Two gay detectives and their authors

Abstract

The archetypal detective in American crime literature is a heterosexual male, usually living alone though enjoying female company. Dashiell Hammett was an expert in creating such characters and the genre he helped create developed its tropes further with the works of writers such as Elmore Leonard and James Ellroy. In the 1950s, one young writer aimed to emulate these successful others. Joseph Hansen (1923-2004) did not succeed in becoming a writer of pulp crime novels, but he did have some success writing as James Colton and publishing paperback originals marketed in sex-oriented bookshops.