Although I also am pretty late to this thread, crazy busy at work right now, I recommend Marvin Albert's Stone Angel series, with a half-French/half-American PI who lives in the south of France. Although the PI, Pete Sawyer (or Pierre-Ange Sawyer in French, which also translates to Stone-Angel in English, hence the series name) isn't perhaps as world-weary as some, they are first person, there's a bit of violence (and NO recipes!) in each, and the gumshoes are pretty worn.
I am perhaps a little biased towards this series because I am a huge Francophile, but it's one of my top five favorite series. Seven of the nine titles are available in ebook from Wildside Press; hopefully the last two will show up someday.
And, just checking, I assume you find Robert B. Parker's Spenser to be too in-touch with his feelings? and with Susan Silverman? Although I'm less enthused about some of the later titles, which (to me, at least) started feeling a little formulaic, I quite like the earlier titles, some of which were finalists for Shamus awards, so can't be too wimpy
. And, BTW, Ace Atkins, mentioned on his own upthread, has also done some continuations in the Spenser series....