Crang

Created by Jack Batten

Shades of Perry Mason!

The grand old notion of a defense attorney making like a private detective was alive and well–in Toronto of all places!

CRANG (one name, please) also shows a definite Spenser influence, albeit in a Toronto/CBC/yuppie kinda way (ask a Canadian fora translation).

He’s a struggling, rather quirky criminal lawyer working out of downtown Toronto, semi-boiled, dropping (brand) names left and right, partial to Wyborwa vodka, Rockport Walkers and jazz. He also enjoys palling around with his clients, and other friends in low places, much to the dismay of his very smart and very sensible girlfriend, Alice B. Cooke, a movie critic for the local CBC station.

The author seems to have had a lot of fun with the series. My guess is that you will too. They’re light, to be sure, but Crang is an appealing hero, rough around the edges (but not too rough), pleasingly fallible and none too swift at times.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 Jack Batten has written several non-fiction books about the Canadian legal system, Toronto and the Leafs, among other topics, and he’s a lawyer himself.

NOVELS

• Crang Plays the Ace (1987) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
• Straight No Chaser (1989) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
• Riviera Blues (1990) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
• Blood Count (1991) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
• Take Five (2013) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
• Keeper of the Flame (2016) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
• Booking In (2017) | Buy this book | Kindle it!

SHORT STORIES

• “Snapshot” (1992, Criminal Shorts)

COLLECTIONS

• The Crang Mysteries 6-Book Bundle | Kindle it!

FURTHER INVESTIGATION

• Cool Canadian Crime: Jack Batten
  Brief interview, circa 2009, with Crang’s creator.
• Ontari-ari-ari-o Eyes
  Eyes from Canada’s Second Largest Province.

Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith.