Welcome to Flagler Street (www.mikeshayne.com), a website devoted to author Brett Halliday's most famous creation—Miami's famous redheaded private detective, Mike Shayne. Flagler Street, for the uninitiated, is the street in Miami on which Mike Shayne has his offices.

Mike Shayne debuted in the 1939 novel, Dividend on Death. He subsequently appeared in more than 50 novels, in addition to the hundreds of short stories published in the monthly Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine. The last Shayne novel appeared in 1976 and the magazine folded in 1985—an impressive 46-year run in the public consciousness. That's quite a feat for a former writer of circulating library books.

In addition to print, Mike Shayne starred in two series of films during the 1940s and three radio programs during the 1940s and '50s. He had his own TV series on NBC, lasting one season (1960-61), and was featured in his own comic book—a three-issue run published in 1961-62.

It's surprising, considering the immense popularity of the character and his cultural staying power, that Shayne hasn't had much of a web presence to date. Flagler Street's goal is to change that unfortunate fact. The site aims to be repository of any and all pertinent Mike Shayne and Brett Halliday information, as well as a place offering the uninitiated the opportunity to get to know the character and to witness how thoroughly the character actually infiltrated all aspects of cultural media.

Paying homage to Mike Shayne isn't the only reason for Flagler Street. It's also the product of sentimentality—reading the Shayne novels in high school, scouring the used book stores for those elusive Dell editions (your nose attenuated to the smell of old pulp) and imagining yourself in a world where you make the rules and are one step ahead of everyone else.

Please peruse the site. If you come away with a hankering to read a Shayne novel, then success has been achieved. Or, if you just stop by every so often to marvel at the fantastic artwork of the Shayne paperback book covers, that's great, too.

Please feel free to e-mail me with any questions or comments on how to improve the site. Thanks!

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