Martin Brett's Mike Garfin Novels An Overview by Kevin Burton Smith For a homesick Montréaler like me, Stark House's 2006 reprinting of The Deadly Dames (originally published in 1956) and A Dum-Dum for the President (1961), the third and fourth books to feature ma ville's greatest private eye, Martin Brett's Michel "Mike" Garfin, provides an embarrassment … Continue reading Hard, Tough and More Than a Little Nasty
Tag: Canada
Mike Garfin
Created by Martin Brett Pseudonym of Douglas Sanderson Other pseudonyms included Malcolm Douglas (1922- 2002) "This is a dangerous town, did you know?" A Montreal eye! Born of an Irish-Canadian father and a French-Canadian mom, MICHEL "MIKE" GARFIN was left an orphan at an early age, and raised by the nuns (it's better than … Continue reading Mike Garfin
Leo Desroches
Created by Wayne Arthurson "People always assume that newspapers are keen to print the truth, but that's wrong. The first goal of a news story is to be accurate.There's a big difference between accuracy and the truth." -- Fall from Grace Reporter LEO DESROCHES, the son of Cree and French-Canadian parents, is a compulsive gambler … Continue reading Leo Desroches
Nat Lawson
Created by John McFetridge Oh, John, you're such a tease... If there's one thing that gets my shamus senses tingling, it's a Montreal private eye. And Toronto author (and Montreal ex-pat) McFetridge delivers just enough with the short story "Barbotte" to get me all hot and bothered. It's 1946, and NAT LAWSON is just back … Continue reading Nat Lawson
Elliot Forsman & Rivka Goldstein
Created by Gary Raymond Coffin When we first meet him in Ogrodnik (2016), the first in the series, long-time Montreal criminology professor (he teaches a course in "Logical Deduction" at the university) and part-time private eye ELLIOT FORSMAN is at loose ends, growing older and going nowhere. He's living on plastic cheese, packaged salami of … Continue reading Elliot Forsman & Rivka Goldstein
Doug D’Mello (The Indian Detective)
Created by Frank Spotnitz and Smita Bhide Okay, so DOUG D'MELLO is not a private eye. What he is is a recently demoted (to Constable Fourth Class) and suspended (for a month) member of the Toronto Metropolitan Police Force, following a spectacularly botched drug arrest. That went viral. Of course, that's not the real hook for … Continue reading Doug D’Mello (The Indian Detective)
My Scrapbook: Raymond Chandler’s Attestation Papers
My Scrapbook Raymond Chandler's Attestation Papers (August 14, 1917, Victoria, British Columbia) Although he was an American citizen, Raymond Thornton Chandler enlisted with the Canadian Army in August 1917, as his attestation paper above shows. Some have suggested he chose the Canadian Army due to his fondness for all things British (Canada being part of the … Continue reading My Scrapbook: Raymond Chandler’s Attestation Papers
Dan Sharp
Created by Jeffrey Round When we first meet him in Lake on the Mountain (2013), winner of the 2013 Lambda Literary Award for Gay Mystery, DAN SHARP is a single dad and missing persons investigator in Toronto who offers a few twists. Not only is he gay, but more amazingly, perhaps, his child is a boy! In … Continue reading Dan Sharp
Deacon Riis
Created by John Jantunen To say that bumbling newshawk DEACON RIIS is the hero of No Quarter (2018) would be misleading. In this thriller, the first of a proposed trilogy by Canadian writer John Jantuen, Deacon, the only full-time reporter for local paper The Chronicle, is nobody's hero. Not even that of Rain, the woman twenty years … Continue reading Deacon Riis
Sally Sullivan & Bernie Fox (Mom P.I.)
Created by Chris Haddock Save your snark! Mom P.I. (1990-92) was a sly little gem from Canada's CBC-TV, an offbeat family show that managed to be smarter and more clever than it looked, without sacrificing one bit of heart -- or scaring anyone away. SALLY SULLIVAN was a recently-widowed mother with two kids to feed, struggling … Continue reading Sally Sullivan & Bernie Fox (Mom P.I.)