Marty Burns, former child-star, general wise-ass and sometimes detective

Detective

A detective is an investigator, either a member of a police agency or a private person. The latter may be known as private investigators or "private eyes"...

, is the fictional creation of Jay Russell

Jay Russell (writer)

Jay Russell is an American-born, UK-based author of crime, horror and fantasy fiction. He is the creator of Marty Burns, a supernatural detective, who has appeared in a series of novels and short stories beginning with Celestial Dogs...

. Marty made his debut in the novel Celestial Dogs (1996), working as yet another low-rent, Los Angeles detective. The novel is a mix of hardboiled

Hardboiled

Hardboiled crime fiction is a literary style, most commonly associated with detective stories, distinguished by the unsentimental portrayal of violence and sex. The style was pioneered by Carroll John Daly in the mid-1920s, popularized by Dashiell Hammett over the course of the decade, and refined...

 detective and supernatural horror

Horror fiction

Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...

, laced with heavy doses of humor and Hollywood in-jokes. Marty has appeared in two subsequent novels - Burning Bright (1997) and Greed & Stuff (2001) - as well as a series of short stories . His most recent literary appearance was in the novella Apocalypse Now, Voyager (2005).