An excerpt from the novel by Sam Wiebe Featuring Dave Wakeland April 2025 CHAPTER ONE The day before, I was sitting in a park near the Marché Jean-Talon, trying very hard not to smoke a cigarette. The swampy heat of late August in Montréal made this a little easier. Occupying a bench with a St-Viateur … Continue reading “The Last Exile”
Category: This Just In
The Ensemble P.I Story
Truffaut's Stolen Kisses and Bogdanovich's They All Laughed The following is from Sam Wiebe's always interesting newsletter (available in free and paid versions), wherein he expounds on writing, crime fiction, film and whatever else catches his attention. Sam, of course, is the award-winning Canadian crime writer and the creator of Vancouver private eyes Dave Wakeland … Continue reading The Ensemble P.I Story
Out of the Past and Against All Odds
Two versions of one story... with a 32 minute difference By Sam Wiebe The following is from Sam Wiebe's always interesting newsletter (available in free and paid versions, wherein he expounds on writing, crime fiction, film and whatever else catches his attention. Sam, of course, is the award-winning Canadian crime writer and the creator of … Continue reading Out of the Past and Against All Odds
The 2025 Shamus Awards Winners
From the Private Eye Writers of America The winners of the 2025 Shamus Awards have just been announced at the 2025 Bouchercon's Opening Ceremonies in New Orleans, Louisiana. The winners, as always, are in red. BEST PI HARDCOVER Trouble in Queenstown by Delia Pitts (Vandy Myrick) Kingpin by Mike Lawson (Joe DeMarco) The Hollow Tree … Continue reading The 2025 Shamus Awards Winners
“Piece by Piece”
By Paul Sundeson Featuring Gil Barntree Holiday 2007 New Orleans March 1962 “Thirty cents a gallon for ethyl?” my partner Frank Whitney said. We were parked in his Mercury just up Burgundy Street from the garage. “No wonder they're not pulling in the customers.” Hyams Auto Repair was a long white barn with a tin roof … Continue reading “Piece by Piece”
Not Brilliant AND Cancelled
Mercy Killings? Private Eye Shows That Woulda Never Been Contenders Okay, not every P.I. show that gets canned deserves tears. And Lord knows, there have been plenty of shows built around private eyes that were less than stellar. But these were so bad you have to wonder how they got on air at all. What … Continue reading Not Brilliant AND Cancelled
Night Moves: An Introduction
Sam Wiebe Introduces the 1974 Classic Slated to introduce Night Moves at the Vancouver Film Center in August 2022, Canadian crime writer Sam Wiebe, the creator of private eyes Dave Wakeland and Michael Drayton, confessed that "It’s one of my favorite PI films and neo-noirs, and a million times better than Altman’s very good The Long Goodbye, … Continue reading Night Moves: An Introduction
A Conversation About The Conversation
Sam Wiebe Introduces the 1974 Classic Slated to introduce The Conversation at the Vancouver Film Center before the pandemic, Canadian crime writer Sam Wiebe, the creator of private eyes Dave Wakeland and Michael Drayton, finally got to do it in April 2022. The screening was part of a free day of programming in memoriam for VIFF staff … Continue reading A Conversation About The Conversation
Aimée Leduc
Created by Cara Black Parisian AIMÉE LEDUC is one P.I. who really gets into it, be it surfing the web, traveling through sewers, or going undercover among neo-Nazis. That's just the kinda hands-on kinda half-American, half-French gal she is. Aimée makes her living as a private investigator in the Paris, aided by her partner, René … Continue reading Aimée Leduc
Sian Holt (Star Wars: The High Republic)
Created by Daniel José Older and David Wachter Well, it had to happen... The Star Wars universe has, as far as I can tell, finally unveiled its very first private investigator. SIAN HOLT is a high-priced space shamus who operates during the so-called High Republic Era, which takes place about two hundred years before the events … Continue reading Sian Holt (Star Wars: The High Republic)