Created by Mike Harrison
Canada‘s Cowtown finally got its own hard-boiled eye.
At first glance, EDDIE DANCER is just your typical tough-guy, wise-ass private eye. What he has going for him is that Calgary, Alberta is his home turf — a decidedly fresh setting for a P.I. series (the only other Calgary eye at the time that I could think of was television’s Tom Stone, which ran for a couple of years a while back on the CBC).
After a brief career (two years!) with the city cops, Dancer decides to go solo. In his first recorded case, 2005’s All Shook Up, he’s approached by a bank robber to track down his missing partner (and the missing share of a score). He turns him down, but gets sucked into the case anyway when the allegedly missing partner pops up asking him to track down the first guy. From there, it’s just a short hop, step and a jump into a morass of purportedly retired bikers, scummy tatoo parlours, a possible scam invlolving the penal system and a nasty plague that seems to be striking down the city’s hookers.
It’s a good thing, then, that Eddie has his good buddies Nosher and Splosher, a pair of identical twin Cockney auto mechanics, and the deadly Danny Many Guns (playing Hawk to his Spenser), to watch his back, in a debut that shows a lot of promise, the “out there” pulpiness of the plot held in check by the down-to-earth setting, some darkly humourous scenes that bode well for the series, and a few honest-to-goodness fresh ideas — like who was the last P.I. to get around on a motorcycle?
Unfortunately, in the sequel Wild Thing (2006), Eddie chucks the earthbound charms of Calgary for a fish-outta-water road trip to England to help out a psychologist buddy who has been accused of several murders. Seems it all has something to do with a 200-year old manuscript by hypnotist Franz Anton Mesmer who “may have been dabbling in dark forms of mental manipulation.”
But even more disappointing? The next (and arguably strongest) book in the series, 2007’s Ruby Tuesday, which has Eddie back on his home turf and back with his girlfriend, ER nurse Cindy Palmer, trying to protect a mild-mannered, out-of-shape advertising exec charged with assault, was apparently the last entry in the series.
Too bad. I liked these books. It had a nice, Spenser-ish vibe to it, the Canadian setting (always a plus!) and plots were fresh, and anyone who names his books after classic rock songs is alway jake with me.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mike Harrison, who was born in the U.K., is a full-time realtor in Okotoks, Alberta, with eclectic interests that include motorcycling, hiking, cooking, and hypnosis. He lives with his wife and two cats.
UNDER OATH
- “A lively first novel, even if Harrison isn’t quite up to all that Robert B. Parker stuff.”
— Kirkus Reviews on All Shook Up - “Highly recommended for fans of hard-boiled private-eye yarns told with a light touch.”
— David Pitt (Booklist) on Ruby Tuesday
NOVELS
- All Shook Up (2005) | Buy this book
- Wild Thing (2006) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
- Ruby Tuesday (2007) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
FURTHER INVESTIGATION
- The Maple Leaf Rag
Canadian Eyes
THE DICK OF THE DAY
- October 23, 2026
THE BOTTOM LINE: Spenser in Cowtown? Calgary own ex-cop turned motorcycle-riding private eye came along just when we needed him. Great local color, great plots, kick ass wit. Two wheels good!
Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith.
