Created by Stephen Randle "I could quite literally throw a stone from my front steps and hit the Lower City below, and I had done it a few times just to prove it was possible." In what they're tagging a "gritty YA urban fantasy novel" set following a "climate apocalypse," Canada's Hamilton, Ontario is sinking … Continue reading Cooper Hart
Tag: Ontario
Harry Spilman
Creator unknown HARRY SPILMAN has the distinction of being the first P.I. to appear in any form of the internet. Back in the early eighties, the NABU Network (an early precursor of the internet) had a mystery series that encompassed five interactive cases in the "LITERATURE" section. These stories allowed readers to essentially "become" Harry, … Continue reading Harry Spilman
Sam Montcalm
Created by Tom Henighan In Nightshade (2010), Ottawa "bedroom snooper" SAM MONTCALM gets in way over his head when his personal connection to a suspect in a high-profile Québec City murder case with international implications that reach far beyond Canada are discovered. It's an impressive debut, a Shamus finalist even (for Best Paperback Original), and … Continue reading Sam Montcalm
Max Burger
Created by William Byrne MAX BURGER is a private investigator based in Canada's capital, Ottawa. But he's not your average private investigator. He's also a, uh, mutant hamburger? The rest of him seems pretty normal though. Except for the pickled feet, lettuce arms and meat patty lips he's just another tall, thin man wearing a … Continue reading Max Burger
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
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
Terry Lane (Taking the Falls)
Created by ?? Taking the Falls was a short-lived Canadian comedy/drama TV series about mouthy, brash private detective, TERRY LANE, who works with Catherine McVicar, a straight-laced hot-shot corporate lawyer working together in the tourist town of Niagara Falls, Ontario. Terry was played by Cynthia Dale, the popular star of the long-running Canadian legal drama … Continue reading Terry Lane (Taking the Falls)
Crang
Created by Jack Batten Shades of Perry Mason! The grand old notion of a defense attorney making like a private detective was alive and well--in Toronto of all places! CRANG (one name, please) also shows a definite Spenser influence, albeit in a Toronto/CBC/yuppie kinda way (ask a Canadian fora translation). He's a struggling, rather quirky … Continue reading Crang
Joe Barley
Created by Eric Wright (1929-2015) JOE BARLEY is a part-time professor teaching English literature at Hambleton, a small community college in Toronto, while also occasionally moonlighting as a "watcher" by a local security company. Subplots involving the college and his sometimes-messy personal life with longtime partner Carole crop up frequently in this smart, light-hearted … Continue reading Joe Barley