Although Marvel Comics introduced a vampire detective, Hannibal King, in The Tomb of Dracula #25 (October 1974) and there are probably other examples previous to these, note:
In Blood Hunt (1987) and Bloodlinks (1988) by Lee Killough, homicide detective Garreth Mikaelian became a vampire. After tracking down his maker, he continued to fight crime using his vampiric powers. (A third novel, Blood Games, was published in 2001.)
Nick Knight, a TV movie released in 1989, featured Nick Knight (played by Rick Springfield), a vampire working as a police detective in modern-day Los Angeles. In 1992, CBS picked up the series and produced as Forever Knight with Geraint Wyn Davies as the vampire detective. It ran three seasons, ending in 1996.
Bloodlist (1990) by P. N. Elrod featured Jack Fleming as a good-guy vampire PI in 1930s Chicago. Supposedly hard-boiled, he’s far too nice to be really boiled. Eleven other novels followed. Dark Road Rising, the most recent, was published in 2009.
Set in modern-day Toronto, Tanya Huff’s Blood Price (1991) portrayed Vicki Nelson, an ex-cop going blind who turned to private detecting and teamed up with a vampire. It was adapted for television as Blood Ties (Lifetime, 2007). There were five Blood novels altogether.
There was also a trend toward vampire hunters . . . or at least characters who started out as such:
Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton (1993): The novel was a mix of horror, fantasy, mystery, action-adventure, and romance in which Anita Blake is a female hardboiled detective-type (contrary, sarcastic, and with a protective streak) necromancer who also hunts down criminal vampires. The series has now veered away from detection and into the erotic; the twenty-first full-length novel will be published this year.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV series: 1997–2003): Darker than the original action-comedy/horror parody film of the same name (1992), the series also better embodied creator Joss Wheldon’s concept of an empowered woman fighting monsters, which were metaphors for problems that teenagers, especially, face. Buffy was not a detective, but she did defeat supernatural meanies. She and her “Scooby gang” also employed detective-like investigation in some episodes. In the spin-off series, Angel (1999-2004), the title character does becomes a private detective who helps the helpless while battling his own demonic side.
The earliest occult detectives may have possessed arcane knowledge or special powers, but they were basically human. But after vampires became detectives and humans started needing more than bravery, common sense, and a solid stake to dispatch them—many occult investigators became paranormals themselves. By the time urban fantasy gained popularity in the twenty-first century, the protagonists were still solving supernatural mysteries and crimes—or at least righting preternatural wrongs—but they weren’t always human detectives or even “scientific” crime-solvers who might know a few spells. Kim Harrison’s Rachel Morgan, for example, is a “witch-born” demon who investigates all manner of paranormal badness. Harry Dresden, created by Jim Butcher, is a PI and a wizard. Patricia Briggs’s Mercy Thompson is a Native American shapeshifter raised by werewolves.
The most popular urban fantasy characters sustained story lines for numerous serial novels that continue to be bestsellers.
Although they were not necessarily always urban fantasy, as part of the general popularity of this type of fiction some great short stories featuring a combination of the uncanny and detection or crime were published. This anthology compiles some of the best of them published from 2004 through 2011. In order to meet our definition of “weird detective story,” a mystery had to be solved and/or actual detection involved, so supernatural crime- or adventure-only stories were not considered.
Fans of urban fantasy are likely to have already encountered some of our authors and the universes they have created. Most will know Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden in “Love Hurts,” Quincey Morris of “Deal Breaker” is central to Justin Gustainis’s Investigations novels, and Tony Foster (“See Me”) appears in three Smoke novels by Tanya Huff. Even if set in a certain “universe,” the selected stories do not always feature its best-known characters. Simon R. Green takes us to the Nightside, but John Taylor is nowhere in sight. Charlaine Harris’s Dahlia Lynley-Chivers is part of the Sookieverse, but the famous telepathic waitress is not connected to “Death by Dahlia.” Carrie Vaughn has written a number of novels about werewolf Kitty Norville, but Detective Jessi Hardin in “Defining Shadows” has appeared in only a couple of them. David Christiansen, in “Star of David,” was only briefly mentioned in Patricia Briggs’s Moon Called, the first of her bestselling Mercy Thompson books. Jane Yellowrock’s presence in “Signatures of the Dead” by Faith Hunter takes place chronologically before her novel adventures begin.
The New York of Elizabeth Bear’s “Cryptic Coloration” is very similar to our own, but it is also part of her Promethean Age continuity, where subtle and treacherous magic infests the real world throughout history—and is constantly fought—but is never noticed by most humans.
Some tales don’t take place in alternative contemporary worlds. Lillian Stewart Carl takes us back to the sixteenth century with “The Necromancer’s Apprentice.” Richard Parks’s “Fox Tails” is set even earlier—in Japan’s Heian era (794 to 1185).
Some authors intentionally evoke both hard-boiled detectives and the noir-ish past. Both P. N. Elrod’s “Hecate’s Golden Eye” and Caitlín R. Kiernan’s “The Maltese Unicorn” take place in the 1930s. “The Adakian Eagle” by Bradley Denton and “Swing Shift” by Dana Cameron have World War II-era settings. In “Mortal Bait” by Richard Bowes, the mystery occurs in the early fifties.
Über-detective Sherlock Holmes has also had a revival of late. And, fictionally at least, he has encountered the weird in numerous recent stories. We selected “The Case of Death and Honey” by Neil Gaiman and Simon Clark’s “Sherlock Holmes and the Diving Bell” as two stand-outs. William Meikle pays tribute to an Edwardian era occult detective—who was initially inspired by Holmes—with “The Beast of Glamis.”
We also present adventures of supernatural investigators who may go on to further adventures (or not). After appearing in short form, Dana Cameron’s Fangborn are now being featured in novels. Jason Saunders (of Ilsa J. Bick’s “The Key”) appears in at least one other story. Joe Lansdale’s Dana Roberts has appeared in two stories, both of which were originally published only in a limited edition chapbook, The Cases of Dana Roberts. Surely there are other cases? Sarah Monette has now written three stories with her odd detective couple of Jamie Keller and Mick Sharpton, and we certainly hope to see more. Jonathan Maberry’s “Like Part of the Family” is a modern homage to noir fiction. Its PI Sam Hunter could easily become the protagonist of a novel.
Urban fantasy still has many readers, but lately its bubble has been somewhat deflated by a number of factors—including the fact that the public is inevitably fickle. We suspect the crossover of mystery into science fiction and fantasy—which was not exactly new, but has certainly been strengthened—will remain a major influence as we progress further into the century. Weird detectives may get weirder yet and find even stranger streets to walk. Not having psychic powers of our own, all we can do is wait and see. For now, we hope you enjoy these stories as much as we do.