Created by Zale R. Dalen "He'll be sure you pay--one way or another!" -- tagline on the VHS edition Hey! Did I just dream this? JOHN COLLINS is the low-key, taciturn debt collector "hero" of Skip Tracer, a bleak, decidedly non-glamourous, low-budget Canadian character study released in 1977. Make no mistake--Collins is no goody two-shoes. … Continue reading John Collins (Skip Tracer)
Tag: Canada
Abe Applebaum (The Kid Detective)
Created by Evan Morgan "It's difficult to accept the difference between who you are in your head and who you are in the world." Most coming-of-age films don't follow a man in his thirties, but the quirky, creepy indie The Kid Detective sure does. ABE APPLEBAUM became the pride and joy of his small hometown … Continue reading Abe Applebaum (The Kid Detective)
Jack Carter (Les aventures tumultueuses de Jack Carter)
Created by Sylvie Lussier and Pierre Poirier Non-Montrealers may think the lead character in the Radio-Canada private eye TV show Les aventures tumultueuses de Jack Carter is some sort of hands-across-the-water homage to Michael Caine's character in the iconic 1971 Brit noir Get Carter. But they'd be wrong. It's all given away by numerous publicity stills which … Continue reading Jack Carter (Les aventures tumultueuses de Jack Carter)
Eugène Duchamp
Created by Marie-Ève Bourassa Pas pire. Pas pire... In her first foray into crime fiction, Marie-Eve Bourassa brings it on home with Red Light: Adieuu, Miognonne (2016), scoring an Arthur Ellis for Best French novel and -- even better -- introducing an intriguing new private eye to Montreal's ranks. It's the 1920s, and former cop, … Continue reading Eugène Duchamp
“A Hard-Boiled Christmas”
By Stephen Reid "I refuse to don this ridiculous costume.." Albert sucked in his belly and swelled up like a rooster. Â "A saint I ain't, Mac. I am a highly regarded thespian." "You're a highly regarded has-been, is what you are, Albert. Now sit down and try those boots on." I had to pick the … Continue reading “A Hard-Boiled Christmas”
“Mac” MacCauley
Created by Stephen Reid (1950-2018) "After fifteen years as a private investigator -- the last ten as a practising drunk --I had lost my license twice and my self-respect more times than I could count. The chances of me ever regaining either were between zero and entropy." That's how long-past-his-prime P.I. "MAC" MacCAULEY sums up … Continue reading “Mac” MacCauley
Jorja Knight
Created by Alice Bienia Can you sing the young woman blues? Putting a knife attack by a crazy coworker at Global Analytix and her job as a lab rat in their Forensics department in her rearview, Calgary's JORJA KNIGHT has come up with a brand new plan. She's rebooting her life, beginning with hanging out … Continue reading Jorja Knight
Jed “Hammerhead” Ounstead
Created by A.J. Devlin Fed up with the pro wrestling circuit, JED "HAMMERHEAD" OUNSTEAD hangs up his tights and goes to work as a bouncer at , and helping out with  "some of the leg work from time to time" at his dad Frank's Vancouver, B.C. detective agency in Cobra Clutch (2018). It's a rollicking, good-natured … Continue reading Jed “Hammerhead” Ounstead
Gord Stewart
Created by John McFetridge "Why not, as a location scout I spend my life finding things that people believe are something else; a bar in Toronto is in New York, the front of a house propped up on an empty lot in Oshawa is a haunted house in Maine in 1955, half of downtown is … Continue reading Gord Stewart
Bill Yates
Created by Malcolm Douglas Pseudonym of Douglas Sanderson Other pseudonyms include Martin Brett (1922- 2002) At first I thought I'd discovered a long-lost Montreal eye here. And in a way I have. And in a way I haven't. BILL YATES is actually just Douglas Sanderson's Mike Garfin with a different name, released by another publisher … Continue reading Bill Yates