Welcome to The Underworld Academy! For our inaugural edition of The Underworld Academy we speak with “Inspector Todd” in Northern California. The good Inspector prefers to remain anonymous, so we at the Noir Factory will respect his wishes. The “Inspector” has a wide and varied history in law enforcement spanning over twenty five years and…
The Underworld Academy Is Coming! Why the Underworld Academy? Lately when I’ve been watching television shows or reading police procedurals, a number of things jump out. I see DNA markers gathered at crime scenes, no matter where, and processed that same day. In another show, the police have high-tech hologram computer screen that get instant…
Murder Ink – The Grandmother of Mystery Bookstores For over thirty years the greats lived between 91st and 92nd Streets in New York. Philip Marlowe rubbed shoulders with Nero Wolfe, Mickey Spillane sat beside Dashiell Hammett, and Robert Parker passed the time with Arthur Conan Doyle. This was no boys club, however. Dame Agatha Christy…
Who was Frank Buck? In the 1920’s, when pulp magazines ruled the planet, stories of larger-than-life characters were their stock in trade. The heroes were steeped in mystery, intrigue, and danger, and were often globe-trotters, found in settings and plots that most of America could only dream of. The world of the 20’s and 30’s…
There’s a feeling you get walking into a newsstand or a drugstore and looking at the magazine rack, and sadly, the feeling is disappearing. It’s similar to looking at the departure board of a railroad station or the flight schedule of an airport. When you look at row after row of magazines, comic books, and…
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