By Stephen Reid "I refuse to don this ridiculous costume.." Albert sucked in his belly and swelled up like a rooster. "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”
Tag: Ontario
“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
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
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)
Sam Jones
Created by Mike Knowles Diane: “You a cop or something?” Jones: “I’m a something.” Diane: “What does that mean?” Jones: “I’m a private investigator.” Diane: “Shut up. That’s not a real thing.” -- Running from the Dead Those who lament that Canadian author Knowles' professional go-between and career criminal Wilson isn't really a private eye … Continue reading Sam Jones
Wilson (Knowles)
Created by Mike Knowles Who says Canadians are nice? At one point in Darwin's Nightmare (2008), a hard-charging series debut, career criminal and certified nasty piece of work WILSON confesses he isn’t “one of the good guys.” Well, duh. Before this blitzkrieg of a crime novel has run its course, young Wilson will have inflicted … Continue reading Wilson (Knowles)
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
Brad Shade/Matt Shade & Angie Everett
Created by G.B. Joyce Developed for television by Tim Kilby and Shelley Eriksen "I played with a bunch of names you'd recognize: Gretz, Mess, Mario. I played against all the others who mattered. I didn't last long in the league: 457 career games. One year near the end I got called up from Hartford for … Continue reading Brad Shade/Matt Shade & Angie Everett
Neil Walker
Created by Bill Prentice NEIL WALKER is a former Mountie who specialized in Financial Crimes. Now he's a Toronto private eye, but money laundering, financial scams and political corruption seem to still be his beat, in this promising new series by Canadian writer Bill Prentice.Bill Prentice is a crime fiction writerwhose debut novel Why Was … Continue reading Neil Walker
Benny Cooperman
Created by Howard Engel (1931-2019) “She was the sort of woman that made you wish you’d taken another three minutes shaving... I felt a little under-dressed in my own office” Oh Canada! The Great White North may be under-represented in the private eye field, but we do have Howard Engel's BENNY COOPERMAN, one of the … Continue reading Benny Cooperman