Russell Teed
Created by David Montrose

A Montreal eye! RUSSELL TEED, "Montreal's version of the tough private eye" appeared in three novels set in my hometown back in the early fifties.

And Bob and Doug would be proud of this particular hoser. Tremendous amounts of beer are swigged throughout the series by both Russ and his best pal and one-time co-worker, MacArnold, a "by-line bum" working for the Montreal Clarion, a morning paper. Dow, Molson, Labatt, the pages are practically soaked in it.

He went to McGill, he used to be a reporter for the Clarion, and he went off to WWII for his King and his country. He has a swinging little flat on Côte des Neiges, right near Westmount Boulevard, he tools around town in a spiffy little Riley roadster (which he annoyingly calls Riley)When he's not drinking, Russ manages to solve some pretty violent cases. His cases may not have the most logical of solutions, and coincidence seems to be his chief strategy, the violence may be overblown, the racist and sexist attitudes hopelessly outdated, but who cares? This is my hometown, and it's certainly no worse than a lot of generic stuff of that period. And the local colour seems just about perfect.

NOVELS

• The Crime Over Côte des Neiges (1951)
• Murder Over Dorval (1952)
• The Body on Mount Royal (1953)

RELATED LINKS

• C'est ma ville, aussi...
  A listing of Montréal eyes.

Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith (original report, February 1999).