and Private Eyes reveals how many readers used them as means of resistance and how fictional characters became models for self-empowerment. These literary genres, whose value has long been underestimated, provide fascinating insight into the formation of American popular culture and identity. Through these mass-produced, widely read books, Deadwood Dick, Old Sleuth, and Jessie James became popular heroes that fed the public’s imagination for the last western frontier, detective tales, and the myth of the outlaw. Women, particularly those who were poor and endured hard lives, used the literature as means of escape from the social, economic, and cultural suppression they experienced in the nineteenth century. In addition to the insight this book provides into texts such as “The Bride of the Tomb,” the Nick Carter Series, and Edward Stratemeyer’s rendition of the Lizzie Borden case, readers will find interesting information about: the roles of illustrations and covers in consumer culture Bowling Green’s endeavor to digitize paperback and pulp magazine covers bibliographical problems in collecting and controlling series books the effects of mass market fiction on young girls Louisa May Alcott’s pseudonym and authorship of three dime novels special collections competition among publishers A collection of work presented at a symposium held by the Library of Congress, Pioneers, Passionate Ladies, and Private Eyes makes an outstanding contribution to redefining the role of popular fiction in American life.

Bumbling criminals, amateur private eyes, and an evil politician are enough to get the adrenalin pumping and the funny bone tickled. But add to that a beautiful professor, greedy twin Cobus, and a flying creature from Koma Tau, and what you've got is a fast and furious-and hilarious-romp towards the possible destruction of the unknown universe.

Nothing much ever happens in the small town of Cypress, Texas. Until one day, a local teen disappears. And this stunning suspense novel is off and running.In The Private Eyes, four young boys set out on an adventure to discover the truth about the missing teen. They end up uncovering more than they could ever imagine, finding a mysterious potion with a link to the Civil War, underground caves, as well as a bizarre kidnapping plot that endangers their own lives.Suddenly, one of the four boys investigating the case also disappears, almost as though he stepped off the face of the Earth. Now the private eyes have to save one of their own.Meanwhile, everyone in town is terrified that the missing boys are gone for good, and perhaps one of their own children could also disappear. The police have no leads, no suspects, and no idea that the missing boys are right under their noses doing their best to unravel the mystery.Will the Private Eyes Detective Agency's first case be its last? The Private Eyes proves that even the smallest person can make a difference in the biggest way.First-time author Rhonda Riskey is a fourth grade teacher. She formed the idea for her book as she was sitting with her father, who was dying of cancer. She is now writing her second book in the series, The Ghost at City Hall. She lives with her husband and children in Celeste, Texas.

Revision of the author's thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Manchester, 2003.