The life of PIs: the strange case of 2026’s resurgence of hard-boiled detectives

Boozing, grumpy, brilliant TV private eyes never really went away, but now they’re sleuthing with renewed vigour. Why is the noir detective back with a vengeance – and is it a bad omen? Lace up your gumshoes! Hard-boiled detectives are back on the scene, fedoras pulled low, cigarettes sparked up. Nicolas Cage is leading the charge in Prime Video’s Spider-Noir, a shadowy spin on Spider-Man that drops in May – available to stream in black-and-white for the diehards. It promises all the hard-edg...

By Jonathan Wells