Created by Gayleen Froese Burned out and disillusioned criminologist and former cop turned Calgary-based private eye BEN AMES chases cheaters of all types all over Kananaskis County in the foothills and front ranges of the Canadian Rockies. "People will surprise you," Ben says to one of his clients in the series debut, The Girl Whose … Continue reading Ben Ames
Tag: Canadian Author
Napoleon B. Smith
Created by Leslie Allen Pseudonyms of Horace Brown (1908-96) In the digest-sized 1946 paperback Murder in the Rough, private eye NAPOLEON B. SMITH is out on the links, ending a round when a particularly bad hook (or slice or whatever you call it) lands his ball in the roughs that the local players have tagged … Continue reading Napoleon B. Smith
Steve Black
Created by Tedd Steele Other pseudonyms include Ted Stelle, T.A. Steele, Theodore Steele, David Benedict, Jack Benedict, David Forrest, Gerald Laing, Jack Romaine (1922-??) Mothers, don't let your sons grow up to be private dicks. The hours are awful and so few require their services. Consider Artists Models and Murder (1956) a cautionary tale. It's … Continue reading Steve Black
Chris Prior
Created by Pat Dobie (1963--) A tough, cynical lesbian private eye, down on her luck, CHRIS PRIOR lives over a Vancouver escort agency, in love with its owner. And then she gets roped into looking into a murder that somehow connects the murder of one of the agency's young escorts and a chess-playing professor, and … Continue reading Chris Prior
Patrick Bird
Created by Alexis Stefanovich-Thomson Young private detective PATRICK BIRD wanders the rapidly changing streets of Toronto in the mid-sixties, back when it was only Canada's second largest city and sneeringly referred to as "Toronto the Good" (at least in sleazy, breezy Montréal). But the times they are a-changin', and Toronto is evolving, growing, and slowly … Continue reading Patrick Bird
Jane Sunday
Created by Rick Dewhurst Pastor and author Rick Dewhurst descends from the pulpit once more to give us a new private eye: Hummer-driving wiseass JANE SUNDAY Her Sunday Detective Agency in Vancouver, British Columbia is strictly a one-woman show, occupying a small cluttered office. Jane's currenty "between" secretaries, and things aren't going exactly to plan. … Continue reading Jane Sunday
Joe LaFlam
Created by Rick Dewhurst "Since I'm going to die, do you mind if I lead you to the Lord?" -- Joe faces off against a gunman According to author Rick Dewhurst, his private eye JOE LaFLAM and I have something in common. But here, let's let Joe tell it: "I was born in Vancouver, Canada, but … Continue reading Joe LaFlam
Speed Savage (aka “White Mask”)
Created by Tedd Steele Other pseudonyms include Ted Stelle, T.A. Steele, Theodore Steele, David Benedict, Jack Benedict, David Forrest, Gerald Laing, Jack Romaine (1922-??) SPEED SAVAGE, who appeared regularly in the Canadian-published Triumph Comics in the 1940s, was many things. A "brilliant young criminologist." A private detective. But mostly he saw duty as the … Continue reading Speed Savage (aka “White Mask”)
Reid Bennett
Created by Ted Wood Pseudonyms include Jack Barn (1931-2019) "Reid Bennett is one of the most interesting series whodunit heroes of the decade." — Chicago Sun-Times Not really a private eye, but like James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux or Chester Himes' Grave Coffin Ed Johnson & Digger Jones, Ted Wood's two-fisted REID BENNETT is a police … Continue reading Reid Bennett
Mike Cobb & Adam Cullen
Created by David A. Poulsen MIKE COBB is a former cop. ADAM CULLEN is a former crime reporter for the Calgary Herald. Now they both freelance: Mike as a private investigator, and Adam as a journalist-for-hire. They became friends when Cullen hired Cobb to investigate the burning down of his home which had resulted in … Continue reading Mike Cobb & Adam Cullen